NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell is heading to Louisiana to discuss one of the most controversial moments from the 2018 NFL season. A judge in Louisiana has ordered Goodell and three NFL officials from January’s NFC Championship Game to be questioned under oath about a play late in the fourth quarter.
This hearing stems from a lawsuit filed by Antonio LeMon, who alleges fraud on the part of NFL officials. LeMon seeks $75,000 in damages. If the case is successful, the money will be donated to former Saints star, Steve Gleason’s charity to aid people with neuromuscular diseases.
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With the New Orleans Saints driving toward the end zone and needing a score to defeat the Los Angeles Rams, quarterback Drew Brees threw a pass in the direction of wide receiver, Tommylee Lewis. However, the ball fell incomplete when Lewis was illegally hit in the helmet by Rams cornerback, Nickell Robey-Coleman.
Despite having multiple officials around to witness the play, no flag was thrown for pass interference or unnecessary roughness. Instead of getting a first down near the goal line with an opportunity to score a potential game-winning touchdown, the Saints instead settled for a field goal, making the score 23-20 with little more than one minute remaining in regulation. The Rams went on to kick a tying field goal and win the game in overtime.
Since that infamous moment in the NFC title game, there has been a constant discussion about replaying the game from the moment of the penalty, as well as ways in which such a scenario could be avoided in the future. The NFL’s Competition Committee even adjusted the pass interference rules for the upcoming season.
The NFL originally responded to the missed penalty in late January, releasing a statement about the incident.
“Because the officials on the field are humans, errors will happen,” the statement reads. “The NFL parties do not dispute that they have previously advised the Saints, including the club’s head coach, that one or more penalties, for pass interference or illegal helmet to helmet contact, were mistakenly not called in the NFC Championship Game, and that the NFL would like its officials on the field to make these calls. This was acknowledged immediately after the game to the coach of the New Orleans Saints by NFL Senior Vice President of Officiating Al Riveron. However, overruling the Referee on the field and directing that a penalty be called is not within the Commissioner’s discretion under NFL Rules 15, 17, or any rule.”
The league specifically cited Rule 15, Section 1, Article 3, which states, “the Referee’s decisions upon all matters not specifically placed under the jurisdiction of other officials by rule are final.”
Currently, the depositions are scheduled to take place in September. Judge Sheppard also set Aug. 22 for the next hearing in the lawsuit.
