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METAIRIE, La. (AP) — Blame the bounty scandal.

That's what many in New Orleans are doing, including some Saints.

They blame it for overshadowing their entire season, for unfairly portraying the team as the NFL's No. 1 sinners.

And they blame it, in part, for a mistake-prone 0-4 start that led to New Orleans not making the playoffs for the first time in four years.

Players and coaches had said they would not allow the NFL's disruptive probe of the Saints' cash-for-hits program and resulting suspensions —including head coach Sean Payton's full-season ban — to become an excuse for failure. At the same time, few at club headquarters say it had no bearing on the club's performance.

"Forever you can equate the two and I think it's fair to equate the two," said linebacker Scott Shanle, now finishing his seventh season in New Orleans. "Never has a coach been suspended for an entire year and it's a pretty big deal when you look at the grand scheme of what a head coach does, especially a coach like coach Payton, who's had the success he's had."

In addition to Payton's suspension, general manager Mickey Loomis got eight games and assistant head coach Joe Vitt six games before returning to serve in the interim head coaching role he assumed when Payton's suspension began in the offseason. While Vitt was away, offensive line coach Aaron Kromer stepped in as interim to the interim head coach.

Two defensive captains also were punished initially. But linebacker Jonathan Vilma and end Will Smith undertook a lengthy legal battle that overturned their suspensions, which otherwise would have sideline Vilma for a year and Smith for four games.


Publicly, Vitt preached that the Saints must avoid the temptation to point to the bounty probe when things went wrong. Yet Vitt had a different take when he appeared earlier this month as a witness at a closed hearing for the players' appeals of their punishment.

Speaking before former Commissioner Paul Tagliabue, who was appointed to oversee the hearings, Vitt made it clear he felt the NFL had undermined the competitive integrity of the league with harsh punishments based primarily on the testimony of two fired assistant coaches: former defensive coordinator Gregg Williams and former defensive assistant Mike Cerullo.
"How are we going to sell this to our public? How are we going to sell this to the season ticket holders, that this has all taken place? We're 5-7, we've disappointed a community, we've disappointed a region because of Mike Cerullo and Gregg Williams? How do we do this? How do we sell this?" Vitt said on Dec. 3, according to transcripts obtained by The Associated Press. "Sean is suspended for a year, Mickey Loomis for eight weeks? ... Who got hurt? Who was maimed? Look at the film. Who are we going to sell this to?"

Less than a week after Vitt's testimony, the Saints visited the New York Giants and lost 52-27, falling to 5-8.

New Orleans has since rallied for two straight wins, and can finish the season 8-8 with a victory at home on Sunday over Carolina. But that is far short of expectations for a team that won more regular-season and playoff games combined than any other during the previous three seasons.

"We can reflect much more at the end of the season. I'd rather not even try to go too deep right now," quarterback Drew Brees said this week when asked about the bounty probe's toll. "Were there distractions? Yeah. Was there circumstances swirling around us that were just crazy and we had no idea what to expect, challenges? Yes, most definitely. But I will not allow myself, we will not allow our team, to use that as a crutch or an excuse. Others might say ... 'It affected you guys.' That's fine, but we're not going to go there."


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Saints say NFL bounty probe took a toll on season - Yahoo! News

saintsfan1976

Now I'm more concerned with how it will affect the coming seasons.

The draft pick should be reinstated.

The coach should be reinstated.

Now. Not after February.