NEW ORLEANS — A Louisiana attorney has filed a lawsuit against the NFL and Commissioner Roger Goodell over a controversial missed call in the New Orleans Saints' NFC championship loss to the Los Angeles Rams on Sunday.
The suit, filed Tuesday by lawyer Frank D'Amico Jr., seeks to hold Goodell and the league "accountable for the blatant (mis)actions of its employees and maintaining the integrity of the NFL," the firm said in a Facebook post.
The complaint stems from what many are calling an obvious missed pass interference call during the final minutes of the fourth quarter. That's when the Rams' Nickell Robey-Coleman "committed a blatant interference penalty with a helmet-to-helmet hit" on the Saints' Tommylee Lewis, the AP reported.
The Saints then settled for a field goal before the Rams followed suit, tying the game 23-23 and forcing it into overtime. The Rams ultimately won 26-23.
According to WVUE, the suit cites a provision in the NFL rule book that gives Goodell the power to take "corrective measures" if an incident occurs that is "so extraordinarily unfair" that it "has a major effect on the result of a game." The lawsuit says the rules allow Goodell to reschedule the game from the beginning, resume it from the moment of the missed call or reverse the game's result.
>> On NFL.com: Read the rule here
The firm said it has received several mostly positive phone calls about the suit.
"It appears, however, that any time the term 'lawsuit' arises that the general public believes it was filed for financial reasons and compensation for damages," the firm's Facebook post said. "The petition filed by our office was not a petition for damages, but rather a petition for a Writ of Mandamus which seeks equitable relief and NOT monetary damages."
The post continued: "Our plaintiffs and the entire fan base simply want Roger Goodell and the NFL to do the right thing in this situation, and if for whatever reason he refuses, we have set the wheels in motion to compel him to do so using the legal remedies afforded to us under the law."
– The Associated Press contributed to this report.