Those pesky open mics! The latest victim of the dreaded glitch was NFL referee Ed Hochuli who called a fellow official “jungle boy” while broadcasting to 70,000 fans attending the game.
During a third quarter Hochuli announced that he “got the call from Jungle Boy that [it] was a good call.” h/t usatoday
So who is this mysterious Jungle Boy? Turns out it’s a nickname for replay Official Tom Sifferman.
NFL spokesman Michael Signora unraveled the mystery in a subsequent statement.
“Ed Hochuli was referring to replay official Tom Sifferman when his comment that “jungle boy” confirmed the penalty for 12-men on the field was audible on the in-stadium microphone. Hochuli intended to communicate that information to the officiating crew through the official-to-official communications system, but inadvertently broadcast the remark on the stadium microphone. Sifferman, a long-time field judge on Hochuli’s crew before becoming a replay official, is nicknamed “jungle boy” by members of the crew for touring a jungle on a trip to Hawaii.”
