Sean Payton and the Saints traded their souls to bring New Orleans a Super Bowl title
 

They wanted the Super Bowl so much they were willing to sell their souls to get it.

Never did a city long for a championship more than New Orleans in those years after Hurricane Katrina, when rebuilding came slow and inspiration ran dry. And rarely did a coach lust after a title more than Sean Payton, scorned previously as a boy wonder in over his head. Just like Mickey Loomis, the man who hired him, Payton ached to hold the Lombardi Trophy – touch it, caress it and feel the confetti as it spilled down all around.

And so they paid the price.

Sean Payton, with Gregg Williams in the background, ultimately crossed the line.

This isn’t about Gregg Williams, the defensive coordinator who ran the bounty program that brought the Saints down, although his hiring was the final piece that delivered a title. What happened to Payton and Loomis and the Saints, who are now ruined as an NFC force, goes deeper than one man and a few thousand dollars thrown around some adrenaline-filled meeting rooms. Rather it lies in a culture – one nurtured by the coach but ultimately endorsed by everyone – of a frenetic, win-at-all-costs mentality.

It began with Payton, who burned with such intensity on a tape made by the league of possible head coaching candidates that Loomis was immediately taken by his fire. At the time it seemed like an odd hire, giving the task of remaking the Saints in the months after Katrina to a man who had never been a head coach. But it turned out to be such a brilliant selection that oversight disappeared and everything became the Payton tornado that tore through the team’s practice facility.

There might not be a better play-caller in the NFL than Payton, who found ways to get take obscure players such as Marques Colston and Jimmy Graham and turn them into stars. But along with the film-room wisdom came wild motivational speeches and the constant appearance of Mike Ornstein, the former marketing manager for Reggie Bush who has since twice been convicted of fraud yet moved as freely about the locker room as any coach. A feeling this could all roll out of control always lingered around the team. So thick was the hubris. But so desperate was the will to win big.

Sean Payton and the Saints traded their souls to bring New Orleans a Super Bowl title - NFL - Yahoo! Sports


Totally worth it!

Really?
hy·per·bo·le   [hahy-pur-buh-lee]
1.obvious and intentional exaggeration.
:whatever:

The press are loving this,it allows them to look like they actualy care about the players,the fake anger etc etc.
Nothing like trying to nail the coffin lid shut before we have even taken our last breath.


I can't say I have been through the dark days the Saints had as I only threw my lot in last year.Personaly I don't think this is anything like the end of the line for Peyton or the Saints.We will heal our wounds and come back stronger than ever.Ill be here though wether it was the end or not.

If it was up to me, I'd wouldn't think twice about doing it to get a super bowl it was totally worth it

Get ready for a year of announcers saying is that hit a bounty hit? We'll just prove to everyone we are the best team even with all the added suspensions etc

yeah yeah is still say show me the hits

Payton's arrogance caught up with him.

And Payton's a Nazi, too.

Nice self marginalization, Les.

my god...those last 2 sentences. lucky i'm just waking up or i would have spilled my coffee all over. what a sensationalistic douche...what's new.

Just get ready for more crap like this...

Get ready to be the most hated team in the league among many fans (maybe players too but that is our players problem)

Get ready for more of this "selling their souls" hyperbole

Just remember:

1. It was worth it
2. Nobody is taking away the Lombardi trophy
3. We're gonna get another one

"traded their souls?" ... whatever ... the media was all over New Orleans' jocks when they won the SuperBowl post-Katrina, now they want to taint it? There will be no asterick.

More crap from the peanut gallery. All the more better when this team whips there buts this year. For now they can laugh.

Super double face palm Batman. They need to stop giving 20 year olds story assignments. I hope this knucklehead falls in some Cayenne pepper.

I'm not going to dignify that article by making a comment.

Are you for real? You must not like Sean. I, for one, after having been a fan of the most frustratingly lovable team in NFL history, and finally seeing Payton bring a successful program into the city, adore the man! ;):bng:

No deals were made with devil here. In the history of the NFL they are not the only team who has paid for performance. Yes I said performance because the commish & the media are the only ones claiming it was for hurting players thus the term "bounty". Hence forth why didn't the refes call penalties on flagrant hits & why didn't the commish fine more players during the seasons that this happened? I know the coaches acted improperly but I son't know if it was an attemp to "take out" players. I guess we will never know till someone close to the organization i.e. coaches or players admit to it at some point in the future.

For now our future is surviving the 2012 season and it can be done. It will be done!

This article is absolute garbage!

valid questions

As a fan I am royally pissed, but not pissed at Goodell. In politics its the cover up that makes things far worse than the crime, same thing in this case. It wasn't the bounty system itself that brought the hammer down but the fact that they lied about and continued to do it.

After the NFL has been taking hit after hit recently over concussions and their effects post career, you had a team that was essentially paying players to give other players concussions.

This is not good PR for the NFL and the simple fact they lied to the NFL about it and tried to cover it up made it even worse, Goodell had no choice but to make the Saints an example.

Generally I stay away from message boards but this whole thing has made me want to lick my wounds with fellow fans but seeing the vitriol and hatred that has been shown towards, in my opinion, the wrong individuals made me make this post.