Saints-Rams no call sparks protest, petition and lawsuit. Here are other infamous bad calls.
New Orleans Saints fans were outraged Sunday toward the end of the NFC Championship game for the no-call on what looked like certain pass interference when the Rams’ Nickell Robey-Coleman hit Saints wide receiver Tommylee Lewis with his back turned on a Drew Brees pass attempt.
Had pass interference been called, the Saints could have worked the clock down to a last-second field goal attempt to punch a ticket to the Super Bowl.
Instead, they settled for a field goal, which was answered by the Rams and Los Angeles eventually won with a field goal in overtime.
Consequently, fans want the game replayed. There’s an online petition asking for that and it has more than 610,000 signatures as of Tuesday afternoon. An attorney filed a civil suit in New Orleans on Tuesday, according to multiple reports, demanding the game be replayed. And a Louisiana politician, Chris Roberts, said via in a social media post he’d support a Saints parade during the Super Bowl, if his colleagues were game.
The no-call isn’t the first or last time officials will bear the brunt of sports fans for an alleged mistake. Here are some other infamous cases when a referee or umpire blew a call in a big spot:
- The 1990 college football game between Colorado and Missouri, also known as the Fifth Down Game. Colorado was given five downs to score a game-winning touchdown as time expired. The Buffaloes downed ball on fourth down to stop the clock, before getting the fifth down to run in the game-winner.
- Game 6 of the 1985 World Series between the Kansas City Royals and St. Louis Cardinals. Umpire Don Denkinger ruled Kansas City’s Jorge Orta safe at first base in the bottom of the ninth with the Cards leading 1-0. Orta was the tying run in a two-run ninth that helped the Royals force Game 7, which they won en route to the World Series title.
- Game 6 of the 1999 Stanley Cup Finals between the Dallas Stars and Buffalo Sabres. Brett Hull scored the Cup-clinching goal in triple overtime. It’s known in Buffalo and among NHL fans as “No Goal,” because Hull had his foot in the crease when he scored it. At the time, that was an illegal move. The referees didn’t call it and Dallas celebrated winning the Stanley Cup, something Buffalo is still waiting to do.
This year’s Super Bowl takes place Sunday, Feb. 3 at Atlanta’s Mercedes-Benz Stadium between the Rams and New England Patriots.
