11
Apr
2012
Adam Schefter ponders the Madden Curse’s effect on Peytons everywhere (PIC)
Today’s deep thought comes to us via Adam Schefter’s Twitter, where he wondered aloud whether the infamous Madden Curse might be stronger than ever:
(via Twitter.com)
Mind = Blown.
It really makes you wonder why anyone would ever want to be on the cover of Madden at this point … let alone campaign for it like Rob Gronkowski did this off-season.
Fortunately for Pats fans, Gronkowski got knocked out of this year’s voting in the quarterfinals by Calvin Johnson, who will now square off against Aaron Rodgers in the semis, prompting Packers Nation to flood the voting for Johnson to keep Rodgers away from the cover. On the other side of the bracket, favorite Cam Newton is up against surprise #11 seed Patrick Willis, who narrowly defeated Victor Cruz to advance in the quarters, much to the delight of Giants fans everywhere.
I’m not sure if this is quite what EA Sports had in mind when they opened the cover up to fan voting, but it at least makes things interesting.
CHECK OUT A LIST OF MADDEN CURSE VICTIMS AFTER THE JUMP
5
Apr
2012
Listen to Gregg Williams’ bounty speech that should end any hope of a Saints appeal (AUDIO)
On the very day that Saints head coach Sean Payton and GM Mickey Loomis are appealing their suspensions with the NFL for their involvement in the bounty scandal, Michael Silver of Yahoo! Sports drops a bombshell that should effectively stop that appeal process in its tracks.
In it, Silver reveals that defensive coordinator Gregg Williams specifically directed his players to injure members of the 49ers prior to their post-season meeting in January, and made “hand gestures” signalling that he would pay money to whoever took out QB Alex Smith.
(Photo: Matthew Sharpe/Getty Images via BleacherReport)
Silver got the audio from filmmaker Sean Pamphilon of the United States of Football, who had access to Saints team functions for much of the 2011 season while working on a documentary. The speech in question came during a defensive team meeting the night before the Jan. 15 playoff game, in which Williams delivers a profanity-laced tirade intended to inspire his troops to battle. It would be the Saints last game of the season, and Williams would be fired two days later.
Perhaps most damaging to the Saints cause is the timing of Williams’ speech, which would have come well after the NFL had alerted the Saints that they were looking into the bounty program, and right after the league re-opened the investigation and specifically directed owner Tom Benson and Loomis to put a stop to it. The 49ers game was just two weeks later, and while you can’t actually hear the hand gestures, Pahmphilon says he believes “there’s no doubt at all” that Williams put a bounty on Smith in the meeting. And if that’s the case, it means that Loomis and Payton – who were not present at the meeting – clearly didn’t take enough action in policing their own staff.
UPDATE: The Saints are already trying to paint Williams as a “rogue” coach on his way out the door, who acted in defiance of his superiors. It’s clear that Payton and Loomis are going to set Williams up as the fall guy in an effort to lessen their own punishments, but we’ll see how much water that holds with Roger Goodell.
The relevant audio from Williams speech is below, but here are a few of the more notable gems:
QUOTES AND AUDIO AFTER THE JUMP
21
Mar
2012
Goodell drops the hammer on Saints; suspends Sean Payton for 1 year
The NFL finally handed down its punishment for the Saints bounty program today, and it’s about as severe as you’d expect from a commissioner trying to clean up the league’s violent image. Head coach Sean Payton has been suspended for one year without pay, and former defensive coordinator Gregg Williams (now with the Rams) has been suspended indefinitely for their part in a system that gave out cash rewards to players for injuring opponents from 2009-2011.
Payton was reportedly "stunned" by the news (Photo: SBNation.com)
As if that weren’t enough bad news for New Orleans fans, the Saints were also fined $500,000, and will forfeit their 2nd round picks in 2012 and 2013. Furthermore, Saints general manager Mickey Loomis has been suspended for eight games, assistant head coach Joe Vitt has been suspended 6 games without pay, and individual player punishments are still forthcoming. All of the suspensions begin on April 1st except for Williams, whose suspension starts immediately.
You can read the complete release from the NFL here, but we’ll go ahead and highlight the most relevant sections:
“We are all accountable and responsible for player health and safety and the integrity of the game,” Commissioner Goodell said. “We will not tolerate conduct or a culture that undermines those priorities. No one is above the game or the rules that govern it. Respect for the game and the people who participate in it will not be compromised.”
2
Mar
2012
Jonathan Vilma put a $10,000 bounty on Brett Favre, and other Gregg Williams-related bounty news
I wonder what the bounty on Larry Johnson was for this game (Photo: one4theotherthumb.com)
Today, the NFL announced that the New Orleans Saints were engaged in a “pay-for-performance” system from 2009-2011, including bounty payments for injuries to opposing players.
According to a league memo, 22 to 27 Saints players participated in the program that was administered by defensive coordinator Gregg Williams (now with the St. Louis Rams), and with the knowledge of head coach Sean Payton. Apparently, during their recent championship run, the Saints had specific payments of $1,500 for “knockouts” and $1,000″ for “cart-offs”, with escalating payments for playoff games. Sometimes, the incentives for less violent plays like interceptions or touchdowns, but the bounties occasionally came with specific targets attached to them, like Kurt Warner and Brett Favre.
