Two pieces of football news:
1.) Tebow was traded to the Jets for a 4th round pick.
2.) The NFL just dropped the hammer on the Saints over the bounty scandal. I don’t recall any punishment like this in the NFL ever.
This post is in: Sports
Two pieces of football news:
1.) Tebow was traded to the Jets for a 4th round pick.
2.) The NFL just dropped the hammer on the Saints over the bounty scandal. I don’t recall any punishment like this in the NFL ever.
Comments are closed.
samara morgan
alhamdulillah!
Keith
The Broncos should have asked for a washing machine.
Ash Can
lulz
pragmatism
tom benson (owner of the saints) is not as tight with goddell as kraft is (patriots). so belicheat only gets a $500K fine and payton is gone for a year. USA! USA!
gnomedad
“First of all, I’d like to blame Jesus for this trade …”
seanindc
1) Mattera thing 2) Romney etch a sketch 3) teblow to the jets 4) saints thing 5) that fred barnes thing 6) mischa barton in a see through top and leather pants…
dear interwebs – please stop. pace yourself. it’s a long week and i have to work all of it. save me some for later.
thanks.
me
ps. forgot to add in vaginas made of yarn. wow.
Rosalita
@gnomedad: why would they trade Jesus?
Michael P
Putting financial bounties up to take out opposing players>>>using video to spy on other teams.
I don’t think that’s favoritism, it’s just the nature of the crime. But, yeah…the Saints are screwed.
Also, seen on Facebook just now in re: Tebow:
“To win the Super Bowl, the Broncos had to sacrifice a virgin.”
#win
redshirt
Tebow on the Jets? LOLOLOLOLOL!
Awesome sauce. I smell QB controversies thick and spicy!
Wag
@Keith:
No, they got rid of a washing machine. One that didn’t do anything except agitate back and forth until it finally got to it’s spin cycle about the middle of the 4th quarter
gnomedad
@Rosalita:
You’re right; it’s almost the same thing.
“… and an undisclosed number of pieces of silver.”
redshirt
This is the end of the Jets, by the way. Tebowmania in Satan’s capital (NYC) will create such a fury of recrimination, Mark Sanchez will shut down, all their prima donna WR’s will pout on the bench, Rex Ryan will speak in tongues, and their excellent defense will be eroded like sand on the beach.
Good times!
curiousleo
didn’t other players admit to somewhat similar informal payments when they were at other teams? I thought former Washington players had admitted it? Am I mis-remembering?
Hunter Gathers
I’m really surprised that Goodell gave Peyton a year. I’m surprised at any suspension, actually. The ‘bounty program’ that they were running has been around forever. Everybody has run it at one time or another. So it’s not exactly a new thing. Especially back in the day before million dollar paychecks.
Rick Massimo
@pragmatism: You know, I won’t argue that Belichick wasn’t punished enough. But I fear far too many people don’t realize what a big deal this bounty thing is.
Yes, football’s a rough game. That’s exactly why, if you go out there looking to deliberately injure someone, you will. So there goes their quarterback. Next time you have the ball, there goes yours. Then the runners, then the receivers. 15 yards? Is getting Aaron Rodgers out of the game worth 15 yards to you? Hell yes it is.
Point is, it would be very easy to turn football into a game where half the players get hurt, every game. But that wouldn’t be football, and no one would watch it. These penalties are good.
eldorado
man, how badly does elway hate tebow? this badly, apparently.
Rick Massimo
@curiousleo: There were allegations of that, and Gregg Williams is the common link. I had heard they were investigating; I haven’t heard anything in a while though.
Democratic Nihilist, Keeper Of Party Purity
Fucking genius.
Also, I’d be more impressed with the NFL if they’d come down on Vick like this. The main offense seems to be that Payton and company were complicit in damaging property of other NFL owners, to wit, their
slavesplayers, and that could not be allowed to stand.Shawn in ShowMe
McMahon might as well shut down WWE right now. There’s no way he can compete with this kind of drama. A power-mad commissioner. Athletes who could paid extra to maim you. Self-righteous face men who’ve never seen a mike they didn’t like. And it’s REAL!!
