Goodell admits officials blew call

NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell (right) speaks with Seattle Seahawks head coach Pete Carroll before a NFC wild-card NFL football game between the Dallas Cowboys and the Seattle Seahawks in Arlington, Texas, Saturday, Jan. 5, 2019.
NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell (right) speaks with Seattle Seahawks head coach Pete Carroll before a NFC wild-card NFL football game between the Dallas Cowboys and the Seattle Seahawks in Arlington, Texas, Saturday, Jan. 5, 2019.

ATLANTA -- NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell provided the league's first public admission Wednesday that its officials erred with their pass interference non-call late in the NFC championship game that went a long way toward putting the Los Angeles Rams, rather than the New Orleans Saints, in Sunday's Super Bowl.

Goodell, speaking at his annual state-of-the-league address, said the league's competition committee will consider the prospect of making interference rulings subject to review by instant replay, although he stopped short of declaring that he favors such a modification to the sport's replay system. He said he never considered overturning the result of the game and ordering it to be replayed from the point of the missed call, believing that he does not possess the authority to do so even if so inclined.

"It's a play that should be called," Goodell said. "We're going to make sure that we do everything possible to address the issues going forward and see if there are improvements we can make with instant replay or anything else. I understand the emotions."

Goodell also spoke about the effectiveness of the Rooney Rule and Colin Kaepernick's football unemployment. But the main concern of those in attendance was the tumult over the interference non-call that has continued into Super Bowl week.

"We understand the frustration that they feel right now," Goodell said of the Saints and their fans. "We certainly want to address that. Whenever officiating is part of any kind of discussion postgame, it's never a good outcome for us. We know that. Our clubs know that. Our officials know that. But we also know our officials are human."

Al Riveron, the NFL's senior vice president of officiating, admitted to Saints Coach Sean Payton after the game that interference should have been called against the Rams' Nickell Robey-Coleman for an early hit on the Saints' Tommylee Lewis. Robey-Coleman was fined for an illegal hit on Lewis on the play that also went uncalled.

Goodell noted that the competition committee in the past has been against making judgment calls such as pass interference subject to replay. But he said the league must consider potential changes.

"Technology is not going to solve all those issues," Goodell said. "The game is not officiated by robots. It's not going to be. But we have to continue to go down that path."

Any rule change would have to be approved by at least 24 of the 32 teams.

"We will look again at instant replay," Goodell said. "There have been a variety of proposals over the last probably 15, 20 years of should replay be expanded. It does not cover judgment calls. This was a judgment call. The other complication is that it was a no-call.

"Our coaches and clubs have been very resistant and there has not been support to date about having a replay official or somebody in [the league's officiating department in] New York throw a flag when there's no flag. They have not voted for that in the past. It doesn't mean that they won't [now]. It's something that we're going to put to the competition committee, see if there's an answer to that."

The NFL rule book empowers Goodell to overturn the result of a game or to order all or part of a game to be replayed for an extraordinarily unfair act. But the rule book also states the commissioner will not take such action based on a complaint by a team over a judgment call by the officials. Goodell cited that clause in the rule book, saying he was not authorized to act in this case.

"That was not a consideration," Goodell said.

In a report Wednesday, The Associated Press pointed out that on 2018 coaching staffs, only four minorities held the stepping-stone jobs of offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach, just 7.1 percent of 56 jobs. That lack of minority coaches in the pipeline helped contribute to the NFL's sharpest-ever one-year drop in minority head coaches, from eight to three, with Brian Flores soon to become the fourth when he moves from the Patriots to the Dolphins.

Many advocates of diversity in the league have questioned the current effectiveness of the Rooney Rule, in which teams are required to interview at least one minority candidate for any head coach or general manager vacancy.

Goodell defended the rule, which has been used in other industries, emphasizing it has opened opportunities that didn't exist previously.

"We don't look at the success or failure of the Rooney Rule in one-year increments," Goodell said. "We've had the Rooney Rule around for nearly 20 years. It has had an extraordinary impact on the NFL. Over 20 clubs have hired minority (head) coaches in that period of time.

"We want to figure out how we can create a deeper pool of coaches so that they have that opportunity when the coaching opportunities arise."

On Kaepernick, who some claim has been blackballed by the league for sparking social injustice and police brutality demonstrations during the national anthem, Goodell said:

"I think if a team decides that Colin Kaepernick or any other player can help their team win, that's what they'll do. They want to win and they make those decisions individually in the best interest of their club. Our clubs are the ones that make decisions on players they want to have on their roster. They make that decision individually in the best interests of their team."

Information for this article was contributed by The Washington Post and The Associated Press.

Sports on 01/31/2019

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