NFL fires judge Hugo Cruz, effective immediately

The NFL made the highly unusual decision to dismiss judge Hugo Cruz for performance reasons, sources at ESPN confirmed Thursday.

Cruz last worked at week 6 and is no longer an NFL employee.

Cruz, who joined the NFL in 2015, has been responsible for a major mistake this season. He missed an obvious false start for left striker Russell Okung in the sixth week against the Cleveland Browns. He did not work during week 7.

Otherwise, the details of the league's decision – including Cruz's other alleged errors – are unknown. A spokesman for the NFL declined to comment and representatives of the NFL Referees Association did not respond to a request for comment.

The news has been reported for the first time by FootballZebras.com, which follows trends in professional and professional officiating. According to the website, the NFL has never fired a season official during the Super Bowl era for performance reasons.

According to sources contacted by ESPN, there is no indication that Cruz made an error out of the field or that his dismissal was disciplinary.

The NFL ranks the officials on their performances in every game of each match. The league has sometimes suspended or reassigned officials for errors in the administration of the game, but it evaluates their career each year by placing each on one of three levels.

Level I is for top performers, level II is intermediate and level III is the lowest performer in a given year. Historically, two consecutive seasons in the third level make an official vulnerable to revocation.

This system is designed to prevent instantaneous evaluations based on a single error or a series of closely synchronized errors.

The NFL's quick decision on Cruz will send shockwaves into the ranks of officials. Officials who could once be assured that their season would be assessed from a broader perspective will now be wondering if they could receive a phone call ending their career after a bad match.