Mino
NFL QB’s gonna be carrying next. On that “feeling threatened” thing.
Keith G
It sure sucks that a renegade coaching staff cost the community so much, but good on theNFL for stomping on this.
pragmatism
@Rick Massimo: just one man’s opinion, but the belicheck thing offends me just as much. i’m not diminishing the bounty issue. there are some interesting aspects to it, though. for example, a player on the saints could have collected when he didn’t intend to hurt a player and made a perfectly legal hit.
@eldorado: elway just hates bad qb play. 6 elite qb’s have won the last 9 superbowls. he thinks we are in a cycle where qb play is the most important aspect.
Dave N.
The punishment was so harsh because the NFL specifically told them to knock it off and they kept right on doing it. Comparing this to the Patriots is not even close to accurate. Belichick might have been cheating, but he was not directing his players to inflict injury upon their opponents. Apples and oranges.
Meanwhile, the Jets are going to be the Jersey Shore of the NFL – everyone tunes in just to watch for the inevitable implosion on national TV.
Mino
@redshirt: Elway couldn’t have picked a more appropriate place, could he? Think the shame might drive him to retire?
Svensker
On Sean Payton: good.
On Tebow to my Jets: WTF?! The Jets message board over at GangGreen is going crazy. And mostly not in a good way.
Satanicpanic
Elway drives a hard bargain.
spudvol
Jeff MacGregor @MacGregorESPN
TRANSACTIONS: Daniel to Lion’s Den for 4th round draft pick.
redshirt
I have failed to see the crime in Belichick’s actions. Recording the opposing team for review? Granted, it’s prohibited, so yes, they broke the rules, how terrible is this crime?
If anything, I don’t understand why there’s a rule against it. They watch film of every game, even during games. But watching film at other times is WORSE THAN BUSH?!
Maybe I’m missing something.
Downpuppy
@Rick Massimo: The injury stream would be Rollerball, the logical successor to Strikeforce!
I was worried about St Tim raising the dead from the Meadowlands, but looking at the new Jets Stadium pictures, nobody will notice.
Southern Beale
In hockey news (because that’s the only professional sport I give a shit about), Alexander Radulov has returned to my beloved Nashville Predators after 4 years playing in the Russian leagues.
Democratic Nihilist, Keeper Of Party Purity
4th round pick? Jets got robbed.
redshirt
@Mino: Tebow? He feels no shame, as He is Forgiven. No interception can besmirch his soul, which is on Christ’s team (bench, but hey, still on the team!).
sb
It was more than just Payton for a year. Defensive Coordinator (now with the Rams… or, check that) Gregg Williams has been suspended indefinitely, draft picks were lost, GM loses 8 games of pay, assistant head coach 6 games without pay… and Goodell hasn’t even gotten to the players yet.
And we know how much he loves to suspend players.
rb
@Svensker: No kidding. Maybe Jeebus really does hate us. My Sanchez meh has been upgraded to love.
Mark S.
Oh god, this is a trillion times worse than what Belichek did. That said, I am surprised how harsh it was. I also doubt the Saints were the only team that did this.
redshirt
That’s a serious, serious hit to the Saints, and upsets the entire balance of power in the league. The way the Saint’s were looking last year, they could have easily been the best team in the league this year. Now, not so much.
curiousleo
@Rick Massimo: thanks. I haven’t followed the story closely b/c it wasn’t shocking or surprising to me. I mean, it’s pro football. of course guys are trying to hurt each other, legally, mostly…
Democratic Nihilist, Keeper Of Party Purity
Oh yeah – I had Elway pegged as a not very bright, bumbling go along to get along kind of guy.
Turns out he can plant a shiv as nicely as the best of them. I am impressed.
Rob L
I know Jimmy Fallon does his Tebow impression with a little David Bowie mixed in but now that he is with the Jets I feel a Elton John mix with this one: “Tebow and the Jets”
grove cleave
intentionally injuring opponents is just scummy, Cobra Kai Dojo tactics and I’m surprised they didn’t force them to fire the entire coaching staff. for all the nfl does to puff out its chest about concussion treatment and awareness and being more conscious about player welfare and health, this is just despicable.
ps, there’s been bounty/reward systems in place for years for things like getting interceptions, or blocking fieldgoals. the taking out other players for the game is definitely not part of that.
