The Commanders and Dolphins traveled to Madrid for the NFL’s first ever game in Spain on Sunday. Referee Shawn Smith tipped his cap to the international fans by making a penalty call in Spanish toward the end of the first quarter.
He called a false start on Commanders running back Chris Rodriguez Jr. and prepared to do so in the crowd’s native language.
Ref making a call in Spanish for the first ever game in Spain 🔥
— NFL (@NFL) November 16, 2025
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The league has a history of officials making penalty calls in foreign languages throughout international games. The NFL posted a video of foreign language calls, adding Smith’s bilingual call. Last year, Shawn Hochuli called a penalty in German as the Panthers and Giants played in Munich. At the NFL’s first game in Mexico back in 2005, Ed Hochuli, Shawn’s father, called a penalty in Spanish and his son made the bilingual calls a tradition nearly two decades later.
A history of refs making foreign language calls in international games. 🗣️
— NFL (@NFL) November 16, 2025
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The NFL Madrid game between the Commanders and Dolphins on Sunday concludes the league’s international series for the season. Last week, the Falcons and Colts met in Berlin. The NFL has also played games in London, Dublin and São Paulo, Brazil, this year.
Ed Hochuli owns the honor of the NFL’s first penalty called in Spanish, but Smith became the second ref to show off his Spanish skills with the cool moment Sunday.
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This article was originally published on www.si.com as NFL Ref Showed Off Some Impressive Language Skills While Making Call in Madrid.
