Mark Ingram may now be a member of the Baltimore Ravens, but that does not mean he will forget how his final season with the New Orleans Saints ended this past year.
Of course, the Saints fell to the Los Angeles Rams in the NFC Championship Game in controversial fashion, as Rams cornerback Nickell Robey-Coleman clearly interfered with now-former Saints receiver Tommylee Lewis on a third-down play late in the fourth quarter, but no flag was thrown.
The no-call certainly had an impact on the outcome, as the Saints then went on to lose to the Rams in overtime.
Six months later, Ingram is still not over it, and he doesn't think New Orleans will ever move past it:
“That is something that no one on our team, no one in our organization, will ever get over,” Ingram told Peter King of NBC Sports. “That is tough. Tough. When you get to that point, basically one play from the Super Bowl, there’s no justifying that, there’s no comfort in that.”
The no-call was so egregious that it even resulted in a rule change where coaches can now challenge pass interference:
“Obviously, they changed the rule, so they know they got it wrong,” said Ingram. “Some players play 14, 15 years without making it to a playoff game, so to be able to make it to that point, a minute and some change left, and if you get this call, you’ve got a fresh set of downs, and you’re going to the Super Bowl. It was sickening. Every time I see the play, it’s a bad feeling, it’s a dark cloud over me.”
It should be pointed out that that single play was not the sole reason why the Saints lost that game, but that obviously doesn't make it any easier for Ingram, his former teammates or Saints fans to digest.
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