If true this is absolutely disgusting
 

https://www.espn.com/nfl/story/_/id/...-abuse-scandal

Honestly, if they aided in helping the church cover up or recover from abusing children, I am not sure I can follow them anymore. Can anyone give more information about this?

Re: If true this is absolutely disgusting
 

From the Associated Press, which should be more reputable than some. However, the timing of dropping this story on Super Bowl week in NOLA is about as creepy as some of the things alleged.

Re: If true this is absolutely disgusting
 

Sell the team.

Re: If true this is absolutely disgusting
 

Some of this had already been known. I guess it's just how deep the team was involved that is new info.

If I recall correctly, it was known that the team offered PR help to the Church at Gayle's request. But supposedly was just some advice. Looks like that was not entirely true.

And if this isn't horrible enough, which it absolutely is, doesn't make the team attractive to potential coaches, does it?

Sell, the team Gayle.

Re: If true this is absolutely disgusting
 

No wonder our front office pursued DeShaun Watson so heavily.

Time to clean house. No wonder there is no accountability in our front office when the message is to give even predators a second chance.

Hope we don’t sign Justin Tucker.

Perhaps if we dont fire Loomis, we will fire Laushka or Bensel and Loomis can backfill their non-football position and make excuses for creepy priests while loudly chewing gum and comparing Jerry Sandusky to Bill Belichick.

Re: If true this is absolutely disgusting
 

I’ve never been a “sell the team” but if all this is true I’d like them to sell and fire everyone. That would be the only way I could continue to be a fan.

Re: If true this is absolutely disgusting
 

Mostly old news that's being rehashed to take advantage of the visibility available to maximize clicks and the related ad revenues. Note the byline on the story. It's not credited to any individual reports and simply carries a generic Associated Press byline. Not condoning anything that the Saints did or didn't do, but this is opportunistic grandstanding, pure and simple.

Re: If true this is absolutely disgusting
 

And now we know why Tilman Fertitta made a public offer to buy the franchise.

Re: If true this is absolutely disgusting
 

Because the NHL had no interest in his buying a new team.

Re: If true this is absolutely disgusting
 

The AP News version of the article has the byline ... Jim Mustain and Brett Martel


https://apnews.com/article/new-orlea...4a9db1897f8171

Re: If true this is absolutely disgusting
 

I don’t care if it’s mostly old news. If these people are still employed then she has to go too. Tiis is the worst of the worst.

Re: If true this is absolutely disgusting
 

It just isn’t a good look…period. I don’t care all the reasons, excuses. Football, religion and politics go together like schit and strawberry shortcake.

Re: If true this is absolutely disgusting
 

And why is this hitting the news now? Right before SB? I thought this stuff had been handled but I guess not?

Good luck finding a coach now. This team is toast.

What a ****ing nightmare. And an absolutely disgusting one at that. Fire all these mfers.

Re: If true this is absolutely disgusting
 

Dan Snyder was basically forced to sell for much less. If NFL gets involved here we could have a new owner very soon. Hopefully Moore backs out.

Re: If true this is absolutely disgusting
 

Mustain isn't Associated Press. He is with National Catholic Reporter and has been rehashing this story since 2019.

https://www.ncronline.org/authors/jim-mustain

It appears Mustain came to Martel to get the story back out there again.

https://www.americamagazine.org/voices/brett-martel

Re: If true this is absolutely disgusting
 

No. Snyder was forced to sell because a super majority of owners hated him and wanted him gone for a variety of reasons. No telling what most of the owners have been involved with that hasn't been shared with the public. Robert Kraft has been exposed in his own personal sex related issues. He been honored by other owners since then. So has Jerry Jones. From every indication Gayle Benson is well liked by ownership across the league.

This same basic info has been shared off and on for the past five or six years. It hasn't been a concern of the league to this point.

Re: If true this is absolutely disgusting
 

That's good to know. There may be more bias here than we should see from supposedly-objective investigative reporting.


Still, if there's an email trail ... it might get interesting. We saw how quickly Gruden was dealt with.


It ticks me off when press people sit on stories for so long. There are real survivors out there that deserve the truth, not a publicity stunt.

Re: If true this is absolutely disgusting
 

Personal sex related issues are not molesting children. As a formed law enforcement officer, I see these people as the lowest of the low. Each one should be sentenced to death. For the organization to assist in any way makes me want to puke. They are just as libel as those who committed the act. You and I agree on my things AG, but there is no defending this.

Re: If true this is absolutely disgusting
 

They really didn't sit on much. Most of this was shared years ago. But the timing was definitely planned for hoped impact. From everything I'm seeing out there this "story" is well down the list of national interest surrounding the game.

Re: If true this is absolutely disgusting
 

Not defending it at all. Just sharing the facts as they are known. The other owners and the league have been well aware of most all of this for years. It simply doesn't appear as critical to them as it does to us from the outside looking in. These are powerful men and women out there as owners. There's no telling what kind of skeletons are lurking in all of their closets. ;)

Re: If true this is absolutely disgusting
 

Kind of by accident, since all the NBA trade deadline news is taking precedent. Being a Lakers fan as well as a Saints fan, I feel like I half-forgot the Saints still need a coach after the Luka trade bombshell this weekend!!!


