Not true actually.
Article from the Star Tribune (1/29/10)

http://www.startribune.com/sports/vi.../83074192.html
Three New Orleans Saints players were fined a total of $30,000 for four different hits in Sunday's NFC Championship game. Three of those hits were delivered to Brett Favre.

As we mentioned earlier Bobby McCray was fined $20,000 for two hits on Favre. The first came after Favre handed off to Percy Harvin in the first quarter. McCray then hit Favre in the knees on his interception in the third quarter, causing Favre to suffer a left ankle injury.

Defensive tackle Anthony Hargrove was fined $5,000 for unnecessary roughness when he lifted Favre up and slammed him to the turf in the third quarter.
Finally, Jonathan Casillas was fined $5,000 for unnecessary roughness when he hit punt returner Darius Reynaud after he had downed the ball.
[Reply]

Steve, don't let the truth get in the way of a good story! :-)
[Reply]

The more you hear, the worse the Saints and their staff seem. Lying to the Commissioner's office, and "getting their stories straight". What a mess. It's no wonder Goodell came down so hard.
[Reply]

:-)

That's what my thoughts boil down to as well. If they hadn't tried the cover up, there is no way the suspensions are anywhere near as harsh as they are. The fact that they were warned and decided to keep the program in place, and try to keep it in-house was pretty reckless in my opinion. As it takes is one free agent who didn't get re-signed and wants to run his mouth about something and here we are. I know people are saying it's Shockey who blew the whistle, but that was 3 years ago. If they had stopped the program right then and there, I don't think anything happens to them.
[Reply]

What? I thought my Steelers were the dirties , non- ethical, low down dirtiest, players in NFL history? :-)
[Reply]

And here I thought it was the Raiders.
The Raiders Vs. Broncos game last year did set the record for the most penalties in one game after all.

Image
[Reply]

If I recall correctly, The Raiders v. Broncos game was mostly false starts and holding with 2 or 3 personal fouls mixed in. :-)



Why is there a picture of Brian Cushing from the Texans? :-)
[Reply]

4 unnecessary roughness
1 roughing the passer
1 unsportsman like conduct

and I think there was a fight or two they broke up in those penalties.

I see now that I picked the wrong picture..............


Sorry for getting off topic.
[Reply]

At least you're not talking about MMA anymore. :-)
[Reply]

Hey! dem dare Raiders are some class acts :-)
[Reply]

Six 15 yard penalties is a lot, but the bulk of the penalties were other stuff. The Raiders averaged something like 10 penalties a game and set a record for most penalties in a quarter or half or something like that last season. :-)
[Reply]

I guess I was a little pre-mature in trying to stick up for the Saints as being just like every other team.
I still believe that to be the case, but I heard some more sound bites from Roger Goodhead, er Goodell where
he claims there was a letter and a poster sent to post in the locker room that specifically used the word bounty
and prohibited any behavior of that kind. I guess this could actually be true. Kind of like you being the company
poarno downloader and a memo comes out that seems to be for everybody, but it really to cover the companies a55
when they come after YOU. If it is true, then the Saints are getting what is coming to them. If there was a coverup
attempt, that to is unjustifiable. On to the Warren Sapp accusations, I like Warren much more as a commentator that
I ever did as a player, I think he is a little bi+(h, or a big one rather. But do I believe that the rat could be Jeremy
Shockey, you bet I do. Sounds exactly like him. Does it matter??? Hardly. But snitch is a word I associate with
drug dealers and community thugs, so I will use rat, lol. And as for the NFL, I think I will join Shaun Payton and take a
year off. Until they agree to pay for all the brain damage they caused, and do something about these GIANT men they
help create that die early due to diabetes complications, I think I will spend Sunday doing yard work.
[Reply]

And the Saints go marching on............. http://espn.go.com/new-york/story/_/...hes-home-games

Gotta love federal crime level wiretapping. :-)
[Reply]

Crazy!
[Reply]

If I was Drew Brees, I would get while the gettins good.
[Reply]

He can't make a move, Josh. Until the fines and suspensions are handed down, he doesn't know what his team will look like.
He cannot play for any other team this year, he was Franchised. All he can do is sit the year out with Brad and Sean Payton.
He's already said he will NOT play without a long term contract in place. The last time he did that in good faith, he blew up his shoulder.
He's in a good position right now. If his team is going to suck, he should sit out the year and take his talent elsewhere.
Mind ya, they're within a couple million of being a done deal. He'll be the highest paid player in football. They're somewhere around 19.5 to 21.5 million a year right now. He's easily worth twice that salary just based on the merchandising he brings, but they need to work within the cap.
So he can't git, and the gittin ain't good. :-)
[Reply]

I don't know why a QB of his caliber would even consider signing a long term contract with the Saints right now. The Saints are going to be feeling the repercussions of this for quite a while. Brees is getting old enough that he's going to need a decent team in the next few years if he's looking to go back to the Super Bowl. I just don't see the Saints in that race for a while now.

I would sit out the year and go elsewhere.:-)
[Reply]

He doesn't need any more accolades. He loves his city and his city loves him. He's achieved all a quarterback could hope to achieve. He's looking for a lifetime deal where he moves from player to operations, "elsewhere" isn't in his vocabulary. The only way it'll get there is if the Saints ownership/management forces him out.
This is his club, and as such, he'd love nothing more to stick it out and lead his team out of these difficulties. It would just make the Brees Legend that much larger. I guess you have to understand how much he's loved in that part of the world to understand his mindset. Suffice to say that God is first and Drew Brees is a close second.
[Reply]

Player suspensions...

Jonathan Vilma - entire 2012 season.
Anthony Hargrove (now with Green Bay) - 8 games
Will Smith - 4 games
Scott Fujita (now with Cleveland) -3 games.
[Reply]

Man! I go away for a couple of months and all this crap breaks out. As a Saint's fan, I am disgusted with the whole thing. Plain and simple, they Saints got caught doing what a lot of other teams do. Then they lied and tried to cover it up. On top of that the NFL is being sued for not protecting the players more. So to me, the way the level of repercussions is understandable. I also believe that if the Saints would have stopped the program when it started and had not lied to the commissioner, then the penalties would not have been so severe. That being said, the Saints will survive. Payton's game plans will be followed. The defense may be without Vilma for a year but I believe that's actually an upgrade. Will Smith won't be missed as much either.

As for the "allegation" of Loomis eavesdropping on other coaches - that whole thing seems to have dropped fairly quickly when the sources were revealed to be people fired from the Saints for just cause.
[Reply]