In one week, we collected more than 760,000 signatures on my petition for a re-match between the New Orleans Saints and theL.A. Rams for the NFC championship. While the game doesn't look like it will happen, we should all feel proud for our protest of the pathetic officiating at the Jan. 20 game and by making a strong, bold statement. I have ended the petition drive which no doubt has been a huge success. I will forward the details to the NFL. And I thank each and everyone of you who signed on. Together we can and will and have made a difference. Here is my official news release -- please feel free to share. HEADLINE: 760,000 petition NFL for not calling penalty, costing Saints Super Bowl trip MADISON, Miss. (Saturday, Jan. 26, 2019) – Terry Cassreino, the Mississippi resident and New Orleans native who created a Change.org petition requesting a replay of the Jan. 20 NFC Championship game, has ended the petition after more than 760,000 people signed it. Cassreino issued the following statement: “When I created the petition requesting that NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell set a re-match between the New Orleans Saints and the Los Angeles Rams, I did so in response to the officials’ failure to call a pass interference and a helmet-to-helmet penalty that a Rams player committed in the final minutes of the NFC Championship game Sunday, Jan. 20. As evidenced by the more than 760,000 signatures on the petition – more than three-quarters of a million people – the call is widely viewed as having cost the New Orleans Saints a berth in the Super Bowl scheduled for Feb. 3, 2019. “While it is now evident that Commissioner Goodell has no intention of doing the right thing and acting on the request for a new game or even restarting the game at the moment the infraction occurred, he ignores at his peril the 760,000-plus football fans who have peacefully registered their disgust and anger over the lack of remedy when referees fail to accurately call a game. “When a foul rises to the danger of an intentional, helmet-to-helmet hit, players deserve to know that such an action will result in a severe penalty to the offending team. Players’ safety and life-long health depend on it. In this case, Saints Coach Sean Payton loudly and urgently appealed to the referees to make the call; they ignored him – and the Rams went on to win. “Commissioner Goodell – the leader of the NFL – has remained strangely silent this entire week. He has said nothing publicly about this blatant non-call. And that has upset and angered many people around the nation. “The integrity of the game is at risk. Goodell must come out of hiding and make a public statement; NFL fans nationwide, Saints fans, Saints players, Saints officials and the great city of New Orleans deserve nothing less. They deserve to know what Commisioner Goodell thinks and where he stands. “The NFL announced Friday they fined Rams cornerback Nickell Robey-Coleman $26,739 for the helmet-to-helmet hit. That, however, is an insult to football fans everywhere. With players earning hundreds of thousands of dollars a year, a $26,739 fine is pocket change. Robey-Coleman deserved a more significant fine for the blatant action he freely admitted to after the game. And when you factor in that Saints wide receiver Michael Thomas was fined $30,000 for making a cell phone call after a touchdown in the Saints-Rams regular season game on Nov. 4, the Robey-Coleman fine is even more of a joke. “It is time for Commissioner Goodell and other NFL leaders to change the rules to keep this scenario from happening again. Coaches should be allowed to call for a film review of a blatant foul that has been missed in any playoff game. There are drones and cameras recording every angle of every play in NFL games. There is no reason why a film review should not be allowed. “On behalf of the more than 760,000 people who signed my petition, I urge Commissioner Goodell to act on this safety and fairness issue with all due speed, since it is more than apparent that he has chosen to ignore Rule 17, Section 2, Article 1 of NFL rules that would let him call for a re-match between the Saints and the Rams or at the very least resume playing the NFC championship game at the point of the infraction that was not called. “To the thousands of people who signed my petition and voiced their concern: Thank you. Thank you for making your voice known. While we didn’t get a rematch or a resumption of the game from the point of the infraction, we did make one heck of an important point by voicing our anger and frustration through this petition. I am honored that you placed your trust in me enough to sign on. I assure you that other people, sports fans, NFL players, NFL owners and NFL executives are well aware of this protest and petition. Our numbers say it all. “We are passionate about our team and about football. It's time the NFL and its leadership – headed by Commissioner Goodell – see it the same way we do. “We didn’t get the rematch we more than deserved, but our message was loud-and-clear. The lack of effective officiating cost a deserving team – arguably the NFL’s best team this year and possibly the best New Orleans team ever – a trip to the biggest football game of the year. That is simply unconscionable.” # # #