New Orleans Saints muddy their name for no good reason
The good thing for the New Orleans Saints is that they have the Lombardi Trophy, because right now -- and perhaps for the foreseeable future -- they will have to make do without their good name. The franchise on Friday took a standing eight count after a punch that couldn't be cushioned by the "everybody does it" defense. That shield, which never has been sufficient, maintained its winless streak.
Certainly, it's found to be lacking when, according to the NFL, at least two people in the Saints' hierarchy (General Manager Mickey Loomis and Coach Sean Payton) who knew about the team's bounty program -- and had the power to stop defensive players and former defensive coordinator Gregg Williams from continuing it -- with Loomis being given a directive by no less an authority than owner Tom Benson to do exactly that -- did nothing to shut it down.
Undoubtedly, Loomis and Payton will pay. Fines and suspensions possibly await them, though neither likely will lose his job after helping stock and coach the team that won Benson a Super Bowl in the 2009 season.
But both walk away from this with an image hit.
Worse, though, their inaction -- the league says Payton also turned a blind eye to the system -- allows the fleur de lis to take a hit. And if there's anything that should make Benson seethe, that's it.
An NFL investigation revealed that from 2009 to 2011, Saints defensive players and coaches knowingly stepped into a steaming pile of rule-breaking, and rather than back away and wipe clean their cleats, they ground deeper in the stink and kept going forward, as if they never would be discovered or the rules didn't apply to them.
They were wrong on both counts.
And just like that, the organization's name, which has enjoyed such widespread popularity and acceptance and respect since Payton was hired in 2006, has been dirtied.
Perhaps it's not stained enough that it rises to the level of smudge smeared over New England after "Spygate" in 2007. But it's sufficiently smeared that it won't soon or easily be forgotten what New Orleans has been accused of, and, apparently, convicted.
More than the fines to be levied, draft picks to be stripped and/or suspensions to be issued by Commissioner Roger Goodell, the label of being a dirty team will linger for New Orleans. And Goodell absolutely will, and should, hammer everyone who participated in or had knowledge of the bounty system, a pay-for-pain system instituted by players who accused the league of not caring about player safety during collective bargaining sessions.
The fact that the NFL has concluded illegal bonuses were offered and paid, from a pool funded by Williams and defensive players, for hits that knocked opponents out of games or resulted in them being carted off, only will give onlookers reason to recall the bounty in future games when the Saints' defense administers a jarring blow.
Williams, now with the St. Louis Rams, sounded sorrier than singer Brenda Lee on Friday.
"I want to express my sincere regret and apology to the NFL, Mr. Benson and the New Orleans Saints fans for my participation in the 'pay for performance' program while I was with the Saints," he said in a statement. "It was a terrible mistake, and we knew it was wrong while we were doing it. Instead of getting caught up in it, I should have stopped it. I take full responsibility for my role. I am truly sorry. I have learned a hard lesson, and I guarantee that I will never participate in or allow this kind of activity to happen again."
But the image damage has been done. The other shoe, which is being held by Goodell, soon will be dropped.
No, this disclosure won't overshadow all the marvelous accomplishments the Saints achieved the past three seasons. A total of 22 to 27 players have been identified, but no one who has lined up for the record-setting offense did anything wrong.
The Lombardi Trophy won't have to be surrendered, but other things will be.
New England, by illegally taping opponents and being convicted of that offense in '07, is considered more of a cheat than New Orleans, which added financial incentive to the defense's weekly intent. Patriots Coach Bill Belichick was fined $500,000, the franchise was fined $250,000 and the team surrendered its 2008 first-round pick.
It would be shocking if the Saints aren't more severely penalized. Their crime seems, and likely is, more sinister.
"The payments here are particularly troubling because they involved not just payments for performance, but also for injuring opposing players," Goodell said. "It is our responsibility to protect player safety and the integrity of our game, and this type of conduct will not be tolerated. We have made significant progress in changing the culture with respect to player safety, and we are not going to relent. We have more work to do, and we will do it."
The Saints, too, have some work to do.
Project Image Reparation now must begin for a franchise whose image was pretty positive entering this offseason, the most significant negative being the failure to reach a contract agreement with quarterback Drew Brees.
