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After retiring-Saint Benjamin Watson called out Roger Goodell and the NFL for the NFL’s continued silence after the failed no-call on defensive pass interference that would have sealed the win for the New Orleans Saints and sent his team to the Super Bowl, the NFL has done something. But it’s not nearly enough to placate Saints players or their fans.
NFL made an unofficial statement on the hit that Rams' CB Nickell Robey-Coleman delivered on Saints' WR Tommylee Lewis.
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) January 25, 2019
NFL fined Robey-Coleman the amount of $26,739 for the helmet-to-helmet that was not flagged during the NFC Championship Game, per source.
Saints players took to Twitter to voice their displeasure on Goodell refusing to issue a statement outside of the fine:
Hope they know money won’t erase the pain
— Mark Ingram II (@MarkIngram22) January 25, 2019
Man they fined me 30k for pulling out a phone tho ♂️
— Michael Thomas (@Cantguardmike) January 25, 2019
It’s understandable, though, why Saints players scoff at the fine. We all remember Sean Payton wheeling in $200,000 in cash to help motivate Saints players, right? Well our old pal John Sigler pointed out the difference between the fine and the bonuses received by Rams players in part because of the fine.
he'll lose about $26K for the hit, which was not penalized
— John Sigler (@john_siglerr) January 25, 2019
he'll also gain $53K if the Rams lose Super Bowl LIII, or $107K if they win it https://t.co/yRonVQWPCM
Saints players and fans want Roger Goodell to take some accountability for the missed call. However, multiple talking heads in the NFL world have already acknowledged that they believe this fine to be Goodell’s final and only “statement” on the matter.
Many in the sports world are afraid that Goodell doing anything further, while vindicating Saints players, would delegitimize the Los Angeles Rams as a Super Bowl participant.
And frankly, that’s exactly what the Saints players want.