Saints On SI Mailbag: Bring on Zamir, What's with the Officials?

Working our way to the bottom of the mailbag to get to your comments and questions.

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From the Saints On SI Mailbag, from Ray-Ray asks Why are they not seeing what Zamir White has to offer. He is a beast gives 110% smh???

Saints running back Zamir White takes a handoff during individual drills in preseason. | On SI Saints - Doug Joubert

As of this writing, no moves have been made by the Saints to fill Travis Etienne Jr's absense. A-Chan will be out for an undetermined amount of time after pulling his left hamstring on a first down run in the second half of the loss to the Raiders. The most obvious would be to move your suggestion, White, to the active roster.

He had four carries for 23-yards in the final preseason game against Dallas, after joining the team earlier that week. White also had two kickoff returns for 54-yards in that game.

He is a powerful runner for his size (6' 0", 227), White is a downhill runner, who shines when he runs inside with explosion through the hole, when provided. He was clocked at 4.40 in the 40 during the NFL Combine four years ago.

He spent four years with the Raiders, mostly as a backup power rusher and a contributor on special teams. In 2023, when Raiders starter had a quad injury late in the season, White piled up 84-carries for 397-yards and a touchdown.

We believe he will be the first move the Saints make to fill in Etienne's spot on roster, pulling White from the practice squad. In order to do that, though, the team will have to make another roster move.

From the Saints On SI Mailbag, from Margie asks Why dont the Saints try to do something about the refs cheating so much..Isnt it time to stand up to Goodall..go on national tv and voice your frustration..so what if you get fined..time to stand up for whats right.

It sure seems like the league has it in for the Saints. Ever since "Bountygate," Who Dats have cried foul over officiating of their heroes' games. It has seemed that calls just automatically go against the team. Just this year:
- On Sunday, the fumble that wasn't a pass when Tyler Shough was hit while trying to throw the ball.
- On September 13, a strip-sack fumble that was returned for a touchdown that was ruled an incomplete pass.

The most egregious of all, of course, occurred in the 2019 NFC championship game when officials missed an obvious pass interference call when the Rams' Robey Coleman not only hit Saints receiver Tommylee Lewis early, but had helmet-to-helmet contact before the ball ever arrived.

However, almost every team, except Kansas City probably, can point to a call that is preposterous:
- The Vikings when a Rams defender blatantly grabbed quarterback Sam Darnold's facemask and pulled his head down for a sack and safety in 2024
- The Lions' Calvin Johnson rule, when he didn't "complete the process" of catching the ball when he hit the ground in a 2010 game versus the Bears (along with another in 2015 that has earned the term "The Dallas Screwjob")
- Even the beloved Falcons can claim a missed pass interference penalty in 2024 against the Chiefs late in a game. Ah, the Chiefs....

What it comes down to is officiating. Yes, Saints fans have a right to be aggravated. Believe it or not, so does every fan of every NFL team. Because its season takes up less than half a year and only once a weekend during that time (unlike MLB and the NBA), NFL officials are contract laborers. Unlike professional basketball and baseball, NFL officiating is a part-time job.

Some say it should be full time, and that would solve the issues. If you have followed Pelicans games or any MLB contest you'll know officiating and umpiring are continuing to be a problem. Adding technology hasn't helped much, though the ABS system in baseball has seemed to improve with calling strikes and balls.

We believe it comes down to two things:
- Full-time officiating would help. Though the United Football League (UFL) is an independent spring federation, it is considered an official developmental pipeline to the NFL. Have fulltime officials officiate UFL games in the Spring and NFL games in the Fall.
- Create rules that are not perplexing and bewildering. Make them plain and easy to understand. From the "tuck rule" to "intent" to a quarterback "giving himself up," the rules are varied and many, so simplify them.

Until NFL owners make officiating and rule simplification priorities, the league will continue to be compared to championship wrestling, where matches and outcomes seem to be preplanned, though we all know they are not and that it's all real.

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