Rommie
The best part of the LOLJets: Drew Stanton is quite possibly the best passer on their team.
pragmatism
@redshirt: some people will say that the fact that they haven’t won since they stopped spying says all it needs to say. i say, correlation not causation. i think both scenarios negatively impact the integrity of the game. the extent is an open question.
eric
I heard that Elway thrice denied Tebow in the press conference the other day, so I am not surprised by the trade.
Shawn in ShowMe
@grove cleave:
I’ve been hearing just the opposite from former players on the ESPN media monster for weeks now. Impassioned defenses by Mike Golic et al that getting paid to take someone out of a game really isn’t that big a deal and has been going on for decades.
eric
@pragmatism: how about that Belichek lost to the same coach in his last two super bowls? correlation or causation ? ;)
Poopyman
@Rosalita:
Apparently, they think they can do better with Lazarus.
Nemesis
Jets trade a 4th round pick, a ’62 Chrysler Belvedre, a dozen kegs of beer left over from last season and the “original” Shroud of Turin Jets front office purchased on eBay for $1,500.
Jeebusst timmah is headed to clean up Gotham. With constant felating from ESPN, Lord Tebow will be canonized during pre-season, proir to tossing 6 interceptions in 2 games, resulting in being traded to Ohio Stae University to reunite with failed SEC dropout Urban Meyer, leading the fuckeyes to the NCG, where they are curb stomped by the Crimson Tide.cbear
God told Elway to send Timmy to Sodom and Gomorrah on the Hudson to pray away the ghey and cleanse the city.
Brachiator
@Rosalita:
Back in the day, he was traded for Barabbas and a third round pick in the Crucifixion League.
Dave
Being able to combine my hatred of the Jets and Tebow into one seething ball definitely makes my life easier.
Glad the NFL cracked down on the Saints. Paying players to injure other players is way more serious than what happened with the Pats.
pragmatism
@eric: do you think coughlin outschemed belicheat or the giants executed better or both? i give props to coughlin no matter what the answer is.
BrianX
redshirt:
it’s no more a crime than counting cards at blackjack. It’s metagaming and I’m sure Belichick wasn’t the only one doing it (there were other teams who knew what he was up to and took a “meh, whatever” attitude towards it), although it probably wasn’t a majority of teams. Hell, considering video cameras have gotten a lot smaller since then, it’s probably more common than it used to be. Now if the rumors about radio jamming at Gillette Stadium were true, that’s a different issue entirely, although that mainly leads me to think that teams should be traveling with their own comm systems to begin with…
Martin
Ah, the harsh consequences of getting caught. I’m sure the other teams will work doubleextrahard to not
cheatget caught.I have a neighbor who is simultaneously a ginormous Jets fan and a raving Tebow hater. I’m going to mention this every single time I see him for the next year. I might just have to print up some kind of Tebow Jets prayer bumper sticker thing to stick on his car.
If I stop commenting, just assume Phil killed me. He knows where I keep my shovel too. Damn, that was poor planning on my part.
redshirt
@Brachiator: LOL. The Romans were big into Fantasy Crucifixion. Lots of gambling.
redshirt
@pragmatism: I blame Giselle.
Poopyman
Re: The Aints, I’m pasting a comment from the link Cole gives up top, cuz I think it ‘splains the hammer well:
H/T littldough
Tractarian
I thought Goodell should have taken a page out of the NCAA playbook (not literally, of course; look at where that got Tebow) and voided the Saints’ Super Bowl victory, in addition to handing out suspensions and fines. Now that would have been a punishment.
scav
Given the growing evidence about that traumatic brain injury thing they’ve also got in Hockey and Boxing, the timing might be right for league officials to enforce more strictly some of the stuff they let slide. Lawyers, if nothing else, but also PR.
pragmatism
@redshirt: LOL. they haven’t won since brady was photographed thusly: http://cdn.bleacherreport.net/images_root/images/photos/001/227/960/tomy-brady-waterslide_crop_340x234.jpg?1306278386
David Koch
Trading Tebow to Jewish-sociazlist Sodom and Gomorrah is just further evidence of Obama’s war on religion.
