SLIDELL, La. — A Louisiana coroner has ruled on the official cause of death for the 2018 New Orleans Saints' season: homicide.
St. Tammany Parish Coroner Dr. Charles Preston said he has carefully reviewed evidence from the NFC Championship and has ruled that Saints' Super Bowl berth died "of blunt force trauma to the head and chest."
"Manner of death was homicide. With sufficient evidence captured on video, one would expect appropriate authorities to take action," a statement from Dr. Preston's office said.
The coroner added that he experienced trauma from witnessing the controversial no-call, "like millions of Saints fans."
Preston's office was not the only government agency making jokes after the NFC Championship.
In the hours after the game, the Slidell Police Department wrote on Facebook that police should issue warrants for the NFL officials on theft charges.
The Los Angeles Police Department later mentioned the New Orleans Police Department on Twitter saying "we just don't see enough evidence of a crime." The NOPD later responded by saying, "There's video evidence from multiple angles."
The New Orleans Saints' Super Bowl dreams ended Sunday in an overtime loss to the Los Angeles Rams after a controversial no-call.
Los Angeles cornerback Nickell Robey-Coleman committed a blatant interference penalty with a helmet-to-helmet hit on Tommylee Lewis well before the pass arrived inside the 5, forcing the Saints to settle for Wil Lutz's 31-yard field goal that made it 23-20 with 1:41 left in regulation.
If the pass interference penalty had been called, the Saints could've run most of the time off the clock to set up a winning field goal from chip-shot range.
The Rams head to Atlanta in about a week for the Feb. 3 Super Bowl at Mercedes-Benz Stadium. They will face the five-time champion Patriots, who won the AFC title in a game that also went to overtime.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.