Louisiana governor: 'The NFL's got to do better going forward.'

Gov. John Bel Edwards reiterated his request for the NFL to ensure the correct penalty is called in future games after a critical non-call at the end of Sunday’s NFC Championship likely cost the New Orleans Saints a trip to the Super Bowl.

“I’m just calling on the Commissioner (Roger Goodell) to pursue rule changes so that doesn’t happen to anybody else,” Edwards said Wednesday during a campaign stop at CGI in Lafayette. “Obviously, the NFL’s got to do better going forward. It’s just an unfortunate problem that was created, I think, by the NFL and I think it’s the responsibility of the NFL to fix it.”

Edwards’ comments came a day after he sent a letter to Goodell expressing his displeasure with the events that led to the Los Angeles Rams leaving New Orleans with a 26-23 victory and a spot in the Super Bowl.

With less than two minutes left in the game, Rams cornerback Nickell Robey-Coleman hit Saints wide receiver Tommylee Lewis well before the ball arrived. The officials declined to call a penalty on the play, resulting in the game going into overtime and the Rams hitting a field goal for the win.

“That was really a case of pass interference,” Edwards said. “It could have been helmet-to-helmet contact. It could have been face guarding. It could have been unnecessary roughness. But any one of the four penalties would have changed the outcome of the game. But the fact that there was no review, no way to make sure that the proper call got made, is a real problem.”

Despite the collective misery and disbelief that still permeates much of Louisiana, Edwards — who officially announced his re-election bid Tuesday — said there are many reasons to feel positive about the state’s overall direction.

Edwards said Louisiana’s gross domestic product is now valued at approximately a quarter of a trillion dollars, its highest level ever. The state’s unemployment rate continues to drop and now sits at around 4.9 percent. The state budget has been stabilized. More Louisiana residents have health insurance.

“There’s a lot of good news out there in Louisiana,” he said. “I’m excited about being governor. I’m bullish on our future.”

Edwards admitted there are still challenges. He said he still plans to pursue a pay raise of $1,000 for every teacher and $500 for every school support worker. Louisiana’s average teacher salary is about $2,200 below the Southern regional average.

Edwards also plans to continue focusing on higher education and workforce development.

“We’re making sure that we make the connection between having an educated, skilled, trained workforce and then securing the investment in Louisiana that actually creates the jobs that then get filled by people in Louisiana. That’s what we’re doing across our state. That’s a model for economic development and it’s working,” he said.

Although the oil industry remains relatively sluggish, Edwards said energy continues to be a key factor in Louisiana’s economy. In recent years, the state has successfully turned to natural gas exploration and exports as a way to bolster the economy, a trend that is expected to continue. But the governor has not given up on the oil industry.

“We are going to continue to do what we can to build that industry back here in Louisiana,” he said. “We know that we have a lot of leasing activity for oil for the future. It continues to be critically important, and we’re going to do everything we can to be good partners with the industry.”