Any regular viewer of NFL Films knows there is frequent byplay between players and officials during games. Some of it is funny, some of it is laced with anger and much of it falls onto the cutting-room floor.

One thing that rarely happens: public revelation of an objectionable comment. And when it does, discipline can soon follow.

Such is the box the NFL finds itself in after comments that Carolina Panthers quarterback Cam Newton attributed to referee Ed Hochuli after his team's 27-22 victory Sunday over the New Orleans Saints. Newton said that Hochuli told him he isn't "old enough" to have earned a roughing penalty after a play early in the fourth quarter.

That kind of cutting remark wouldn't be uncommon on the field, but it's rare for a player to repeat it publicly. Now the NFL is in the unfortunate position of investigating and possibly disciplining a referee for something that sounds much worse in public than in private.

Hochuli already has denied saying what Newton attributed to him, according to NFL vice president of officiating Dean Blandino. But the public inference that league officials play favorites -- that, say, Tom Brady or Peyton Manning gets calls that Cam Newton doesn't -- is something the league must combat with full force. Officials are the objective third party of a game between competitors, not an extension of marketing or preconceived storylines as they are in professional wrestling.

In private, that kind of remark sounds mostly like a condescending but mostly unharmful way of swatting down the complaints of a peppy youngster. In public, however, it sounds like Hochuli unethically curved the rules against the Panthers.

Hochuli, of course, got the call right. Newton threw the ball outside the pocket, removing quarterback protections he would otherwise have had, and the contact did not appear late. When you watch the replay, you see Hochuli say something that stopped Newton in his tracks as they walked together toward the middle of the field. Blandino said on the NFL Network that Hochuli said: "The difference is you were running," a reference to the removal of quarterback protections. Blandino added that Hochuli is "adamant" that he didn't reference Newton's age as a determining factor of the call.

But what's the alternative here? That Newton made it all up? That he overreacted to a flippant remark? If so, he should be disciplined himself. Criticizing NFL officials is a violation of league policy.

But whether it's justified or not, the league has no choice but to take a thorough and public look into every possible avenue for determining if Hochuli is telling the truth. It has to fight back the mere perception that officials are openly playing favorites. So it goes.