New Orleans Saints

Louisiana governor chastises NFL leader about missed penalty

Published Jan. 22, 2019 7:45 p.m. ET

BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) — Add Louisiana's governor to the list of people chastising the NFL about officiating in the NFC championship game that sent the Los Angeles Rams to the Super Bowl instead of the New Orleans Saints.

Gov. John Bel Edwards sent a letter Tuesday to NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell to express the "deep disappointment" of the people of Louisiana and Saints fans.

The Democratic governor complained about the failure of officials to call interference or roughness penalties when a Rams player leveled a Saints receiver with a helmet-to-helmet hit near the end of Sunday's game.

"The very least that any fan of the Saints, or any other team, should be able to expect from any game is that the result will be decided by the players on the field," Edwards wrote. "By missing the obvious, blatant and intentional penalty at the end of the game, the referees in Sunday's game undermined that expectation and unfortunately were allowed to determine the winner."

Edwards is calling on the NFL to make rule changes for next season that would allow for expanding replay reviews. He said without such adjustments, "the very integrity of the game will be called into question."

And the governor told Goodell that while Louisiana football fans will move past the game, "we will not forget it."