NEW ORLEANS — Read the following to see how Jim Henderson, a legend in sports known as 'The Voice of the Saints,' responds to the blatant no-call in Sunday's NFC championship game that contributed to the Saints loss:
‘It’s a play that will live in infamy as long as the NFL exists. This is going to be the worst nightmare that the NFL has ever envisioned prior to a Super Bowl, because once everyone convenes in Atlanta in a week, it’s all anyone is going to want to talk about.
"Nobody wants to hear about Bill Belichick and the Patriots again in the Super Bowl. Even the people in Los Angeles don’t want to hear about the Rams for the most part. This will be Roger Goodell’s worst nightmare when he has to face the press and all they want to talk about is that terrible call that deprived the Saints of the Super Bowl, I mean, I don’t think the city has gotten over it or will get over it for a long, long time.”
Some people liken it to last year and what happened against the Vikings but that was a play that went wrong, this is a game that was stolen from the Saints.
[It's] the worst non-call in NFL history and you’ll see a lot of repercussions from this. The rule change will be at the impetus of the Saints and there will be a rule change whereby pass interference being called and not being called can be reviewed and can be rectified when it’s egregiously wrong.
Do you think fans will boycott the Super Bowl?
I think a lot of Saints fans will boycott the Super Bowl and I think a lot of people nationwide will boycott the Super Bowl. I think this is going to be… the worst-rated Super Bowl in history – because it’s tainted.
Was it intentional? Is the game rigged?
No. Everybody has their conspiracy theories, there’s no possible way that would happen. If something like that were ever broached by Roger Goodell or somebody in the office of the NFL and somebody went public with it, it would destroy the game. That’s the whole integrity of the game and all the people who bet on it and that’s most everybody.
This was not rigged. You’re not gonna see a replay, you’re not going to see it picked up from that moment. You’re not going to see the game played over again. That would be precedent-setting and the NFL would never want to do this, so, it’s over as far as the outcome.
But, there are provisions for the commissioner to do just that? Order a replay?
This is for a catastrophe interrupting a game – an earthquake, a hurricane arriving mid-game, something like that, something cataclysmic. It’s not to just reverse the outcome of a game.
There are some suggestions that we should have a parade on Super Bowl Sunday.
I don’t see that happening either. I think it’s well-intentioned, but, you’re going to bring back the team for this? Who’ve scattered to points unknown, all four corners of the United States. They’ll probably be on the beaches somewhere during Super Bowl week. Who would you bring back? Sean Payton? It’s a nice thought, but you’ve got to have police protection. I don’t see that happening. It’s a nice idea. It’s a nice sentiment. I don’t believe it will happen.
You can see the full interview on the Eyewitness News at 10 p.m.