The NFL may investigate Ed Hochuli's comments to Panthers' quarterback Cam Newton on Sunday, in which Newton said that Hochuli told him he "wasn't old enough" to get a call in his favor, according to David Newton of ESPN.
"We would do an investigation, see if anybody was miked in the area, and we've had situations in the past where an official said something inappropriate to a player and we've disciplined them," said NFL vice president of officiating Dean Blandino, via ESPN. "So there is a process in place, and we would have to go through that process to see if we could pick up what was actually said."
Blandino seems to believe Hochuli's explanation, and it seems unlikely that a punishment will actually come to the veteran referee.
"Ed was adamant that he did not say that. He told me that he said that 'the difference is you were running.' I think when you look at the tape it does look like Ed did say that, I think at one point. You can't see everything Ed says, but he's adamant he didn't say it and I think that's where we are right now and we're just going to kind of move on from there," said Blandino, via Pro Football Talk.
This whole issue of preferential treatment can be seen as a big problem in players' eyes. A story like this can start many issues, such as referees favoring certain players like Tom Brady or Peyton Manning over Cam Newton. The referees are there to call the game the same for every person and team, and the NFL may need to dive in this situation deeper to find out if there is anything to it.
