Saints TE Ben Watson blasts Roger Goodell for silence on blown call
New Orleans Saints tight end Ben Watson is calling on Commissioner Roger Goodell to address the blown call in the NFC Championship Game that cost his team a good shot at reaching the Super Bowl.
Watson posted a note on his Twitter account Thursday in which he directly addresses Goodell, telling the commissioner to lead by example by addressing the matter.
.@nflcommish pic.twitter.com/a0pIFnboMP
— Benjamin Watson (@BenjaminSWatson) January 24, 2019
“Commissioner Goodell. We all realize that football is an imperfect game, played, coached and officiated by imperfect people. What occurred last Sunday in New Orleans though, was outside of that expected and accepted norm. Your continued silence on this matter is unbecoming of the position you hold, detrimental to the integrity of the game and disrespectful and dismissive to football fans everywhere. From the locker room to Park Ave, accountability is what makes our league great. Lead by example. We are waiting,” Watson wrote in his note.
A report on Sunday night said the NFL would publicly apologize for the blown call, but nothing has happened yet. Even Saints head coach Sean Payton said immediately after the overtime loss that the league told them they had missed the call.
Even if the league does not apologize to the Saints for missing the call, they can say something along the lines of what Watson mentioned: the game is imperfect, refs are part of the sport, and sometimes calls are missed. Those calls can be missed on both ends, as we know the Rams were also impacted by missed calls that many people have overlooked.