TODAY’S TALKER

NFL’s Goodell, title game officials to face questions on ‘no-call’

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 infamous “no-call” that helped the Los Angeles Rams beat the New Orleans Saints in that game, a lawyer said Monday.

Attorney Antonio LeMon, who filed a lawsuit over the game that advanced the Rams to the Super Bowl, 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 Robey-Coleman for his helmet-to-helmet hit on receiver Tommylee Lewis well before a pass arrived. The no-call came at a crucial point in the game. The Rams won and advanced to the Super Bowl in Atlanta, where they lost to New England.

State Civil District Court Judge Nicole Sheppard of New Orleans ruled earlier 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, according to LeMon.

Other suits dealing with the blown call have wound up in federal court, where they failed.

LeMon, whose lawsuit alleges fraud by NFL officials, has crafted his lawsuit to avoid having it taken over by a federal court, in part by keeping the damages sought low.