Spaghetti Lee
I’m kind of a fan of the Saints (when they’re not playing the bears) so it makes me a bit sad. Why couldn’t it have been the Cowboys or the Packers, I ask you? Oh well, at least they already got their SB win back in ’10.
Surreal American
When Tebow’s a Jet, will he be a Jet all the way?
mrmcd
“Then Rex took about a pint of pure nard, an expensive perfume; he poured it on Tim’s feet and wiped his feet with his hair. And the meadowlands was filled with the fragrance of the perfume. And it was was posted on YouTube.” ~Jets 12:3
David Koch
Paul Hourning and Alex Karras were suspended for an entire year for betting on games in 1963
Tractarian
@eldorado:
I agree that the last 48 hours showed how incredibly deep and abiding Elway’s hatred for Tebow truly is. Think about it; why didn’t he just keep Tebow and have Fox use him as a “secret weapon” halfback or in the wildcat? That way, you get the best of both worlds: you get Peyton as your QB and you still have Tebow-mania filling up seats and drawing TV audiences. And no one in the sports world (including billboard-erecting Bronco fans) would have questioned the wisdom of slotting Tebow behind Manning in the depth chart. The bottom line is, well, just that, the bottom line: a Broncos season with Manning and Tebow would be more profitable than a season with Manning only. So pure, seething hatred of Tebow (which is not uncommon) is the only explanation I’ve got for dumping him.
redshirt
Tebow will become unto the NFL’s Sarah Palin – derided by most, held up as a shining god by an insane few.
techno
Freaking wrist-slap on NO.
I think that NO should have lost their Superbowl trophy over this at the very least. This wasn’t cheating—this was crime called assault with intent to injure. Anyone involved in this should be in jail. And yes, we are only beginning to see the lawsuits.
Berial
“I don’t recall any punishment like this in the NFL ever.”
What did the Jets do to deserve this punishment?
Tractarian
@Spaghetti Lee:
And they’re lucky for that! Goodell should have stripped them of the title.
He could even have hired some 40-something ex-gunslinger from Mississippi to go around and personally collect the Super Bowl rings from each of the Saints.
Scott Alloway
I recall players Paul Hornung (GB) and Alex Karras (Det) getting a year off on suspension in 1962 or 1963. Gambling was involved. I was 12 at the time and thought it was a big deal.
Poopyman
@Tractarian:
Well, too many shots to Elway’s head is another possibility, to combine the two topics.
pragmatism
the list of objects on earth that can be seen from the moon just got longer as ESPN’s Tebowner was added.
“Will Tebow singlehandedly heal the fractured Jets locker room?”
“The Jets made a masterful trade giving up worthless draft picks”
FSM, we need you more than ever!
Poopyman
BTW, when I saw the post title I was sure this was gonna be another “just give it to Mitt, already!” post. Thankfully, it’s not.
David Koch
with gay marriage legal in new york, Tebow can now get married.
Seriously, who’s gaydar doesn’t start blaring when they see Tebow.
pragmatism
@Tractarian:
The Denver fans and christianists definitely would have complained about it.
The donkeys’ owner and elway place profitability behind winning a superbowl.
or it could be the quality of tebow’s play.
redshirt
@David Koch: @David Koch: He’s been saving himself until he can get Gay Married all legal like in the Eyes of The Lord.
Yutsano
I fail to see the issue with the Jets. Sanchez gets a new boytoy and NYC gets moar Jeebus. Oh am I gonna rub this in the NYD’s snout! :)
samara morgan
@Tractarian: there a lot of Bronco fans that loathe Tebow. its only the Bronco fans that are also godbothering knuckledragging biblethumpers that loved Tebow.
you defame us.
samara morgan
from FakeJesus
Legalize
@Shawn in ShowMe:
I like Mike Golic; he’s pretty funny most of the time. But I want to bang my head against my steering wheel whenever he breathlessly defends the “mentality of a football player,” as if such is a sacred talisman that must never be criticized, touched, or even looked at in the eye. The NFL told the Saints and Gregg Williams to knock off the bounty stuff. They didn’t. The hammer came down because the NFL is worried about lawsuits from former players saying that the league took a cavalier attitude to concussions and other serious injuries, and/or encouraged behavior that would lead to concussions and other serious injuries.