The other big name at the center of all this is linebacker Jonathan Vilma, who reportedly plunked $10,000 on a table prior to the 2009 NFC Championship game versus the Minnesota Vikings, saying “this goes to the guy who knocks out Brett Favre”.
And while it may not come as a surprise to many in the game that bounties like this still exist, this is going to be an absolute nightmare for the Saints, and particularly Williams, who reportedly ran a similar bounty program during his time the Redskins defensive coordinator, from 2004-2007. For his part, Williams issued a lame apology, that rings wildly hollow when you realize that Williams has been guilty of this practice for no less than seven years, and probably with every team he’s coache with in the league:
“I want to express my sincere regret and apology to the NFL, Mr. Benson, and the New Orleans Saints fans for my participation in the ‘pay for performance’ program while I was with the Saints,” Williams said. “It was a terrible mistake, and we knew it was wrong while we were doing it. Instead of getting caught up in it, I should have stopped it. I take full responsibility for my role. I am truly sorry. I have learned a hard lesson and I guarantee that I will never participate in or allow this kind of activity to happen again.”
Yeah, good luck with that Gregg. It’s no secret around the league that Williams has had some questionable coaching tactics, and with the league’s increasing effort to decrease injuries in the game, this whole bounty thing isn’t exactly the look Roger Goodell was going for. Knowing Goodell, the hammer is going to come down on both the Saints and Williams, and we wouldn’t be surprised to see Williams suspended for a long time – if not banned from the game for life – to make an example out of him.
One thing’s for sure: this is an unqualified bombshell, on par with the Patriots’ Spygate, and could quickly turn into the story of the NFL’s off-season. Williams has been a coach in the league with no less than six teams over the last twenty years, so look for even more tales of similar pay-for-performance programs to emerge, indicting even more of the NFL’s Boba Fetts.
30
Aug
2011
Coach Payton tells PFT that kickoffs could vanish from football
Sean Payton sees a future where kickoffs might be kicked out. (Cox Sports TV)
New Orleans Saints coach Sean Payton spoke with ProFootballTalk.com’s Mike Florio on Tuesday about the future of kickoff returns.
Payton understands that fans — and many players — are miffed about kickoffs moving from the 30 to the 35, effectively reducing chances for big kick returns. He also knows that with the information the league had about injuries, kickoffs were a central target for change.
“Then you have to be able to take steps, so that 10 years down the road when someone is asking you, ‘Hey at this time, when you knew it was such a dangerous play and you continued on with the kicks from the 30 — and now you have someone who is seriously injured.’”
Payton acknowledged that kickoffs could eventually vanish from the landscape of football.
“Sitting in on John Madden’s coaches committee, and discussing this topic, this is a tough one, in regards to trying to reduce collision speed. There are a number of things you can do offensively and defensively, but when it comes to kicking that ball and these guys are running down the field (at) a pretty good rate of speed, even if they have a five-yard start as opposed to, last year, the 10-yard start. I wouldn’t be surprised, Mike, if down the road that’s where it was headed. Unless we come up with some good answers. And that’s the trick.”
Payton is clearly not on board with the league removing onside kicks.
PFT did the hard work on this one, so here’s the link to the story.
7
Feb
2010
Saints defeat Colts 31-17 in Super Bowl XLIV; Tracy Porter intercepts Manning to seal victory (video)
A picture says 1000 words (Photo: Jed Jacobsohn/Getty Images via ESPN.com)
The New Orleans Saints shocked the world and defeated the Indianapolis Colts 31-17 to win Super Bowl XLIV, and bring the Lombardi Trophy home to the city of New Orleans.
Trailing 10-0 at the end of the 1st quarter, head coach Sean Payton made a series of gutsy calls – including a failed 4th and goal attempt in the 2nd quarter and successful onside kick to start the 2nd half – that helped the Saints chip away at the lead and put themselves in a position to win.
Drew Brees went 32-39 for 288 yards, with two touchdowns and no interceptions to collect the MVP award, and the Saints defense came up big when it mattered to preserve the lead. The game winning-play came when Tracy Porter picked off Peyton Manning and brought it 74 yards to the house with 3:12 remaining.
WATCH VIDEO OF PORTER’S INTERCEPTION AFTER THE JUMP
8
Jun
2009
Sean Payton’s movie idea is almost as bad as his play-calling
Sean Payton acts out a scene from "The Xbox Kid". The refs are unimpressed.
Nola.com reports that Saints head coach Sean Payton is currently shopping a movie screenplay around Hollywood. And this isn’t just another crappy re-hash of a 1970s TV series or something. Oh no. Get this:
The movie, currently titled “The Xbox Kid,” is about a boy from a poor family in New Orleans who starts controlling the outcome of NFL games through a refurbished Xbox given to him by his grandfather following a devastating hurricane.
Payton said the idea came to him when his son Connor would play upcoming Saints games on his Xbox during the 2006 season.
“I just wrote about four pages, piddling around with it,” said Payton, who later turned the idea over to a professional screen writer to flesh it out.
The best joke that I could make right here has already been made, so I’ll just re-print it (from the comments of the Nola.com article):
“Hope the kid doesn’t run a reverse to kill the clock.”
BAAHAAHAAHAA! Too funny.
CAA is currently shopping the script on Payton’s behalf, and let’s not kid ourselves, it’s more original than anything Hollywood has come up with in years. This thing is going to get picked up tomorrow.
Read on after the jump for an extended tirade on Sean Payton’s play-calling abilities.
