Judge: Goodell must testify about ‘nocall’
A Louisiana judge ordered that NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell and three officials from January’s NFC title game be questioned under oath in September about the “nocall” that helped the Rams beat the Saints to reach the Super Bowl, a lawyer said Monday.
Attorney Antonio LeMon, who filed a lawsuit over the game, said he and league attorneys will pick a mutually agreeable date for depositions in New Orleans — barring any league appeals that might delay or cancel the questioning.
A league spokesman declined comment.
LeMon’s lawsuit seeks $75,000 in damages — to be donated to charity — over the failure to flag a pass interference or roughness penalty against Rams cornerback Nickell RobeyColeman for his helmettohelmet hit on receiver Tommylee Lewis well before a pass arrived. The nocall came at a crucial point in the game.
State Civil District Court Judge Nicole Sheppard of New Orleans ruled this month that LeMon’s lawsuit could proceed. She also ruled then that LeMon can request documents and ask questions of NFL officials. She said Monday that depositions should take place in September. She also set Aug. 22 for the next hearing in the lawsuit, LeMon said.
Other suits dealing with the blown call have wound up in federal court, where they have failed. They included one longshot 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.
LeMon said he intends for any money won to go to former Saints player Steve Gleason’s charity to aid people with neuromuscular diseases. Gleason was diagnosed with ALS in 2011. Dolphins fire Oline coach: Miami fired offensive line coach Pat Flaherty a day after he expressed disappointment with the performance of his unit. He was replaced by Dave DeGuglielmo, who is beginning his third stint with the team as an assistant coach.
Flaherty, a 19year coaching veteran who joined head coach Brian Flores’ staff this summer after spending two seasons with Jacksonville, said Sunday that only left tackle Laremy Tunsil had locked up a starting spot based on the first week of camp.
Flaherty expressed concern about the performance of his entire unit and about ex49er Daniel Kilgore’s play at center. Flaherty said Michael Deiter, the Dolphins’ 2019 thirdround pick, has a long way to go before he’s ready to become a starter. It’s unclear whether Flaherty’s criticism cost him his job. Quinn’s anthem stance: Dallas defensive end Robert Quinn says he chose his new team before an offseason trade from Miami because it felt like the right fit when he visited the Cowboys. There remains one issue unaddressed with owner Jerry Jones: protesting during the national anthem.
Quinn raised his fist during the anthem while he was with the Rams and then the Dolphins. Jones has taken a hard stance against such displays by his players, saying a year ago at training camp: “Our policy is that you stand at the anthem, toe on the line.”
“It might come up,” Quinn said when asked if he planned to discuss it with Jones. Cowboys’ Plan B: Dallas agreed to contract terms with Alfred Morris, bringing back the running back with twotime rushing champion Ezekiel Elliott holding out of training camp. Morris was the replacement back for the Cowboys when Elliott was suspended for six games over domesticviolence allegations two years ago. Bucs sign Testaverde’s son: Tampa Bay signed quarterback Vincent Testaverde, whose father, Vinny, was taken by the Buccaneers with the No. 1 overall pick in the 1987 NFL draft and is still the club’s career passing leader. The younger Testaverde played his final college season at Albany, where he transferred after playing at Texas Tech as a freshman and spending two years at his father’s alma mater, Miami.