With a punctuation-fueled dispute recently emerging regarding whether the Commissioner claimed that representatives of the league office spoke with Saints players, it’s fair to scrutinize other claims made by the league regarding communications that occurred, or didn’t occur, in the aftermath of the Rams-Saints NFC Championship.
Here’s one that was resolved conclusively on Thursday. Despite a weekend leak by the league to ESPN and a Wednesday contention from the Commissioner at his annual pre-Super Bowl press conference that Competition Committee chairman Rich McKay spoke to Saints coach Sean Payton in the aftermath of the playoff game, McKay told PFT Live on Thursday afternoon that the two men have not spoken.
“No,” McKay said regarding whether he spoke to Payton. “I texted him after the game. I probably shouldn’t have. And I told him what a great year he had and how well I thought they’d played, and that I was sorry the way the game had come out. He texted back. Texted back again. I texted one more time and then I realized, ‘You know what? It’s a little sensitive. . . . I might want to back up here.’”
While not a major point, nuances, details, and subtleties like this can become relevant when trying to determine who does, and doesn’t, possess true and genuine credibility when trying to figure out the truth regarding the league’s contentions, positions, and intentions as to the challenge of improving officiating.
From why the league waited to admit the mistake publicly to whether the league is truly committed to finding creative and meaningful ways to ensure that similar outcomes won’t happen in the future, all we have to work with at this point is the league’s word.