State court suit over ‘no call’ can proceed
NEW ORLEANS — A Louisiana judge ruled Thursday that a damage lawsuit can continue against the NFL over the playoff “no-call” that helped the Los Angeles Rams beat the New Orleans Saints and advance to the Super Bowl.
State Civil District Court Judge Nicole Sheppard also ruled that attorney Antonio “Tony” LeMon can request documents and ask questions of NFL officials. LeMon said that means he will be able to question NFL commissioner Roger Goodell and three game officials in depositions about the lack of a penalty — pass interference or roughness — against Rams cornerback Nickell Robey-Coleman for his helmet-to-helmet hit on receiver Tommylee Lewis well before a pass arrived. The play came during a crucial point in January’s NFC title game.
Attorneys representing the NFL in the case didn’t immediately respond to emailed requests for comment. LeMon said he was informed that NFL attorneys, whose bid to stop the suit was rejected, would seek relief at a state appeal court.
LeMon said money is not the object of the February suit that he and three others filed, which alleges fraud by NFL officials. It seeks only $75,000, which LeMon said would go to charity.
“The purpose of the lawsuit is not to get some minuscule amount of money. They won’t even notice that,” LeMon said. “It’s to get at the truth.”
Other suits dealing with the blown call have wound up in federal court, where they have failed. They included one long-shot effort to have the game or a crucial part of it played over before the Rams met the New England Patriots in the Super Bowl, which the Patriots won.