WhoDat!656

Famous late New Orleans radio talk show personality Buddy Diliberto used to always say something to my buddy Ralph Malbrough that always resonated with me: "never listen to what they say, watch what they do" in reference to the Saints' front office. Watching their moves, the theory goes, would tell you everything you ever need to know about their thought process, while the words they share with the media only serve to further their agenda and paint public perception. So I watched them waive Johnny Patrick and upon further reflection it told me something.

When the Saints released their 3rd round draft pick in 2010 Johnny Patrick, at first I wasn't that surprised. He had a miserable first two seasons with the team and just never seemed to live up to the high draft pick the Saints invested in him. Still, cutting a third round pick before year three is bad. All the more head scratching when you consider that he cost very little against the cap so the Saints didn't really get much needed relief by parting ways with him. So why now? I am sickened to admit that I agree with Jeff Duncan of the Times Picayune on this one when I say that the timing of this release is really suspicious. And why did Jeff dig no deeper than that statement? Was he protecting a colleague? Why can Patrick now when they could at least give him a shot to compete one last time in training camp before letting him go? He might suck, but he doesn't suck worse than a camp body like Cord Parks that will probably be one of the first players cut next season.

Then it all hit me. I remembered that Larry Holder dropped this bombshell, citing an anonymous defensive player on the team, suggesting that Steve Spagnuolo should be fired. Granted he was fired, so obviously the player's comments were accurate and many people on the Saints (players and coaches alike) agreed with the sentiment communicated here. Still, the players were vocal on twitter about not appreciating a player not keeping his thoughts "in house". In fact, Vilma went out to call the guy who did this a coward on twitter for not attaching his name to it. Vilma was asked point blank if he agreed with the comments and he said that wasn't the point. By saying nothing, Vilma of course pretty much metaphorically shouted from the rooftops that he wanted Spagnuolo fired as well. That said, he was also very vocal in saying that he didn't agree with whatever the "anonymous" player (that Larry Holder continues to protect by virtue of his moral duty as a journalist) did. Other players on the defense echoed similar feelings.

Fast forward to Sean Payton being reintstated, and his paranoia/disdain for revealing ANYTHING to the local media, and you knew he was never going to stand for this kind of thing. Whoever the player was, he was going to find out, and there was going to be hell to pay. So who has been cut since then? David Thomas and Johnny Patrick, and that's it (Thomas didn't play defense). And of all the players on defense that carry high cap figures when the Saints are so desperate to fix their financial problems, they cut the most inexpensive one. Suspect. There is no way I am buying that waiving Johnny Patrick is the first gut move in reaction to being the worst defense in NFL history unless there's more to the story. And yeah, Patrick was horrible, but no worse than every other single player on this defense not named Jordan, Lofton or Abdul-Quddus. And think about the message it sends to the team, something that you KNOW Payton found necessary upon coming back to kick his defensive unit in the pants. It sends the message that they are a tight knit group and they keep things in house. If a player upsets that balance, regardless of his high draft status, he's gone. That's enough to shake the foundation of every player and help them remember that in the NFL, no one is safe.

I asked Larry Holder on twitter about this theory and he never responded. This is speculation, of course, and I want to be clear about that. But as far as I'm concerned, his lack of a response told me exactly what I needed to know.

And frankly, if Johnny Patrick is the blabber, then I'm glad this happened. There's no room on the team for a guy that would rather spill his guts to Larry Holder with a pinky promise not to tell than share his feelings with the coaching staff and keep it private. What he did caused the friction that was happening in the locker room to be viewed by the outside public, and that's never ok. Bottom line, and most importantly, that's just not what the Saints are about.

Saints Nation: Was Johnny Patrick Waived for Blabbing to Larry Holder?

"A Veteran is someone who, at one point in his life, wrote a blank check made payable to "The United States of America" for an amount of "up to and including my life."

Danno

Gossip

dizzle88

First thing that came to my mind when he was released

If johnny patrick was released only due to play then why wasn't patrick robinson released aswell who was a whole lot worse all season

We dont let players go just like that, we kept jason david for 3 years lmao

J patrick must have done something to annoy the coaching staff besides his poor play

lee909

Who knows.
Personally I think he was cut to make a statement.The defender was poor and he would have been on the chopping block so why not come back in a cut him,statement made to the other players.

WillSaints81

Its funny when you think about it. On the ESPN forums, The biggest troll representative of ours made a thread "Johnny Patrick you are spending your last days of being a saint what an idiot and a joke @cb u r dn" I didnt know what he meant at the time I thought it was poor play but its almost as if he had some inside information that the rest of us didnt know. I am almost inclined to believe that troll poster knows someone on the saints. I can't believe I am saying that.




Whoops! Actually I just read that thread again, he showed his "parts" to a chic on twitter who decided to blast his pics for everyone to see. Maybe thats why he got cut?

SaintsBro

I won't speculate on the link or connection there, but I have zero doubt in my mind that within two hours of being reinstated Sean Payton had picked up the phone and made some calls around, and found out exactly WHO it was that did that interview. And I further think that Payton also would have spoken privately to other trusted defensive veteran players and coaches on the team, to find out if what the anonymous player was saying in the article about Spags was TRUE, that people really didn't like Spags or that it was working out very badly. It's even possible the player might have already known that Spags was going to be fired, before he spoke out anonymously. I think the article and Spags being fired, it's all connected, something went down.

I also tend to think Chris Ivory is already gone, too, because of his "the coaches won't even talk to me" grumbling comments back in October, I don't think Payton liked opening his morning newspaper to see that. We'll see.

Seer1

I'm telling you that anonymous source was the entire D -except maybe Shanle because Spags let him stay on the field. Those boys gathered together and drew straws because something had to be said. Patrick didn't get a third chance because he didn't deserve a second one. Spags didn't get a second chance because it ended up he didn't even deserve a first one. You don't need a second sip of curdled milk to realize that **** don't belong in the fridge!

K Major

"Mr. Johnny Patrick, meet your new team mate Robert 'Bobby' Meachem".

I'm over it, lets move on.

Seer1

X2 Didn't need a bridge or even a big step to get over this one.

vpheughan

That Buddy D quote had merit when John Mecom owned the Saints but that was then this is now. I look at the Cowboys with Jerry Jones and am reminded of the Mecom days here.