The 5 most hated referees in NFL history – ranked

The NFL is one of the biggest sports leagues in the world, with millions of eyes tuning in to every game. What those fans don’t want to see is games dominated by the referees, with flags being thrown on nearly every play. Even worse than that is referees consistently making mistakes. Today, we’re going to focus on the five worst NFL referees of all time!

Ed Hochuli was a divisive figure during his career in the NFL, with some suggesting he was more interested in making the game about him than the players. He was known for his bulging biceps and elongated explanations of rulings, which never enamored him with fans.

He was considered a good referee for the most part during his career, with NFL head coaches voting him the best in the league in 2008, per ESPN. Still, mistakes like his blown call in 2016 in a game between the Ravens and Patriots stick in our minds, when Hochuli missed an obvious strip-sack. CBS Boston’s Matt Dolloff described him as, “Mr. Pedantic” after the game, which feels about right.

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Most fans would sigh with dread when they saw Tony Corrente was officiating their game during his career. Fortunately for NFL fans everywhere, he retired in 2021. He was known for making bizarre calls throughout his career, often seemingly finding the smallest issues to throw a flag on.

Perhaps his strangest moment came in 2021 during a Steelers game against the Bears. After getting a fourth down stop, Cassius Marsh of the Bears was flagged for taunting, despite doing nothing obviously wrong. Per Heavy, Corrente was then seen attempting to hip-check Marsh as he ran off the field. Weird.

There are a few reasons why fans hate Bill Vinovich, one is the suggestion he favors the Chiefs, with Kansas City having a 13-7 record with him in charge. That included both Super Bowls LIV and LVII. We don’t believe Vinovich is doing anything to help KC, but it’s not a great look for the league.

Vinocich’s most controversial moment came in the 2018 NFC Championship game between the New Orleans Saints and the Los Angeles Rams. With just under two minutes left, Vinovich no-called an obvious DPI that would have probably set up a win for the Saints. Saints fans went crazy, forcing the ref to move hotels for his own safety, per Saintswire.

Jerome Boger was an NFL official for nearly 20 years, which is incredibly surprising given his awful reputation. As one fan wrote on X (formerly Twitter) following his retirement, “don’t let the door hit you, Boger.” His career was filled with bad calls, including multiple game-changing flags and whistles during a 2019 matchup between the Chiefs and Patriots.

Boger was so bad during his latter years as a ref, he and his crew were sat down during the 2021 postseason following a disaster-class during a Bengals vs Raiders matchup. Controversy surronded that game, namely, Boger awarding the Bengals a touchdown despite an inadvertent whistle occurring that should have blown the play dead.

2012 saw the National Football League Referees Association and the NFL failed to agree a new contract ahead of the season. This forced the league to hire replacement referees just to get games on. Refs were brought in from everywhere, including division III football and the Lingerie Football League. Unsurprisingly, things didn’t go well.

What followed was a chaotic season, with officiating issues arising every week. Week 2 saw a side judge pulled moments before a Saints-Panthers game as it was revealed he was a big Saints fan. Worst of all was the infamous ‘Fail Mary’ during a game between the Packers and Seahawks. The call was so bad it forced the NFL back to the negotiating table with the NFLRA.

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