And Benson, who wasn't implicated in any wrongdoing or coverup, should be livid that a severe price must be paid for an offense that could've been avoided or at least minimized.
Enlarge MATTHEW HINTON / THE TIMES-PICAYUNE Carolina Panthers quarterback Cam Newton is tackled by New Orleans Saints middle linebacker Jonathan Vilma as the New Orleans Saints play the Carolina Panthers at Bank of America Stadium in Charlotte, N.C., on Oct. 9, 2011. New Orleans Saints defensive play gallery (8 photos)
Undoubtedly, Loomis and Payton will pay. Fines and suspensions possibly await them, though neither likely will lose his job after helping stock and coach the team that won Benson a Super Bowl in the 2009 season.
But both walk away from this with an image hit.
Worse, though, their inaction -- the league says Payton also turned a blind eye to the system -- allows the fleur de lis to take a hit. And if there's anything that should make Benson seethe, that's it.
An NFL investigation revealed that from 2009 to 2011, Saints defensive players and coaches knowingly stepped into a steaming pile of rule-breaking, and rather than back away and wipe clean their cleats, they ground deeper in the stink and kept going forward, as if they never would be discovered or the rules didn't apply to them.
They were wrong on both counts.
And just like that, the organization's name, which has enjoyed such widespread popularity and acceptance and respect since Payton was hired in 2006, has been dirtied.
Perhaps it's not stained enough that it rises to the level of smudge smeared over New England after "Spygate" in 2007. But it's sufficiently smeared that it won't soon or easily be forgotten what New Orleans has been accused of, and, apparently, convicted.
More than the fines to be levied, draft picks to be stripped and/or suspensions to be issued by Commissioner Roger Goodell, the label of being a dirty team will linger for New Orleans. And Goodell absolutely will, and should, hammer everyone who participated in or had knowledge of the bounty system, a pay-for-pain system instituted by players who accused the league of not caring about player safety during collective bargaining sessions.
The fact that the NFL has concluded illegal bonuses were offered and paid, from a pool funded by Williams and defensive players, for hits that knocked opponents out of games or resulted in them being carted off, only will give onlookers reason to recall the bounty in future games when the Saints' defense administers a jarring blow.
Williams, now with the St. Louis Rams, sounded sorrier than singer Brenda Lee on Friday.
"I want to express my sincere regret and apology to the NFL, Mr. Benson and the New Orleans Saints fans for my participation in the 'pay for performance' program while I was with the Saints," he said in a statement. "It was a terrible mistake, and we knew it was wrong while we were doing it. Instead of getting caught up in it, I should have stopped it. I take full responsibility for my role. I am truly sorry. I have learned a hard lesson, and I guarantee that I will never participate in or allow this kind of activity to happen again."
But the image damage has been done. The other shoe, which is being held by Goodell, soon will be dropped.
No, this disclosure won't overshadow all the marvelous accomplishments the Saints achieved the past three seasons. A total of 22 to 27 players have been identified, but no one who has lined up for the record-setting offense did anything wrong.
The Lombardi Trophy won't have to be surrendered, but other things will be.
New England, by illegally taping opponents and being convicted of that offense in '07, is considered more of a cheat than New Orleans, which added financial incentive to the defense's weekly intent. Patriots Coach Bill Belichick was fined $500,000, the franchise was fined $250,000 and the team surrendered its 2008 first-round pick.
It would be shocking if the Saints aren't more severely penalized. Their crime seems, and likely is, more sinister.
"The payments here are particularly troubling because they involved not just payments for performance, but also for injuring opposing players," Goodell said. "It is our responsibility to protect player safety and the integrity of our game, and this type of conduct will not be tolerated. We have made significant progress in changing the culture with respect to player safety, and we are not going to relent. We have more work to do, and we will do it."
The Saints, too, have some work to do.
Project Image Reparation now must begin for a franchise whose image was pretty positive entering this offseason, the most significant negative being the failure to reach a contract agreement with quarterback Drew Brees.
And Benson, who wasn't implicated in any wrongdoing or coverup, should be livid that a severe price must be paid for an offense that could've been avoided or at least minimized.
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