A Bunch Of People Close To The Saints Desperately Want Roger Goodell To Step In And Screw This Up

Late Thursday afternoon, Benjamin Watson put out an all-too-serious complaint about the blown pass interference/unnecessary roughness call the Saints didn’t get in the NFC Championship matchup against the Rams. In a screenshot posted on Twitter, Watson called on commissioner Roger Goodell to step in and, at the very least, make a comment on the matter.

Watson was not the only high-profile figure to call for action related to this issue. Receiver Michael Thomas tweeted out the specific rule that allows the commissioner to take “corrective measures” on games deemed “extraordinarily unfair.” Saints owner Gayle Benson said she “will aggressively pursue changes in NFL policies to ensure no team and fan base is ever put in a similar position again.” Louisiana Gov. John Bel Edwards sent a formal letter to Goodell and the league asking that something be done either this season or in the future to prevent it from happening again.

Ignoring the fact that there are already so many reasons as to why that horrendously blown call was not solely responsible for the Saints’ loss on Sunday, Watson is an NFL veteran who should know by now that the last thing he should want is Goodell’s take on the matter. Time and time again the commissioner has taken obvious slam dunks for the league and its brand, and ended up sharting out the worst possible “solution” to the problem. Yes, the Saints got completely screwed on that one play, but there’s no reason to believe that anything Goodell or the league office comes up in response will end up as a net positive. Consider, say, the catch rule debacle as a good reason why asking the league for more rules about their rules might be a bad thing.

Still, I look forward to the inevitable intervention where they decide that the solution is to replay the NFC Championship from the down and distance New Orleans would be in if the penalty was actually called. Naturally, this would be have to be done the day before the Super Bowl, a game somehow featuring a new suite of pass interference regulations. Saints fans and players will probably never move on, and I can’t blame them, but the least they can do is accept what happened.