Report: N.F.L. referee lockout centered around tighter shirts for Ed Hochuli

Above: The workout-obsessed Ed Hochuli sports a tight referee shirt during a regular season game last year. The N.F.L. wanted even tighter shirts for referees (mostly just for Hochuli) this season, claiming the zebra tops were a huge boost for television ratings. However, officials were concerned that tighter shirts would further limit mobility and begin to negatively affect on-field performance. This tight shirt controversy has kept referees off the field for three weeks, forcing controversial replacement refs to fill in. "Even last season I was unable to comfortably signal that a field goal was good. I could not raise my arms fully, so I had to give two thumbs up for a successful kick," said one referee. "In fact, I performed most signals with my fingers. There's no way we could have gone with even tighter uniforms this season." Part of the agreement to bring the refs back has Hochuli working games shirtless and using black and white body paint as his uniform, which he claims "to be completely and thoroughly fine with and considers a great resolution to this mess."