The referee for tonight's Saints-Cardinals preseason game is none other than Bill Vinovich.
— Jeff Duncan (@JeffDuncan_) August 10, 2024
We all remember it. The NOLA No-Call. The play that defined essentially what was the later part of Drew Brees’ career, and robbed the New Orleans Saints of a greater chance at seeing another Super Bowl. Bill Vinovich became the face of this catastrophe, and since that day in Jan. 2019, he had not refereed a Saints game.
This changed Saturday as Vinovich refereed the Saints’ preseason matchup against the Arizona Cardinals, bringing the pain back all over again. It’s probably not an accident this reunion was in Glendale, not New Orleans.
Vinovich has been a referee of some major games since then however no doubt about it, including Super Bowl LVIII, the 2022-2023 NFC Divisional Round matchup of the San Francisco 49ers and Dallas Cowboys, 2021-2022 AFC Conference Championship, and 2020-2021 AFC Conference Championship. He has refereed 85 games in the NFL since then, being held away from the Saints for five seasons. That streak ended Saturday, as he oversaw a Saints game once again.
