Today proved that March is President of the Asylum. With all of the insanity that has occurred in the 21 days that this month has been around, March 2012 will be in the record books as the Maddest March ever. Peyton Manning found a new home, TWO #2 seeds lost to #15 seeds in the same day in the first round of the NCAA Tournament, football players were getting record setting paychecks and now to add to the pot, Tim Tebow is a New York Jet and Sean Peyton has been suspended for the entire 2012-2013 season in light of the recent bounty scandal that has plagued the New Orleans Saints offseason.
Let's start with the Saints. Sean Peyton’s suspension isn't the only penalty New Orleans is receiving for the bounty drama that has been filling the airwaves for the past few months. The laundry list is long and it stings. Mickey Loomis, the GM has been suspended for 8 games and is being fined $500,000. The New Orleans Saints as a franchise is being fined $500,000. Joe Vitt, the Saints Assistant Head Coach (and the person who was supposed to be the Interim Head Coach for the Saints this year) has been suspended for 6 games without pay and the franchise has lost their second round picks in the 2012 and 2013 Drafts. It's like Hurricane Katrina all over again but this time New Orleans can’t blame Mother Nature for the damage caused.
Nope, the people of New Orleans have to blame the Saints for this one. Their team, their hero in the face of disaster, their Superbowl Champions, this one goes to them. What will get Saints fans the most upset is the severity of the punishment. Rodger Goodell has made a huge statement by coming down this hard. We all knew that New Orleans was going to be made an example out of for this but the end result changes the entire NFL in more ways than one.
First of all, the Saints are going to have a hard time maintaining their elite status in the league because of the losses they’ve sustained. Remember when Coach Peyton tore his ACL and MCL after that sideline hit and spent 3 games up in the booth. New Orleans looked lost and disjointed without their leader on the sideline and without him for a whole year it will be difficult to overcome the empty space he occupies. Sure Drew Brees can relieve some of the void because, after all he is the Captain but even Drew looks up to Sean for guidance and being unable to do so for the year will make the road to success very rough. I would be surprised if the Saints made it to the post-season this year.
Secondly, this makes it very hard for whoever takes over for Peyton. The Saints were one of the best teams in the NFL the past few years and have game plans for everything. They are a talented team both on the offensive and the defensive side of the ball. The bond between the players, the fans, management and the coaching staff is unlike any other and solidifies the fraternal bond the team has. He will have high expectations placed on him for maintaining the high caliber team that he will be entrusted with.
Finally, no locker room will ever be the same now. Players in the NFL have said that they’ve always had bounties in their head on players and have huddled and talked about running players into the ground as motivation but now any conversation about big hits will be looked at as a bounty and will result in investigations and possible fines. Now I am not supporting what the Saints did by any means, in fact I deplore it but I do think the severity of the punishment will make the game soft and will take away the athletic ability of the players. Players have been injured on non-bounty hits since professional football was born yet I fear that any hit that looks suspicious will now be overanalyzed and the way the game is played will forever be different.
It’s unfortunate that the Saints are the team that has to endure the punishment of a bounty program that I bet has been in other locker rooms in years past and even maybe last year. They are a good team, had a decent chance of going to the Superbowl last season and have been a source of positivity and inspiration to a city that has needed it for so long. I’m neutral about the severity of the punishment, if I had more details I would probably swing one way or another but I do want to say, if Gregg Williams gets off easier than Sean Peyton does for the scandal, Rodger Goodell will have done nothing to set an example. I feel bad for the Saints because they are losing a whole lot now and it will seriously affect them this season.
If you want to hear my opinion about Tim Tebow see my next blog “He’s Tebowing on a Jet plane!”.
No comments:
Post a Comment