Have the New Orleans Saints been the recipients of unfair treatment in the officiating of their games the last few years? And is that potential targeting of the Who Dat Nation by the refs part of the reason longtime coach Sean Payton will be taking the reins of the Denver Broncos this season?
In a new interview with ESPN, Payton opened up on his decision to exit the Crescent City despite a contract that still had several years left and paid him well to lead a franchise he took to greater heights than anyone else in its history.
Payton “retired” from the game of football following the 2021 season and spent last year working as an analyst for FOX Sports. This past offseason, the Saints traded his rights to Denver, and he will helm a Broncos team led by quarterback Russell Wilson, who seemed to lose his way last year after several successful seasons in Seattle.
But as for why he stepped away in the first place, Payton’s ESPN interview saw him bring up a study that noted his Saints teams were an “extreme outlier in penalties drawn,” a report that was made public by the sports site Fansided.
Payton said he sent that report to the NFL’s main office.
Every team’s fans of course believe they got the shaft from the refs on any given call, but you’d be hard-pressed to find an instance as egregious as the “no-call” that kept the Saints from making their second Super Bowl appearance following the 2018 season.
Blatant pass interference was ignored by a nearby referee, ending a drive that would have seen the Saints run out the clock and defeat the Los Angeles Rams in the NFC Championship Game had they only gotten that first down, which would have been awarded via penalty had interference been called.
Now infamously known as the “NOLA No-Call,” it’s the totem that fans point to in New Orleans when they wish to state the case for their team being jobbed by officials.
Payton himself of course was suspended for the entire 2012 season as part of the NFL’s investigation into what it deemed was an illegal pay-for-performance program that incentivized injuring opposing players, an investigation that has since been debunked.
So of course, with Payton now getting a fresh start in the Mile High City and the Saints now in their second season since his abrupt departure, the question remains as to whether that dark cloud will finally give way to sunny skies, both high up in the mountains and down on the bayou.
We’ll find out beginning this Sunday.