XFL’s Dean Blandino Has Embarrassing Hot Mic Moment During Broadcast

The veteran NFL rules analyst is the league's head of officiating and had a moment he’d likely rather have back on Saturday.

Most football fans know Dean Blandino first and foremost as the omnipresent rules analyst on Fox's pro and college football coverage.

Blandino, however, has a different role in the offseason. The former NFL vice president of officiating serves as the head of officiating for the XFL, helping shape a rules package quite different from the NFL’s in some respects.

Because the XFL is so TV-friendly, Blandino is often forced to blend his two roles. Most of the time, this is a fruitful formula. Sometimes, however, giving a live mic to the league's president of officiating goes sideways.

On Saturday, with the Orlando Guardians nursing a 10–6 lead against the Seattle Sea Dragons just before halftime, Blandino was brought on to explain a neutral zone infraction. However, he appeared to change his mind after giving his perspective, muttering into a hot mic, “We actually screwed that up.”

A hot mic appeared to catch XFL VP (officiating and playing rules innovation) Dean Blandino saying "We actually screwed that up," shortly after he explained a call on the ABC broadcast. pic.twitter.com/rHdi0bw0Oi

— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) March 25, 2023

The officiating snafu helped deny the Guardians one final scoring opportunity before the half, and the Sea Dragons went on to claim a 26–19 win.