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I was surprised to learn that my name surfaced in transcripts from testimony in the New Orleans Saints bounty appeals hearings Dec. 3. I was utterly shocked to learn the circumstances in which it surfaced, that former defensive coordinator Gregg Williams was fired in part because he allegedly leaked draft information to me in 2011.

The scenario Saints assistant head coach Joe Vitt described to former U.S. Attorney Mary Jo White regarding Williams never occurred. There's not a sliver of truth to it, at least as far as my involvement is concerned.

Williams indeed might have been texting Saints draft pick information to someone. But it wasn't to me.



I explained this to Sean Payton on the night of April 29, after he initially accused me of the alleged transgression in a private meeting following the completion of the third round.

While on deadline that night, Saints vice president of communications Greg Bensel summoned me to an impromptu meeting with Payton and General Manager Mickey Loomis in the hallway leading to the Saints' draft war room. There, Payton accused me of breaking the news of Saints draft selections before the staff had even made the calls in the war room. He launched into a convoluted explanation of how the club had assigned a staff member to monitor my tweets and how they had undermined Williams' plot by using a different process in the war room to select cornerback Johnny Patrick in the third round.

The whole thing was crazy and I said so at the time. I wished it were true. I wish I had a mole, Williams or otherwise, who agreed to leak me the picks beforehand. Alas, as everyone who's covered the Saints for any extended period of time knows, Payton keeps a vise-like lid on proprietary information like draft selections. No one - local or national - breaks Saints draft picks and it will stay that way, at least until Fox scores the broadcast rights to the NFL draft.

Fact is, that night I was only paying cursory attention to the draft's second and third rounds. Frankly, I was too busy trying to write a column on Reggie Bush's controversial tweet - "It's been fun New Orleans" - and tenuous future with the team than worry about the Saints' selections. I'm fairly certain competitors beat me to the tweets on the Saints' picks that night: Martez Wilson and Johnny Patrick.

Regardless, the Saints apparently weren't convinced. Payton threatened to revoke my credentials for violating the club's media policy. The club wisely never took such action.

After that night, the incident was never mentioned again. I went back to doing my job, assumed the Saints had come to their senses and realized the error of their ways. I never heard another word about it until last December when a source with access to the bounty hearing transcripts informed me that my name surfaced in testimony.

The entire scenario speaks volumes about the level of distrust the staff had for Williams at the time and the paranoia that developed at the end of his ill-fated tenure.

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The Dude

Who is me?

FinSaint

Jeff Duncan from T-P.

NuNu318

How ironic is this? Now the almighty, moral authority Jeff Duncan has to defend himself from possible false accusations. The same guy that had Goodell **** so far down his throat that he believed every word Goodell and his cronies spewed out of their scapegoating mouths.

Now he sees how that **** feels....whether it was him receiving the texts from GW or not....doesn't matter. All his insults to the fans, calling us stupid conspiracy theorists, and blatant A** kissing of Goodell...is coming right back to him.

Karma's a b**** JD.....and she's only a b**** to those who deserve it...

xan

Why would MY name come up in the NFL bounty investigations? Possibly because I was calling defensive plays from the B&G chat room.

"It's smegma LEFT, Williams, dammit to hell!"

I've been on probation with the league since Payton found me out.

burningmetal

Duncan was on my nerves almost the minute that "bountygate" hit the headlines. He's always been arrogant in how he speaks of fans opinions, but he was utterly convinced that the Saints were the evil empire from day one, and any other conclusion was just lunacy.

Now we know he had an axe to grind. I really don't care if he's telling the truth here are not, because frankly it seems like a very unimportant detail. The only thing relevant to take from this is that Jeff tells us it's nothing personal, yet he writes this article about how "crazy" the whole thing was, and how "amusing" it was. If that weren't enough, he starts replying to people in the comments section, making sure to agree with every person who had anything negative to say about the Saints, or who came to his defense. The professional thing to do would have been to leave it alone.

But professionalism just isn't his style.

If I had a nickel for every time I heard that, the NFL would fine and suspend me.

SapperSaint

Duncan is such a pecker. Hope he likes the guilty before proven innocent treatment like he gave the saints.

NuNu318

Oh and you best believe he will have just as much "inside access" as us fans do since SP is back. If its not clear to his bosses that he has a personal thing against Payton his article claiming he's innocent in this thing with GW should open their eyes. Give guys like Holder, and Trip that assignment of interviewing and getting info from the team. Cuz if they send Duncan in there he will be completly ignored or get a lot of snark. And I doubt thats good for business....

TheOak

Hey Duncan,
Your article wreaks of anger towards Payton and the Saints for keeping a lid on things.

What in Sam Hill is the reason for throwing Fox into it?

Agenda?

NuNu318

I think he's mad because he feels like the Saints tend to give their info to Fox instead of TP. Which IMO is understandble ...I mean yeah if I'm Benson and I own the team and the local Fox station of course I'm going to give info to them first and make sure things are done on my terms and correctly. He's the owner so he has that right. Duncan is just bitter because he's not the inside guy.


He needs to realize that most of these guys only trust one or two sources with their exclsive info. Especially a guy like Payton who keeps every single detail tight to the vest. Its no suprise because Parcells was the same exact way. I read an interview they did with him years ago when he stated the only media guy he liked, trusted and talked to about the team and just life in general was Peter King.

For Payton, that guy is Jay Glazer. Glazer is the only one that I know of that constantly scoops, and gets interviews from Payton & Brees. Hell Glazer even works out with Brees sometimes in the offseason. They seem to like him on a personal level and trust him. And it also seems as of late, with articles I've read, Payton has taken sort of a shining to Holder since he was the only one in local media to do interview with him while he was on suspension and after he signed his contract.

Its all about trust it seems with guys in the Saints organization. Its not any different IMO with how the Patriots treat the media. The only reason the Saints get flack is cuz the local guys act like babies when they cant get what they want. Yeah Payton can be an a****** but you know what he runs the team, so he can do that. If guys like Duncan weren't being such ***** about it themselves it would be a lot easier.