From the NFL’s perspective, I totally get it – don’t fuck with us on this or we will ruin you. From the NFL’s perspective, bounty-gate threatens the institutional integrity of the league itself. They fear that Congress might step in. Goddell, et al can certainly afford the legal advice necessary to know if the league’s fears are founded or not.
MosesZD
One, the Saints deserved what happened. They didn’t make a few ‘spy videos.’ They went out of their way to hurt players to gain competitive advantage. One of whom was bad enough (shattered shoulder) that he could never play again.
Two, most of us that can’t stand the Broncos were hoping he’d stay. He’s beyond bad.
Paul in KY
@redshirt: I hope you’re right! Somehow, I don’t think the average Jets fan (Vinnie from Queens) is going to be so forgiving of Tebow’s football eccentricities.
Paul in KY
@redshirt: He didn’t suspend Brees, so they are still good, IMO.
Gex
@pragmatism: The NFL is being sued for player injuries with lifelong effects. They cannot be shown to be indifferent to a franchise that indicated IN WRITING that the goal was to injure players to the point of being removed from the game.
No one is suing the league for excessive videotaping by players.
But if the conspiracy theory works for you, go for it. I prefer Occam’s Razor.
rea
Tebow spent the last few months praying to god to make the Broncos a better team this year, and sure enough . . .
redshirt
@Paul in KY: Brees is awesome, no doubt. But losing your Head Coach for a year? Doomed. I’d be surprised if the Saints make the playoffs this year.
The Other Chuck
There had already been previous warnings about the bounty, so as far as I’m concerned, responsibility goes up to the owners. Kenesaw Mountain Landis, motherfuckers: dissolve the team. They don’t deserve a dime of revenue, playoffs or no. The players who aren’t guilty can have their contracts paid up and become free agents.
Paul in KY
@mrmcd: Well played, sir.
Southern Beale
Etch-A-Sketch Romney. Already.
Ben Cisco
And this is why I hate Elway. He always manages to find a way to escape. I was hoping Tebow would hang around his neck like an albatross for a while longer.
piratedan
@Democratic Nihilist, Keeper Of Party Purity: well they had to keep this up especially after fining the ‘Skins and Boys for not even breaking any rules… all part of the facade imho.
Paul in KY
@redshirt: He’s not the only one who can coach. The players on the field are way more important than the coaches (IMO).
Let’s see what player from the defense gets suspended.
pragmatism
@Gex: my complaint is more that the patriots’ penalty was too low. that is all.
the pats claimed that the rule was vague (aren’t the rules IN WRITING?) on taping. i disagree.
Nied
@redshirt:
Don’t you understand? When other teams watch video during a game it was filmed from up in the stands, but Belichick had a guy filming from THE SIDELINES! Those three or four yards makes it completely different! Not having to use the zoom button on their camera totally makes it the worst crime ever!
It’s like how Glennzilla proved that dropping a laser guided bomb from a drone 20,000 ft in the air is the worst war crime in the history warfare, but dropping one from an airplane 20,000 ft in the air is just fine.
FlipYrWhig
IIRC Buddy Ryan, father of the big-bellied Ryan coaching twins, had an injury bounty scheme when he coached the Eagles — at least when playing the Cowboys.
MCA1
@Tractarian: Ditto what pragmatism and samara morgan said, plus this: there’s no need to waste a precious roster spot on a gimmick like Tebow. For one thing, assuming he’s healthy, wouldn’t you rather just have one of the best quarterbacks in the history of the game on the field every play? Why on Earth would Fox give Tebow any snaps? Manning is a rhythm guy, and he’s calling his own plays and breaking down defenses at the line and doing his chess thing out there. You run in somebody to take a wildcat snap and it just breaks that rhythm. Teams without Hall of Fame QB’s are the ones that direct snap to halfbacks and give them a pass option – it keeps the defense from stacking the box/blitzing all day against a mediocre passing attack.
