Saints TE Ben Watson urged NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell to address the controversial no-call in the NFC Championship, tweeting that Goodell's "continued silence on this matter is unbecoming of the position," according to Josh Katzenstein of the New Orleans TIMES-PICAYUNE. Watson went on to say Goodell's silence is "detrimental to the integrity of the game and disrespectful and dismissive to football fans everywhere." Watson: "Lead by example. We are waiting" (New Orleans TIMES-PICAYUNE, 1/25). ESPN's Damien Woody said the “time has passed” for Goodell to address the issue. Woody: "It’s more just about accountability. ... You’re doing the league a disservice by not addressing that when he should have addressed it.” ESPN's Will Cain asked, "What do you want Roger Goodell to say? He can’t come out and apologize. ... To focus all of our attention on Roger Goodell is simply easy. There’s nothing he can do.” ESPN’s Stephen A. Smith: “It's not about what specifically he would say or could say. It's about a willingness to speak up on an issue that has impugned the league in some respect” ("First Take," ESPN, 1/25).
TIME IS OF THE ESSENCE: ESPN's Scott Van Pelt said by not addressing the controversy, Goodell will "only make the questions" he will face next week during his annual State of the League address prior to Super Bowl LIII "worse." Van Pelt: "Make a statement this week so when you’re asked about it next week, you can say we already covered that." Goodell is "still apparently hoping this is going to go away." Van Pelt: "It hasn’t and it’s not going to. Inevitably, you will have to say something publicly, and it only gets more awkward the longer it goes. There’s nowhere to hide next week” (“SportsCenter,” ESPN, 1/25). SI.com's Conor Orr writes under the header, "Goodell's Silence On Saints-Rams No-Call Is Deafening." Orr: "We all know how this is going to play out -- Roger Goodell bundling his first public comments on the Saints into his yearly Super Bowl address, with the ability to evade any journalistic momentum with the appearance of a conveniently located 'Kid Correspondent' or single-issue reporter from out-of-town needing a pressing answer on some provincial football matter" (SI.com, 1/25).
SILENCE IS GOLDEN? Former NFLer Ross Tucker argued that when Goodell speaks to the media, it "doesn’t really help him or the league." Tucker: "It actually hurts him. I think they’ve decided the more he talks, the worse it seems to be for him, the worse it seems to be for the NFL, so they try to have him talk ... as little as possible" (“Angelo Cataldi and The Morning Team,” WIP-FM, 1/25).
