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- NFL referee Shawn Hochuli gave a very lengthy penalty explanation on Sunday.
- During his call, he gave an all-time “however” and went viral for the way that he said the word.
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The second half of Sunday’s NFC Divisional Round game between Los Angeles and Tampa Bay was chaotic. Amidst all of the chaos, referee Shawn Hochuli quickly became the favorite referee amongst NFL fans who don’t root for Tampa Bay.
Not only did he give Tom Brady a penalty for swearing at him, but he had a fantastic explanation for a penalty in the fourth quarter.
On 4th-and-14, Tom Brady threw a deep ball to Mike Evans. Evans did not make the catch, but got rocked by Rams safety Eric Weddle.
Late hit by Eric Weddle but the Rams get the ball back…#RamsHouse #GoBucs pic.twitter.com/bbseMdUjkh
— Mr Matthew CFB (@MrMatthewCFB) January 23, 2022
Weddle, who was actually retired for the entire 2021/22 season, came out of retirement for one last playoff run earlier this week. He made helmet-to-helmet contact with Evans and was penalized.
U got bailed out Weddle#GoBucs #LARvsTB #NFL #NFLPlayoffs pic.twitter.com/u7IHQu16sr
— len martez (@LMart810) January 23, 2022
HOWEVER, because the ball had already hit the ground, it was not pass interference. Weddle’s hit was ruled a dead ball foul.
As a result, the play was a turnover on downs and Los Angeles got to keep the ball. The 15-yard-penalty was enforced on the Rams’ possession and they got the ball 15 yards deeper into their own territory.
Had the penalty been called any differently, it would have made a path to a Buccaneers comeback significantly easier. But it was not.
During the penalty explanation, which was quite lengthy, Hochuli delivered an all-time “however.”
However… pic.twitter.com/f1zazkpBFL
— CJ Fogler AKA Perc70 #BlackLivesMatter (@cjzero) January 23, 2022
Hochuli has been in the league since 2014 and was promoted to referee in 2018. He caught the attention of NFL fans online with his spicy explanation and quickly went viral.
People had all kinds of jokes and reactions, here are some of the best:
deep down inside every referee dreams of being able to go out there and hit us with the "WE HAVE AN UNUSUAL RULING" pic.twitter.com/YhhDKJI7gI
— Rodger Sherman (@rodger) January 23, 2022
Genuinely love Shawn Hochuli’s long explanation there. Should be no confusion about what happened at such an important moment.
— Kevin Seifert (@SeifertESPN) January 23, 2022
Shawn Hochuli hitting that “However…” pic.twitter.com/LGuGwKDDCZ
— lukezim (@lukezim) January 23, 2022
Shawn Hochuli explaining a penalty pic.twitter.com/kQ9F33yf3F
— BetMGM 🦁 (@BetMGM) January 23, 2022
Hochuli any time there’s multiple infractions pic.twitter.com/z78D7L5Jtr
— Aaron Nagler (@AaronNagler) January 23, 2022
Shawn Hochuli reading off that penalty: pic.twitter.com/3LdV8uBq7h
— OddsChecker (@OddsCheckerUS) January 23, 2022
Shawn Hochuli getting ready to explain the foul: pic.twitter.com/JpkJbaqA1A
— Dominic Lauricella (@DomLauricella) January 23, 2022
Hochuli’s “however” was amazing… 😂
— Pat Doney (@PatDoneyNBC5) January 23, 2022
Hochuli to Brady after he dropped that "however" pic.twitter.com/OI6bmvVAgy
— David Howman (@_DH44_) January 23, 2022
why is shawn hochuli so dramatic? bro you’re a referee
— Rohan Nadkarni (@RohanNadkarni) January 23, 2022
Hochuli very much enjoyed inserting that “however” into his ruling #RefShow
— Paul Gallant (@GallantSays) January 23, 2022
"…HOWEVER" from Hochuli has me cracking up
— Adam Aaronson (@SixersAdam) January 23, 2022
Shawn Hochuli hears one shining moment in his earpiece right now
— Snowy Dayerson (@LockyLockerson) January 23, 2022