Cruz has been an NFL official for four seasons and spent the last two as a down judge. The NFL fired down judge Hugo Cruz on Thursday, according to Football Zebras. This marked the first time an NFL referee has been fired midseason in the Super Bowl era. Cruz drew criticism for a missed false start in the Chargers' victory over the Browns in Week 6. He failed to throw a flag on Los Angeles tackle Russell Okung prior to a Chargers' touchdown. However, the blown call against Los Angeles did not determine Cruz's firing per ESPN's Kevin Seifert. Rather, Cruz was fired for not "maintaining a very high level of performance over a sustained period," according to Football Zebras. The NFL Referees Association released a statement following Cruz's firing, calling the move a "reckless decision." “The NFL has a troubling history of knee-jerk reactions with an eye on public relations, and clearly it has not learned from past mistakes,” the statement said. “The NFLRA will protect the collectively bargained rights of all officials and will challenge this reckless decision through the Grievance process.” Watch the non-call on Okung below: Cruz was in the middle of his fourth NFL season prior to being fired by the NFL. He had worked with three different officiating crews in six weeks through 2018. The NFL has replaced at least 20 of its officials in the past two offseasons per Seifert.<doc-sep>Cruz in 2015. Photo : Elaine Thompson ( AP ) Outside of the confusion about roughing-the-passer calls (which falls as much on the diktat from New York as on those tasked with enforcing it), it feels like NFL officiating has generally been pretty good this year—that is to say, it’s been largely unnoticeable. Which made this blatantly missed false start in Week 6, that should have nullified a Chargers touchdown against the Browns, so glaring: That calls was the responsibility of the down judge (a position that was renamed from head linesman beginning in 2017), who is positioned at the line of scrimmage on the near sideline. The down judge in that game was Hugo Cruz. It would be the last NFL game Cruz ever worked. Advertisement Football Zebras reports that Cruz has been fired by the NFL, effective immediately. And it’s wasn’t just that missed call. One of the sources confirmed that Cruz was not “maintaining a very high level of performance over a sustained period,” while another told Football Zebras in March that Cruz’s future with the league was already in jeopardy. This is partially borne out by his lack of postseason assignments for the two seasons he would have qualified for, not counting assignment as an alternate last season. Cruz, a former Conference USA official, was recruited by Gerry Austin and joined the NFL in 2015. He was assigned to Carl Cheffers’s crew this year, but weirdly, worked on other crews for three of his six games. I am totally guessing, but it’s possible that he was shuffled around as a “last chance” to see if he would perform any better with different crewmates. The firing of an NFL official is a rare thing. Football Zebras says Cruz is the first official to be fired mid-season since the merger, and just two officials have been fired o ver the last decade. (Those two are side judge Keith Parham, in the 2014 offseason, and side judge Jimmy DeBell in 2015. Though this obviously doesn’t count those officials who have been encouraged to step down or retire than be outright fired.) Ben Austro, the editor-in-chief of Football Zebras, had previously written that this is a crucial season for Al Riveron, the NFL senior VP of officiating, for reasons related both to a series of officiating controversies and an unprecedentedly inexperienced roster of officials. Austro went so far as to say Riveron could be on the hot seat if it’s a bad year for the zebras. A midseason firing could very likely be Riveron trying to prove to his bosses that he’s in control.<doc-sep>David Richard/Associated Press The NFL has fired one of its down judges, Hugo Cruz, for poor performance. NFL Referees Association Executive Director Scott Green confirmed the firing to Tom Pelissero of NFL Network, calling the decision "reckless." Football Zebras, a website that analyzes the performances of NFL referees, first reported the firing. That report cited seven sources with "firsthand knowledge of the situation," noting that a missed false start call in a Week 6 game between the Los Angeles Chargers and Cleveland Browns was the final straw for the league. In that game, Cruz missed a blatant false start by the Chargers. On the ensuing play that should have been whistled dead before it began, Philip Rivers threw a touchdown pass. Per the report: "One of the sources confirmed that Cruz was not 'maintaining a very high level of performance over a sustained period,' while another told Football Zebras in March that Cruz's future with the league was already in jeopardy. This is partially borne out by his lack of postseason assignments for the two seasons he would have qualified for, not counting assignment as an alternate last season. Another oddity that our sources could not find a reason for was that Cruz was assigned to a different crew for 3 of the 6 regular season games he has worked this year." The report noted the NFL has never fired an official midseason during the Super Bowl era, instead fining or suspending them for poor performance. Generally, officials are simply not brought back for another season if their performance is subpar. And Football Zebras added that just two officials have been outright fired in the past 10 years, making any dismissal notable. Video Play Button Videos you might like Cruz joined the NFL in 2015 after being recruited from Conference USA, where he officiated for five years. He also worked as a minor-league umpire in the past. On the missed call in question, Cruz was lined up behind Chargers offensive tackle Russell Okung, who clearly left his stance well before the ball was snapped, to the point that defensive end Myles Garrett paused and pointed at Okung, expecting a call. Instead, Rivers found Tyrell Williams for a 29-yard score. After the game, Browns head coach Hue Jackson said one of the officials, who wasn't responsible for making the call, admitted that a false start should have been given on the play. "Yep. Yep. Missed it. Yeah, I was told they missed it," he told reporters. "Was very honest on my side. It sure wasn't the guy on the other side. It was definitely the guy on my side. That was [a false start]."<doc-sep>
The NFL fired down judge Hugo Cruz on Thursday, marking the league’s first in-season dismissal for poor officiating during the Super Bowl era, a report said. Two sources familiar with the firing spoke to the Associated Press on condition of anonymity because the NFL has yet to officially announce the move. Cruz, a part of referee Carl Cheffers' crew, missed a high-profile call in the Chargers-Browns game that led to a Los Angeles touchdown on Oct. 14. Chargers tackle Russell Okung made a glaring false start on the play and nothing was called. Cruz did not work the following week. In his fourth season as an NFL official after first joining in 2015, Cruz was supposedly fired for his overall performance, not just one specific play. There wasn’t any indication Cruz committed an off-field offense or was facing disciplinary action, ESPN reported. The NFL Referees Association said it would challenge the firing. "The NFL has a troubling history of knee-jerk reactions with an eye on public relations, and clearly it has not learned from past mistakes," NFLRA Executive Director Scott Green, a former referee, said in a statement. "The NFLRA will protect the collectively bargained rights of all officials and will challenge this reckless decision through the grievance process." Cruz's firing was first reported by FootballZebras.com, a website dedicated to officiating which said it's the first in-season firing by the league of an official because of performance in the Super Bowl era. The NFL has 121 officials and 17 officiating crews. Not all officials work each week, so the surplus number could see Cruz’s spot on the crew easily filled. The Associated Press contributed to this report.