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Alexander Pope once famously said “to err is human,” and if that’s indeed the case, then no one on the planet is more human than the officiating crew that was responsible for essentially screwing the New Orleans Saints out of a Super Bowl berth during this year’s NFC Championship.
With just minutes to go in the contest, the Saints were driving down the field and appeared to be in a solid position to put the game away thanks to one of the most blatant pass interference penalties you’ll ever see on a football field.
Unfortunately for them, every referee on the field decided to keep their penalty flag untouched, and as a result, the Saints were forced to kick a field goal that gave plenty of time for the Rams to notch one of their own before ultimately taking home the victory in overtime.
As a followup to his initial quote, Pope also noted “to forgive is divine” but it appears the people of New Orleans never got that memo, as they reacted to the loss by taking their frustrations out on televisions, crafting elaborate conspiracy theories, and throwing a massive party in the streets in lieu of watching the Big Game.
Shortly after the controversial matchup came to an end, someone did some searching through the NFL rulebook and discovered Roger Goodell could theoretically overturn the result of the game and one particularly desperate Saints fan decided to file what initially appeared to be a fruitless lawsuit.
It might have seemed like a last-ditch effort, but a couple of weeks ago, we discovered it might not be as pointless as we thought when a Louisiana judge announced it would continue to move through the legal system and suggested Roger Goodell may be forced to take the stand in the league’s defense.
However, it now looks like he’s not the only one facing some comeuppance.
According to Larry Brown Sports, three referees who were on the field during the fateful no-call have been summoned to testify about their role in the debacle in addition to Goodell, who have all been ordered to appear for depositions in September to tell their side of the story.
As the outlet notes, other lawsuits concerning the event have been dismissed on a federal level but the attorney who filed the suit seems to be content with having it tried in his home state despite the fact that experts expect nothing to really come from it.
Even if the plaintiff manages to come away with a victory, it’s unclear exactly what the damages will entail, and while we might not get a rematch, at least there’s a chance Saints fans will be able to get some closure.