Sep 27th 2008 6:15PM by Ryan Wilson (author feed)
Filed under: Broncos, Saints, NFC South, NFL Fans, NFL Referees
Look, I understand that the league has rules about publicly criticizing officials (feel free to rip away behind close doors, however — it’s encouraged, even!) but fining Saints head coach Sean Payton for some vague comments about a humongous no-call in last week’s loss to the Broncos — Denver’s Jamie Winborn was absurdly offsides on a critical 3rd and 1 late in the fourth quarter — is sorta dumb.

Particularly since Jerrah Jones ripped Ed Hochuli several times after the Week 2 Chargers-Broncos debacle, and I’m pretty sure the Cowboys didn’t even play in that game.

First, the $15,000 comments (from Payton’s Monday press conference): “There are some things that are frustrating about the game that don’t sit well. When you guys take a peek at the television copy and I see a no-call, that’s that much of a violation, I have a hard time swallowing that, because at some point there’s a decision made to say I’m just not throwing the flag. At least that’s how it appears to me. It’s not a judgment call. You’re either offsides or you’re not. I have a problem with that.” And this was after Jones went on a Dallas-area radio show to tell Hochuli to “keep that whistle out your mouth.”Continue Reading