I'm all about hating the ref as much as the next guy, but I actually feel bad for 19-year veteran Ed Hochuli. He recently blew a whistle too enthusiastically on a fumble during a San Diego Chargers/Denver Broncos game. The call was blatantly wrong and it ended up costing San Diego the game. Since then, Ed's been flooded with vicious hate email from fans. Understandable, but what's unusual is that he's actually writing them back. The email reads:

I'm getting hundreds of emails – hate mail – but I'm responding to it all. People deserve a response.

You can rest assured that nothing anyone can say can make me feel worse than I already feel about my mistake on the fumble play. You have no idea . . .

Affecting the outcome of a game is a devastating feeling. Officials strive for perfection – I failed miserably. Although it does no good to say it, I am very, very sorry.

Ed Hochuli

 

Wow. I mean, that's the saddest thing I've ever seen. Guess refs aren't just robots who raise their arms and blow whistles in order to make your team  unfairly lose the game. It appears we found at least one with a heart.