If you think you can turn him into a serviceable TE or fullback or something, great, but then again you can go draft one of those in the 4th round, or later. He’s worthless as a backup to Peyton Manning, because the offense is inevitably going to be a vertical strike passcentric scheme. You’d be better off sticking with Adam Weber (who, recall, looked better than both of Quinn and Tebow in camp last year) as the second stringer in case of a Manning injury. He threw to Eric Decker for about 3,000 yards in college already.
David Koch
@FlipYrWhig: The bounty game was priceless.
Michael P
From Adam Schefter of ESPN on Twitter moments ago:
“Filed to ESPN (1): Denver and Jets have encountered hangup in language in Tim Tebow’s contract that could nullify trade.”
He also says Rams could get involved if the Jets deal falls apart.
redshirt
@Michael P: NOOO! Why musts you torture ussses, precious?!?!
Villago Delenda Est
I’m afraid Drew Brees has no motherfucking idea of what constitutes “greatness”. Lying like dog covering up this bullshit does not make one great.
redshirt
@Villago Delenda Est: Drew Brees is 70% wingnut. Still smart enough though to know when to keep his crazy yap shut. Usually.
Baud
@redshirt:
He’s an extremely religious evangelical Christian, but I’ve never seen him give a hint of his political views otherwise.
catclub
@Rick Massimo: “But that wouldn’t be football, and no one would watch it. ”
Important if true.
Corner Stone
@Villago Delenda Est:
Drew Brees is “speechless” because Goodell just provided Brees the Thor’s Hammer of all negotiating leverage.
dp
Oh well, my stupid Saints are reverting to the mean of their entire existence. I agree it was deserved. And they’re compounding their problems by trying to screw Brees in salary negotiations.
Days like this are when I remember I’m primarily a college football fan.
Corner Stone
@Tractarian: I disagree with this analysis in its entirety, from a completely football viewpoint perspective.
redshirt
@Baud: There’s a difference?
Baud
@redshirt: Yes.
Joel
@pragmatism: If the league were facing lawsuits over retired players suffering from traumatic brain injuries as a result of clandestine videotaping, your analogy would hold merit.
Gravenstone
@redshirt: Don’t forget that Brees is currently pissed at the Saints for franchising him. Unhappy superstar QB does not a quality team make.
Joel
@Baud: This about sums it up.
burnspbesq
Meanwhile, Doug’s boy Green-Ellis is now a Bengal. It is to laugh.
Nethead Jay
All I have to say to Goodell and the NFL is a giant fuck you with a rusty chainsaw. They clearly don’t want the Saints to make another run at a Super Bowl in their own dome.
@redshirt: You obviously don’t know the Saints. I could see them pulling together just to throw this back into people’s faces. And if not this year, there’ll be scores to settle next year.
@dp: And fuck you too. Brees’s unhappiness with the negotiations is probably small compared to his feeling about the treatment of Sean Peyton. And good on him for saying so.
redshirt
@Nethead Jay: Oh, I know the Saints pretty well. They were a phenomenal, scary team last year and in the years prior. I don’t see it continuing with all of this. 9-7 next year will be the best they could do. Not good enough to make the playoffs in the improving NFC.
burnspbesq
Note to Raven: sorry, amigo, no Shaka Smart for you. And the supposed Plan B, Anthony Grant, has said quite unequivocally that he’s not interested.
passerby
I’m late to the thread and haven’t read all the comments but..
I am a native New Orleanian and therefore, a Saints fan since we got them in 1969.
Because of the push for player safety and the fact that NFL is being sued by injured players, having NFL franchise employees (e.g. the coaches) condoning and participating in pay for play seems to be a worrisome liability and worse, inventing plays specifically designed to injure opponents.
No surprise that the NFL was going to push back on that behavior and push back hard.
And though we’ve heard defense players from around the league, both retired and active, state that they’ve always made friendly bets between players on who could lay wood on the opposing teams, the Saints are made the goat–and deservedly so–and thus the Poster Boy for how not to do mean and hurtful things to their colleagues.
Alas.
