NEW ORLEANS — A handful of ardent New Orleans Saints fans gathered at Tracey's Sports Bar in the Irish Channel and listened to NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell make his first public comments on the now infamous NOLA no-call.
Like most New Orleanians, these guys claim the refs cost the Saints a trip to the Super Bowl when they failed to call an obvious pass interference penalty late in the NFC Championship game.
Goodell indicated its a play the league wants game officials to call.
"They're not going to get it right every time as I say they're human," Goodell said.
Fans say the explanation was a joke.
"This whole thing felt fake and forced," fan Nick Guth said. "Felt like he knew the answers to the questions before they were even asked."
"He just danced around it the whole time," fan Jacob April said. "He really didn't answer any of the questions that was asked of him."
Fans blasted Goodell for waiting ten days to address the no-call
They wanted an apology and didn't get one.
"That would have been somewhat nice if he would have addressed the city of New Orleans, hey we're sorry we made this call," fan Jeffrey Carreras said. "It happened. Hopefully it doesn't happen again type thing."
"An apology would have been better than anything," April said. "They blew it. Sorry to the fans of New Orleans."
Fans also say Goodell sounded luke warm on the topic of instant replay.
They want a system in place that can correct bad calls in real time.
"I know the play itself could not be reviewed, but circumstances like that, they need to change the rule," Carreras said.
Fans were also disappointed Goodell never considered restarting the Saints-Rams game after the no-call.
"The whole thing from the start just felt dirty," Guth said. "It doesn't feel any better."