Contributed by: filbert Thursday, September 18 2008 @ 10:38 PM CST
Hochuli, an official for 19 seasons and a referee for 17, had e-mailed fans in San Diego and told them, “I failed miserably.”
. . .
(NFL Supervisor of Officials Mike) Pereira said on his weekly NFL Network show that he’s tried to be as supportive as he can to Hochuli, “but he’s devastated — as he should be.”
No finger-pointing, no directing the blame somewhere else. Just a guy who trying to do a hard job, screws up, then says to the world “I screwed up.” There is no man so worthy as one who has made a mistake, recognizes it, and refuses to try to blame someone else. That’s called being a stand-up guy. It’s not the good times that reveal character, but the bad times–the times where things have gone wrong, when everyone’s after your neck.
A lesson on how to deal with personal failure that could perhaps be profitably studied elsewhere in American society.