Saints General Manager Mickey Loomis went to Mobile to get away.
Because any minute he spends thinking about 2019 NFL Draft prospects at the Senior Bowl is a minute he’s not thinking about why he isn’t getting ready for a Super Bowl. Via Mike Triplett of ESPN.com, Loomis said he’s had a few “sleepless nights” since the blown no-call of an obvious pass interference and is doing what he can to move on.
“That’s why I’m here. I had to get over here for my mental state,” Loomis said.
He said he hadn’t heard from the league since head of officials Alberto Riveron called coach Sean Payton immediately after the NFC Championship Game to tell him his crew blew it. He also said he was going to defer to owner Gayle Benson’s statement saying she wanted to “aggressively pursue” changes to make sure a similar result doesn’t happen again.
“The disappointment will never go away and that pain will never go away,” he said. “Look, our fans are hurting. Our coaches and staff put so much time and effort. And we achieved so many great goals -- win the division, secure the No. 1 seed, win the divisional round in a tough game. We did enough to put ourselves in a position to win this game. And then to kind of have that happen and have the rug pulled out from under you, so to speak, that’s difficult to take. It’s difficult for our fans to take.
“So I understand the hurt. This goes under the category of, ‘Life’s not fair.’”
The NFL would love it if the Saints and their fans were able to shrug it off and move on, without making any fundamental changes to their rules or procedures. That would allow them to bathe in the Super Bowl spotlight (and money), without acknowledging how faulty the system they created was and is.