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| MICKEY LOOMIS |
After years of suffering caused by the Hurricane Katrina
disaster, it was a welcome sight to see something positive happen for the
people of New Orleans as their New Orleans Saints raised the Lombardi trophy in
2009.
And although the Saints haven’t been back to the Super Bowl
the past two years, they have continued to be among the NFL’s elite winning 24
of their last 32 regular season games. Quarterback Drew Brees has spearheaded
one of the league’s most dangerous offenses keeping the Saints in the
championship hunt each year.
But with the good comes the bad and unfortunately this was
the year that the Saints' past sins came to roost. The Saints were first
investigated for the Bounty Program that went on under former defensive
coordinator Greg Williams’ watch.
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| DREW BREES |
That scandal has not only tarnished the Saints reputation
and forced the suspensions of its head coach, assistant coach, former defensive
coordinator and general manager; it has also put the league in legal trouble as
former players have brought suit against the NFL because of the bounty scandal.
And now the organization itself is under Federal
investigation because of an alleged eavesdropping scandal involving its general
manager Mickey Loomis who was already suspended for eight months for his
involvement in the bounty scandal.
I once heard that behind every fortune is a crime so I guess
in the case of a sports franchise it would go “behind every dynasty is an
illegal activity of some sort.”
Not that the Saints are a dynasty since they have only won
one Super Bowl title but they were looking like a championship contender before
all of these scandals were brought to light.
The Saints should have taken advantage of the good teams
they have had over the past couple of years because if they wind up like the
last championship team that got caught in a scandal then they probably won’t
win another title anytime soon.
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| SEAN PAYTON |
The New England Patriots won three championships before
getting caught in what was called “spy-gate” scandal. They have been to the
Super Bowl twice since then but were not able to pull out a win.
The Saints are still waiting to see what suspensions and
fines the league is going to levy on the players involved in the bounty scandal
so it has got to be difficult to already have another scandal hanging over
them.
And being that it is a Federal investigation it may take a
while before that situation is resolved. There is also speculation that the
Saints may face civil suits against them for the eavesdropping scandal if evidence
that it actually occurred comes to light.
Regardless of what happens Saints’ owner Tom Benson should
start cleaning house. These scandals have brought shame to his organization and
opened him up to lawsuits that he may be fighting for years to come.
But if he chooses to continue backing Loomis, head coach
Sean Payton and the players that were involved in these scandals then it might
be time to change the name of his franchise. How does the New Orleans
Scandal-ions sound?
Roosevelt Hall is an NFL Blogger for The Sport Mentalist and an NBA Blogger for The Sport Mentalist 2. He is also a Sports Reporter for Pro Sports Lives. He can be contacted at RHall_TPFB@Yahoo.com and be sure to follow him on Twitter @sportmentalist.
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