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Roger Goodell breaks silence on controversial no-call in NFC championship game
Charles Robinson,Yahoo Sports•January 30, 2019
ATLANTA – After failing to publicly address one of the biggest officiating failures in the history of his tenure as NFL commissioner, Roger Goodell finally spoke Wednesday about the controversial no-call in the NFC championship game that arguably denied the New Orleans Saints a trip to Super Bowl LIII.
His response: These things happen and the NFL simply has to do better.
“We understand the frustration of the fans,” Goodell told media after making remarks about the upcoming Atlanta Super Bowl. “I’ve talked to coach [Sean] Payton, the team the players. We understand the frustration that they feel right now.”
As for opening replay options going forward, it’s nothing more than another offseason conversation with no guarantees.
“We will look again at instant replay,” Goodell said.
That’s unlikely to quell the unrelenting frustration and anger of Saints fans, but Goodell’s tone was largely expected after nearly 11 full days of public silence from the league office. This despite political and legal volleys toward the NFL, following the failure of an official to call a pass-interference penalty on Los Angeles Rams cornerback Nickell Robey-Coleman in the NFC title game. The play, which occurred late in the game and likely would have resulted in a key first down for the Saints, essentially denied New Orleans a chance to run down the clock and kick a game-winning field goal as time expired in regulation. New Orleans eventually lost in overtime to the Rams.
Since that moment, Payton has repeatedly outed the league for privately admitting the officiating error, while fans have been up in arms over the mistake, going as far as creating a rap video, a federal lawsuit against the league and even digging into NFL bylaws to see if the Rams’ win could be overturned.
Meanwhile, Sen. Bill Cassidy of Louisiana went as far as using time on the Senate floor to address the no-call, giving a presentation to lawmakers in which he suggested the NFL owed answers to fans about the mistake.
Goodell said that he never considered replaying the game.
Charles Robinson,Yahoo Sports•January 30, 2019
ATLANTA – After failing to publicly address one of the biggest officiating failures in the history of his tenure as NFL commissioner, Roger Goodell finally spoke Wednesday about the controversial no-call in the NFC championship game that arguably denied the New Orleans Saints a trip to Super Bowl LIII.
His response: These things happen and the NFL simply has to do better.
“We understand the frustration of the fans,” Goodell told media after making remarks about the upcoming Atlanta Super Bowl. “I’ve talked to coach [Sean] Payton, the team the players. We understand the frustration that they feel right now.”
As for opening replay options going forward, it’s nothing more than another offseason conversation with no guarantees.
“We will look again at instant replay,” Goodell said.
That’s unlikely to quell the unrelenting frustration and anger of Saints fans, but Goodell’s tone was largely expected after nearly 11 full days of public silence from the league office. This despite political and legal volleys toward the NFL, following the failure of an official to call a pass-interference penalty on Los Angeles Rams cornerback Nickell Robey-Coleman in the NFC title game. The play, which occurred late in the game and likely would have resulted in a key first down for the Saints, essentially denied New Orleans a chance to run down the clock and kick a game-winning field goal as time expired in regulation. New Orleans eventually lost in overtime to the Rams.
Since that moment, Payton has repeatedly outed the league for privately admitting the officiating error, while fans have been up in arms over the mistake, going as far as creating a rap video, a federal lawsuit against the league and even digging into NFL bylaws to see if the Rams’ win could be overturned.
Meanwhile, Sen. Bill Cassidy of Louisiana went as far as using time on the Senate floor to address the no-call, giving a presentation to lawmakers in which he suggested the NFL owed answers to fans about the mistake.
Goodell said that he never considered replaying the game.
