Unfortunately, the Commissioner of the National Football League has left the Los Angeles Rams out to dry by not addressing his mess in New Orleans.
With a throng of media types in Atlanta this week, the Los Angeles Rams will face a barrage of questions regarding their legitimacy as NFC Champions beginning tonight. It certainly isn’t fair all things considered, nor is it worth the insane amount of airtime the question will ultimately get.
It’s also something that needs a resolution. The fact that NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell remains silent on the issue is another lapse of judgement on his part. While a statement from his office would do little to quell New Orleans Saints fans who are determined to die on that hill, anything from him would likely have have moved the topic along much faster than his silence has ultimately advanced it.
The Rams deserve better.
Debating a blown call over a week ago, and the idea that it still is getting substantial airtime, is a sign that the league and its media followers could use some guidance, or at the very least an effort to diffuse the situation now nine days old.
Beginning tonight in Atlanta and for the next six days, the egregiously missed pass interference call will hang around the collective neck of the Rams. The Commissioner certainly owes it to the biggest week of the year and a statement on the matter will eventually be made. His silence however has only added to the drama that has unfortunately become the first topic in a week where the game is now in the second position.
The Rams and the New England Patriots will spend too much time answering a question that quite frankly deserves to be in the lap of the one person who needs to answer for it. Not the Rams, the players, or their coaches owe it to the NFL to help make this go away.
That job belongs to Goodell, whose silence speaks volumes about someone who always misses the bigger picture.