Late in the afternoon on Sunday, Jan. 20, not too long after the clock hit zeros on the controversial 2019 NFC Championship Game, a decision was made. The officials who had worked that game and missed a crucial pass interference call on Los Angeles Rams cornerback Nickell Robey-Coleman -- one that helped decide the outcome of the contest -- would have to be moved to another hotel.
With a police escort, the seven-man crew was transported out of the heart of a seething New Orleans and into the safer ground of the suburbs. The phone calls and banging on doors and threats had become too much.