Saints What was your PERSONAL reaction to the “no-call” vs the Rams? (1 Viewer)

[Day1]

Visceral disgust. I have not watched another NFL game, including Super Bowls since. I only watch Saints games, period. I can handle when a player or team fails ( SF '11, Minny debacle, etc) but to see blatant theft in order to worship the LA dollar made it crystal clear that the league is governed and owned by criminals.

 

[Hedon James]

My uncle took me to my 1st ever Saints game in California to see us play the 49ers. He would travel with the team at least 2 games a year. I invited him to the Atlanta game later this year and he declined. It's sad really, but he just doesn't like Allen at all.

I don't dislike Allen, and I certainly don't hate him. I've just seen enough to verify that he IS who his record says he is. I just find him to be uninspiring and have no confidence in any potential upside. I've seen enough from him to want to see what the NEXT guy brings to the table. Maybe better, maybe worse, but at least we'll have HOPE and aspirations. My only hope & aspiration with DA is that he'll be replaced....eventually; so let's just get it over with and find the next guy this offseason, so I can experience some hope and aspirations for the B&G again.

 

[Kegger]

Why are you bringing this up? You really want people to relive their pain?

 

[SaintsMan209]

I was devestated and felt very much like I had lost years of my life hoping the Saints would win when in fact they never had a chance. the veil was lifted from my eyes and it's never been the same.

 

[Grumpy Old Manatee]

I’d say, but it’s much too personal. How dare the OP pose these types of questions.

 

[TheRealJRad]

It was so bad no one even mentions the missed rouging call on the Brees pick in OT.

Personally, I haven't cared about football on anywhere near the same level since.

 

[saintmdterps]

I’d always taken the pragmatic approach that fandom is a zero sum game; every weekend 1/2 of all fans are sad. After the no-call and ensuing condolences from friends who were fans of every other team, I realized it’s just not worth getting invested in a game that’s not really zero-sum, but rigged.

 

[Blazing Saint]

Why even bring this up right now? We literally reached first place of the division just yesterday.

 

[DahnVill]

Disbelief. Just complete and utter disbelief.

Being in the UK it happened around 11.30pm IIRC. I was watching the game on my own but had a few messages with my brother (not an NFL fan but he knows I'm a huge Saints fan so he was keeping an eye on it) and after the game finished I just sat on the sofa in silence for like an hour. I didn't know what to do with myself, I just felt so weak and empty.

I kept thinking back to what we could've done differently. What if MT hadn't dropped the ball when Drew audibled to a quick slant 2 plays earlier? The clock would've kept running & the Rams might not have had time for the game-tying FG. Or what if Drew had stuck with the same playcall (I'm guessing it was a run) and kept the clock running? Or if the refs had called roughing the passer when Brees got hit in the helmet on that interception in overtime? It's interesting that through this entire thread, only 1 other person mentioned it, when otherwise that would be the big talking point.

I can't remember if I avoided this site or not, but I avoided everything else NFL related until the Super Bowl, which I always watch with my mates Greg (Seahawks fan) and Al (Vikings fan) - I don't know any Saints fans over here, but they're both good guys and we also had an NFL chat group on WhatsApp. Anyway, I was rooting hard for the Patriots and when they won I held a certain digit up and swore once or twice at the Rams. I actually posted a watered down version of my reaction on here and got a warning from the mods!

But fast forward to October 2022 and I'm in London for the Saints-Vikings game with Greg & Al. I'm the "biggest" fan of the 3 of us (ie. I get the most vocal, animated etc) and while I didn't really know Al back in 2009 we've spoken about the 09 NFCCG a few times, plus of course the "miracle" in 2017, but he's been cool about stuff and I figure we're kind of even.

But late in the London game we had the phantom "hands to the face" penalty on Mathieu on 3rd down which gave the Vikings a 1st down, then there was the PI call on Lattimore a few plays later when Thielen had hold of Latt's facemask, which led to 1st & goal & a Vikings TD. I called out "bullshirt" pretty loud several times and was sure the fix was in. Again.

The next day, after seeing the highlights on TV and those 2 penalties again, I found still photos / close-ups of both penalties and posted them on our chat group just to back up my views / behaviour and that we'd been cheated again. After a few messages back and forth (OK, me moaning!), Al ended up leaving the group, making some lame excuse that he needed to save memory space on his phone or something. He didn't come to last year's Super Bowl meet up & I haven't seen him since. And sometime during this chat I brought up the No Call, to which Greg said that "there's a song in the film Frozen that can help you I think". I was absolutely livid! I decided to bite my tongue rather than alienate him too, but a few months ago we were chatting NFL stuff and I had to tell him that I was so pee'd off with what he said, and tried to explain that I just can't get over the No Call and never will.

It probably sounds over-dramatic but it feels like a small part of me died that night. For years, outside of my family and friends, the Saints were the most important thing to me. I'd watch every game live, take time off work for late night games, read every possible article online, bought jerseys & a lot of other merch etc. But I'll never get back to that stage and while I still watch most of our games live, over the past year I've missed like 5 or 6 as it just doesn't feel the same anymore. What's the point of investing so much time and energy (and money!) into something that's just going to rip your guts out?

I guess maybe I've learned not to get too caught up in stuff going forward (which is kinda difficult at the moment as my favourite "soccer" team are doing the best they've done for like 20 years!) so I try and distract myself to avoid overthinking stuff. Sometimes it works, but not always!

Oh, and while I haven't seen Al since the London game last year, we have "made up" over text so I didn't completely ruin a friendship over a game of football!

 

[Bill]

It was a horrible call. Not a deliberate one... just the worst call Cavaletto ever made in his career.
It proved how human this game really is.

 

[rsmith2783]

I was there and for the first time I saw multiple grown men crying. I was stunned and couldn't believe what happened. The refs ran out of the entrance where we were sitting and fans were trying to throw objects and hit them. The police actually had to get involved.

As bad as the no-call was, I think the game that zapped all of the life out of me was the 2011 lost to the 49ers.

 

[Lustmord]

I cant even.....

 

[SAINT BIGAL]

Shock and disbelief. A part of my NFL fandom died that day.

 

[Day1]

DPI called correctly in regulation and there would not have been the opportunity for the overtime "hands to the face" ignored (not missed) call.

 

[timpoulos]

I was absolutely seeing red! But in my mind, I wondered why Lewis didn’t get up and scream bloody murder! He just ran off like “oh, well.”

Brees and the Saints should have gotten their 2nd Super Bowl that season!

I was at the game. $770 for an endzone ticket to wath that bullcrap. It is so bad even today, that every time we get called for a pass interference penalty, i get way upset. We should NEVER be called for another interference for 20 years after that no call. The other thing is my dartboard with Bill Vinovich's head on it. I swear that guy will never walk into the Supderdome again. I can promise you that. SOB.