Fool Me Once, Shame On You; Fool Me Twice, Shame on Me

The verdict is in and Sheriff/Judge Roger Goodell has handed down his sentence. Saints Head Coach Sean Payton has been suspended for the 2012 season. Saints General Manager Mickey Loomis got 8 games. Assistant Head Coach Joe Vitt got 6 games handed down to him. The team was fined $500,000. The Saints had their second round picks in 2012 and 2013 taken away.

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WHY SO SEVERE?

I’ve made absolutely no secret that I was raised in New Orleans and am a die hard Saints fan. I love the Saints and am as heartbroken as a football fan can be. But, Sean Payton and his gang brought this upon themselves and the fans.

Goodell approached the Saints in 2009. He told them that they suspected that the bounty practice was happening. He ordered the Saints to stop it if that was the case. The Saints effectively patted him on the head, basically threw the finger at Goodell and kept doing it for two more seasons. When the Commissioner’s top priority, during the last two seasons, has been "player safety, player safety, player safety" and the man in charge is willfully disrespected on that topic, tough consequences can be expected.


ON THE FIELD

This is a crippling blow to the Saints Super Bowl XLVII prospects. The biggest operational part of an NFL Head Coach’s job is to manage his position coaches, who manage the players, first-hand. Without a doubt, Payton's staff is first rate. But there is a reason Payton is the top coach and his organizational excellence is ultimately why the Saints won a Super Bowl.

Talent goes a long way in professional sports and I expect the Saints, with Drew Brees at quarterback, will more likely than not have a winning record and more likely than not get into the playoffs. But the Saints' road to winning the big prize without Payton is filled with peril. I cannot see the Saints, with very little time to prepare for or adjust to these penalties before the draft, minicamps, and training camp, going deep into the playoffs in the coming season.


LONG TERM IMPACT

I am willing to bet no other coach tries this, going forward. I am disappointed, but the Saints asked for this. The only person for whom I have sympathy is Saints Owner Benson, who, from all accounts, had nothing to do with this. I cannot imagine that Payton and Loomis, under the circumstances, would not have been fired were it not for the Super Bowl success to which they led the team.

The Saints program was run by coaches, who are managers and leaders by example, not players. This is a key difference in what the Saints did and most player run, under-the-table bounty programs. Today, the league is much tighter on player safety issues. The NFL is being sued for withholding information vital to player safety by a number of former players, who suffered concussions and other head injuries. The Saints could not have picked a worse time to run afoul of league rules with a bounty program.


WHO’S NEXT?

When the New England Patriots were fined $500,000 and docked a first round draft pick for their involvement in the “Spygate” sideline video recording scandal, I thought the league sent a very loud and clear message that it would not tolerate an organization’s disregard for the Commissioner’s office. The penalty was the harshest, ever, handed down to a team from the NFL commissioner. Apparently, that wasn’t enough.

Perhaps the Saints’ brass thought a half-mil and a lost pick was simply a cost of doing business. Perhaps they thought instructions to cease and desist a potential league-image-wrecking practice were guidelines and not actual rules. After these severe penalties, I do not know what more the Commissioner’s office can do to show that it means business. I would not want to be the team to find out, either.

No place to be.... 2

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1) Image spliced from images from  www.examiner.com, www.onlineathens.com, www.seattlepi.com, www.diradiocast.com, www.stockpodium.com 
2) Image spliced together, crudely, from http://wcc.dli.mt.gov/ , http://www.indyposted.com/ , and http://www.bloguin.com/