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| The Loomis and Williams' scandals will destroy the Saints, and not even a great coach like Sean Payton will be able to fix it. |
In 2005 Hurricane Katrina almost completely wiped away the city of New Orleans; there were only three things keeping the city alive, the New Orleans Saints, New Orleans Hornets and Lil' Wayne. The first two weren't doing much in terms of keeping the city positive, and Lil' Wayne is only one individual and while successful, never brought the city anything more than a couple anthems to beat their collective chests too. But in 2006 the New Orleans Saints found their calling and then took the NFL by storm.
Led by a reborn Drew Brees, the exciting Reggie Bush and a slew of underrated wide receivers, the Saints surprised the NFL and won their first NFC South title at 10-6. Their first playoff home game since '01 brought the city to its feet even amidst a ever growing amount of physical and mental damage in the greater New Orleans area. Even though the Saints couldn't beat the Bears in the NFC Championship Game, their win at home was a great boost the city's morale, but the train wouldn't stop there.
A two year playoff absence in the seasons following was more out of a sense of underachievement then a lack of talent. But the Saints returned with a serious chip on their shoulder in 2009. After dominating the NFC with a 13-3 record the Saints embarrassed the Arizona Cardinals in the Divisonal round, then squeaked out a win in the NFC Championship Game against the Minnesota Vikings thanks to a Brett Favre INT in OT. With the city finally starting to regain its identity the Saints were poised to win their first Super Bowl in franchise history. But first they had to defeat Peyton Manning and the well-known Indianapolis Colts. No one expected the Saints to win in the fashion they did, but Tracy Porter's game sealing pick six on Peyton Manning will probably go down as one of the most jaw-dropping plays in Super Bowl history. The Saints had not only won the Super Bowl but they had done it by outsmarting the league's smartest quarterback. New Orleans couldn't recreate their Super Bowl magic in the following year's, but still remained a premier NFL franchise.
The 2012 offseason was supposed to be a celebratory one for the Saints. They were supposed to sign Drew Brees to a long term contract, and they were supposed to re-tool and once again contend for a Super Bowl. But instead of rewarding Drew Brees for all his stellar play, the Saints cheaply franchised tagged him and offended him in the worst way. Yet, the Brees contract issues were the least of New Orleans worries. In late March Gregg Williams and the entire Saints coaching staff was accused of holding a bounty system for different players. Then in early April, audio was released that showed these acquisitions held true. Roger Goodell suspended Williams, head coach Sean Payton, GM Mickey Loomis and LB coach Joe Vitt. These suspensions were heavy and extremely damaging. But the league had to do it. The accusations were bringing serious negative press to the NFL and exposed the league's lack of protection for its players. There was outrage on both sides, some people said bounties were apart of the game, other vehemently bashed the NFL for promoting violence. Either way the Saints organization was the major loser in the whole ordeal. But the damage would continue to pile up. Just a few days ago general manager Mickey Loomis, already facing suspension from the bounty issue, was accused of wiretapping opposing coaches in the Superdome from 2002-2004. These accusations are far more serious because of their legal ramifications(it's completely illegal to wiretap people without a warrant). Loomis and the entire Saints organization denied the allegations, but the damage had already been done. In few short years the New Orleans Saints went from one of the league's finest organizations, to the scapegoat for all of the NFL's problems.
How could this happen to such a efficient and promising franchise? Who knows in the coming days. From this wiretapping investigation we'll might learn of even more illegal activity associated with the Saints organization. But honestly this situation is just unfortunate for the NFL, America's favorite league. Watching one of his premier franchises go up in flames must be difficult for commissioner Roger Goodell to watch. After the great things the Saints did for the city of New Orleans post-Katrina, it's hard to imagine any of this actually happening. Yet it did happen and it is ugly. Don't expect the Saints to avoid these offseason distractions without their head coaches and GM who is now amidst a potential court case. I feel bad for Drew Brees who's one of the good guys in the league, yet he is being unfairly low-balled by his organization and is now unintentionally knee deep in a pair of scandals that are not a representation of him in the least bit.
Scandals of this magnitude shred franchises to pieces. Have it happen to twice and you can sign yourself up for ten years of disaster organizationally, structurally and on the field as well. It's going to be a long summer for New Orleans...a long summer.
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