The Times Picayune today had an article announcing that Sean Payton had just bought a new house in Dallas (have a look, I think it’s kinda McMansionesque). Bet Jerry Jones would be happy to have him as the next head coach of the Cowboys. With a 12 month suspension (beginning April 1) I can’t help myself believing that Payton would be happier to jump ship and be HC at Dallas for the 2013 season.
[BTW, his suspension is without pay: About $8,000,000!]
ETA: I still have faith in what Drew Brees and the other Saints can do with this adversity. We’ve got good talent…on Offense anyway. Hope springs eternal.
Baud
@passerby:
I would be surprised to see Payton leave as long as Brees is a Saint. Of course, that may not be much longer if they don’t get that contract worked out soon.
passerby
@Baud:
Well, the buzz around here is that Benson (owner) and Loomis (GM) will sign Brees tout de suite in the spirit of salvaging something–anything–of the upcoming year.
Brees was gushing about QB coach Carmichael last year when Payton was down and out with that knee injury and it is speculated that Benson and Loomis (who, BTW is a frickin genius at signing talent) would regroup the coaching staff, sign Brees and other players and have a big CometoJesus type of press announcement in order to get some traction and forward momentum.
Also, last Friday was the deadline to re-up for season tickets and, ugh, today they drop the hammer. Some pretty disgruntled season ticket holders around here.
Baud
@passerby: I hope so. The NFL still hasn’t announced the player penalties, and until that’s done, it’s going to be hard to move forward.
passerby
@Villago Delenda Est:
Hear hear.
Payton has a reputation for being cocky and mavericky. The collusion and lies could well be the worse aspect of this whole fiasco.
Pride goeth before a fall and all that.
I was gob smacked to learn that all of this could have been swept under the rug had Payton and Co. ceased and desisted when ask to back in 2010 just after the Superbowl.
But NOOOOOOOO. Damn hubris.
passerby
@Baud:
The Saints are hit so hard already and the players union is having its own “investigation”. Maybe, please maybe, they can convince the league to just levee fines for most of the defensive players involved instead of suspensions.
A few players, like Vilma, may not even be on the team this year.
Corner Stone
@Nethead Jay: Wow. What a pathetic little chump you are.
“Scores to settle” ?
newhavenguy
Can’t really be objective on Payton- wow, that sucks. (OTOH, It would be totally OK with me if the NFL decided to crucify Greg Williams. If you saw the Saints/Niners playoff game you understand.)
Oh, surprised no one noticed this:
http://nymag.com/daily/sports/2012/01/did-giants-strategically-concuss-kyle-williams.html
I guess its all good when the Giants do it. Lovable, scrappy 9-7 Champs and all. Um, every team does. It’s ugly. I love pro football, but… I am shocked that there’s gambling going on here, Rick.
Hell, I’d be shocked if the fucker who speared Pierre Thomas in the face in the first quarter of aforementioned playoff game- knocking him out of it, with profound implications for the game- didn’t get a nice fat envelope later that day.
That said, indefensible. But the league suspending Sean Payton for a full year seems more like a reprisal shooting of random hostages than it does a real effort to root out the partisans. I guess I just wish a different team got fucked over so as to be The Example.
Speaking of crucifixion…
Hahahahaha. As a Fins fan forced by their suckitude to actually love my NFC team more these days, I am delighted that Timmeh is coming over to the Jets. It’ll work wonders on the young psyche of the Sanchize, who’s like a high class version of Chad Henne anyway.
Who knows, removed from the media circus of Colorado perhaps Tebow will quietly improve the team, and make all his teammates love him with his ever so modest and humble Virtue. Heh.
Between this and hiring Tony Sporano… no seriously, get this: to run their offense… I am enjoying this almost as much as the Etch a Sketch. I hate the Jets more than the New York Yankees even. This is sweet.
Pat In Massachusetts
I’m glad, for once, the Football Commissioner didn’t pussy foot around and slapped the kingpins of this scandal…hard. If only our president had as much balls three years ago to put some kingpins away, but alas, he didn’t, so here I am stuck cheering on the fucking Football Commissioner.
Thank the goddesses New Orleans has Drew Brees. Nice guy, that Drew.