Congressmen Are Now Getting Involved in the Saints-Rams Blown Call
The fallout from what many consider to be the worst missed call in NFL playoff history continues, and Congress is now getting involved.
U.S. representatives from Louisiana are speaking out about the New Orleans Saints possibly being cheated out of a Super Bowl appearance thanks to a missed call at the end of regulation in the NFC championship game Sunday against the Los Angeles Rams.
Rep. Steve Scalise, the House minority whip, was asked by TMZ Sports about the call and what should happen next.
“Last year, that was on us,” the Republican said, referring to the Saints’ “Minneapolis Miracle” loss to the Vikings. “But this year, to have the refs literally blow a no-call that everybody in the country saw except the guy who should have made the call, it stings a lot.”
“Frankly, they should play a makeup game,” Scalise said. “If the Saints played the Rams on Saturday, I think it’d be the highest-watched sports event all year.”
There is an NFL rule that gives the commissioner the power to overturn a game if he rules it to be “extraordinarily unfair.”
Rule 17, Section 2, Article 1 reads: “The Commissioner has the sole authority to investigate and take appropriate disciplinary and/or corrective measures if any club action, non-participant interference, or calamity occurs in an NFL game which the Commissioner deems so extraordinarily unfair or outside the accepted tactics encountered in professional football that such action has a major effect on the result of the game.”
But that was never going to happen in this case, even though the officials did admit to New Orleans coach Sean Payton that they missed pass interference and helmet-to-helmet fouls on the play in question, in which Nickell Robey-Coleman collided with Tommylee Lewis.
This was somehow not defensive pass interference ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ pic.twitter.com/OYGt3UdiDL
— Cameron DaSilva (@camdasilva) January 20, 2019
Anger about the blown call is a bipartisan issue in Louisiana. Democratic Rep. Cedric Richmond is just as outraged as Scalise, and he wants to talk to take his complaint to the top.
“I have spoken with colleagues on the Judiciary Antitrust Subcommittee about inviting NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell to answer some important questions about the unfair call against the Saints; a call that he has the jurisdiction to overturn,” Richmond said in a statement Wednesday.
I join the countless individuals in the disappointment over Sunday’s NFC Championship game and am eager to hear from @nflcommish directly. All teams deserve equal treatment and the @Saints were clearly denied fair treatment. Read my statement below: pic.twitter.com/hdtzxQuZv2
— Rep Cedric Richmond (@RepRichmond) January 23, 2019
“I stand with Saints owner Gayle Benson on the urgency and significance of having this issue addressed so that it does not happen again,” he said. “The Saints got the short end of the stick, and I am proud to witness the strength of the franchise and the unswerving support of Who Dat Nation.
“I look forward to conveying these views to Mr. Goodell soon.”
These two congressmen join hoards of other Saints fans, and players, upset with the call and the NFL’s inaction.
Receiver Michael Thomas even uploaded a social media photo in which he calls Super Bowl LIII a lie.
Michael Thomas Still Pissed Over Saints Loss, ‘Super Bowl LIE’https://t.co/6peVFdZLgK
— TMZ Sports (@TMZ_Sports) January 23, 2019
The Rams will be able to give the final word (they hope) about that game Monday during their Super Bowl Opening Night interviews.
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