I share the angst of others though. If there's enough there to prove without bias that the Saints brass were involved in the damage control of the abusers, heads should roll.

Re: If true this is absolutely disgusting
 

Believe me when I say that the present day media and press is absolutely biased. Things have evolved, or should I say dissolved, a great deal since the 70's and 80's when I was part of the "Fourth Estate". It is no longer reporting the news. It is now creating and selling.

Re: If true this is absolutely disgusting
 

Sad, but very, very true.

Re: If true this is absolutely disgusting
 

The NFL has been aware of all of this since at least 2019. Here's what Goodell had to say when asked about it today.

Re: If true this is absolutely disgusting
 

Here's Goodell's full response on video. Here he points out that they've been aware of the issue since notified by Gayle back in 2018.

Re: If true this is absolutely disgusting
 

I worked for the newspaper in Omaha in the 2000's on their core web tech. The staff seemed like a mix of proper journalists, solid writers and pond scum. The upper management was fixated on ad revenue though. It was one of the few that stayed independent for quite some time and didn't get swallowed by Gannett. I probably got a kinder and gentler view of the industry than what was out there.

Re: If true this is absolutely disgusting
 

If true, I can't support the organization under it's current ownership and management.

Re: If true this is absolutely disgusting
 

You and I both brother.

Re: If true this is absolutely disgusting
 

I've been a long time fan and this is the first I've heard of it. So while it may have taken place 7+ years ago, old news to some is brand new news to others.

However dubious the timing of this rehash of history, this is horrific. To poo poo is away is nothing short of abominable. :brood:

Re: If true this is absolutely disgusting
 

There was a big thread on this very subject right here in the forum back in 2020. I remember it was right before the pandemic. What those individual priests did was horrendous and they all deserve to be punished.

Okay, I found the thread. This is a response from the Saints, posted in that thread, not so coincidentally a couple of weeks prior to the Super Bowl in 2020:

Statement from the New Orleans Saints

While there is current litigation relative to the New Orleans Archdiocese and clergy sex abuse, our comments are limited only to the scope of our involvement. The New Orleans Saints organization has always had a very strong relationship with the Archdiocese. The Archdiocese reached out to a number of community and civic minded leaders seeking counsel on handling the pending media attention that would come with the release of the clergy names in November of 2018. Greg Bensel, Senior Vice President of Communications for the New Orleans Saints, was contacted and offered input on how to work with the media. The advice was simple and never wavering. Be direct, open and fully transparent, while making sure that all law enforcement agencies were alerted. The New Orleans Saints, Greg Bensel and Mrs. Gayle Benson were and remain offended, disappointed and repulsed by the actions of certain past clergy. We remain steadfast in support of the victims who have suffered and pray for their continued healing.

Further, the Saints have no interest in concealing information from the press or public. At the current discovery stage in the case of Doe v. Archdiocese, the Saints, through their counsel, have merely requested the court to apply the normal rules of civil discovery to the documents that the Saints produced and delivered to Mr. Doe's counsel. Until the documents are admitted into evidence at a public trial or hearing in the context of relevant testimony by persons having knowledge of the documents and the events to which they pertain, the use of the documents should be limited to the parties to the case and their attorneys. If admitted into evidence of the case, the documents and the testimony pertaining to them will become part of the public record of the trial of the case.

Re: If true this is absolutely disgusting
 

All that aside, enjoy all the red and green sh*t stains and skid marks while you mop up our beloved dome tonight. Sick to my stomach that we didn’t even get to sniff a pipe dream of a Super Bowl in our house this year.

Re: If true this is absolutely disgusting
 

Not condoning it but you sure as hell are making excuses. You are disgusting, not even one iota of the concern, anger or sympathy that every other poster on this board has expressed.

Re: If true this is absolutely disgusting
 

Hey, Dude. Read back and you'll see I said the acts were horrible and those involved need to be punished to the fullest. I don't know why I'm even responding to your ****. It's obvious you hate me and look for any chance to make that clear.

Re: If true this is absolutely disgusting
 

Pity the person who experiences problems handling anything viewed as criticism. Causing them to feel an impatient or angry reaction when not receiving special recognition or treatment.

They then feel slighted, causing a reaction of rage and/or contempt while childishly attempting to belittle others to make themselves appear superior.

Re: If true this is absolutely disgusting
 

Off your meds again? ;)

Re: If true this is absolutely disgusting
 

vpheughan‘S right, you know.

Re: If true this is absolutely disgusting
 

I sympathize with the victims of this abuse. I also sympathize with the victims of DeShaun Watson's abuse. My understanding is that in both cases victims were raped both via coercion and force, and although Watsons victims may have been 5-10 years older, as a parent there is no age that it would be ok for a predator to assault my kid. The difference between the two cases to me from the Saints perspective is that in the case of the clergy abuse, the Saints may have given some advice to help their owners church move forward, but they did not attempt to trade multiple first round picks and sign a multi hundred million dollar contract to add the offenders to their active football roster. In the case of the Deshaun Watson scandal, the Saints did exactly that. So if we had to fire one and keep the other, I would rather fire Loomis and keep Bensel.