Sean Payton Isn't Remorseful

So when commissioner Roger Goodell handed down the penalties to the the Saints last week, Sean Payton issued a statement saying "he took full responsibility" for the bounty program and "he was sorry". There is no true remorse from Payton because today he said he was thinking about an appeal and that he didn't lie to the NFL. The problem with these statements is that the league and the 50,000 pages of documents refutes everything that came out of Payton's mouth. So either the league and its team of investigators are lying or Payton believes the country is stupid and will take his word over facts that is stacked as high as a building. To me this totally confirms the fact that if Tom Benson, owner of the New Orleans Saints, had any intestinal fortitude he would immediately remove Payton as the head coach of the New Orleans Saints.

Instead of laying low and out of sight, Payton is making himself available to the media and walking around the owner's meeting like nothing happened. Of yeah did I mention the fact that now he is trying to get his mentor and good friend Bill Parcells to coach the team in his absence! Everyone knows that Payton would basically coach through Parcells and give him instructions over the phone or via e-mail. Does this sound like a man who is remorseful for actions that hit at the integrity of the league. On top of that Payton and Mickey Loomis are ignoring the fact that they would have to interview a minority candidate to satisfy the "Rooney Rule". What candidate in his right mind would want to be a token interview for these guys? You know they have a guy in place and the interview is just a formality so they can look good to the league. Also if I'm an assistant Pete Carmichael, offensive coordinator, and Steve Spagnulo, Payton just showed he doesn't trust your judgement or ability to run the team in his absent. Who would want to work for a boss that doesn't trust you? Not me. Also keep in mind that the Saints will release/cut Jonathan Vilma and make him the scapegoat for Bountygate. You just wait and see and Payton will thank him for his service and move on to another linebacker. This whole thing reeks and Payton is at the forefront.

But wait, it gets better. Payton is going to lose a little over $5 million dollars, so in order to recoup some of his loss funds, he going to go work for Fox NFL Sunday. If that is not giving a middle finger to Goodell and the NFL, I don't know what is. I can't coach my team on the sidelines but I'll comment on their games and work for one of the leagues partner and showcase how great I am. This guy is unbelievable!!! Any other employees that work for a corporation that lied to his superiors, including the CEO and shareholders would be shown the door. This guy is going to work for another division of the same company, while taunting the CEO. Only in America could this take place.

You can tell how much of a hands off owner Tom Benson. He has allowed Tweedle-Dee and Tweedle-Dum (Payton and Loomis) tarnish and ruin the New Orleans Saints. Sean Payton is not remorseful for his actions. He believes that since he won a Super Bowl that entitles him to dictate the terms of his suspension. A truly remorseful person would have taken, and I cannot believe I'm writing this, the Gregg Williams way. Which is we have not heard a word from him since he apologized. If I'm Goodell I think I change Payton's suspension to indefinite, just like Williams. Not out of spite but because if it is the responsibility of the coaches and the players to protect the shield, that is the National Football League, Payton is showing that he believes he is bigger than the shield. And is proving it everytime he opens his mouth.

New Orleans Saints Done?

When I saw the penalties handed down by the NFL to the Saints organization I was shocked and stunned. Suspending Rams coordinator Gregg Williams indefinitely, Sean Payton for a year, the GM for 8 games, an assistant coach for 6, fined them $500k and took away two 2nd round picks for the next two years, the first thought that came to mind was the Death Penalty that they hand out on college. The NFL sent a clear message that the way the game used to be played, where bounties were tolerated, would no longer be allowed. It's unbelievable to me that Sean Payton ignored the league when they informed him to stop the program and then lied about it to them is just plain stupid on his part. Also they have an email where someone asked Payton to put"$5,000 on taking Aaron Rodgers out of the game".This isn't the first time Payton and the Saints have been in trouble. I wrote a few years ago about the DEA investigating the team for illegal use of prescription drugs. That was surprisingly swept under the rug. This is the type of offense that puts the franchise in a precarious situation. What does owner Tom Benson do when Payton returns? Does he keep him? I believe its a huge risk because Payton has now made the Saints a target. Say a person gets hurt from a hard hit, the Saints will be scrutinized and penalized. Payton and Williams for their parts in lying and covering up will find it hard to continue working in the NFL. Also hears another angle, if I'm Drew Brees I would want out of New Orleans. The Saints will probably be really bad next year, because most of their defensive players, including their heart and soul and captain, Jonathan Vilma, will be out multiple games. Who would want to be around this team when they will get asked everyday about Bountygate and on top of that you are losing games. Brees will have to throw for 6,000 yards just to keep this team competitive. Or let's take it another way and say the Saints win without Payton, why keep him? Sean Payton decided that he was bigger than the league and condoned the actions of trying to intentionally hurt other players. The worse part about all this is the players suspension have yet to be released. If I'm Brees, I do not want to be apart of this sinking ship. This situation is going to get much worse before it gets better.

Elway's Job Is On The Line

Peyton Manning signing a 5-year $96 million contract with the Denver Broncos was finalized on Tuesday. My initial take was shock at the length and guaranteed money in the contract. Manning who has had four surgeries on his neck and did not play all of last season, is now the highest paid player in the league. There is no player, especially one coming off the type of surgery, is worth that type of money. But for the Broncos, Manning is worth every penny. Simply put, John Elway and John Fox wanted nothing more but to find a way to stop the Tebow train. Peyton gives them the out they wanted, an excuse to bring in a Hall of Fame quarterback, so they could ship Tim Tebow out of town. Elway and Fox do not and will never like Tebow or his quarterbacking style. They never truly embraced him and at times it seemed they wanted him to fail. In Manning, the Broncos get an offensive coordinator and quarterback, the guy closer molded to their hearts. There's no need for quarterback coaches to teach mechanics or having to try to dumb down their offense, in their view. Peyton has total control of the offensive schemes, which is what he truly wanted and Elway wanted a guy that was a passer like him. It's a win-win for both guys if it works. However, history tells another story when it comes to HOF quarterback changing teams toward the end of their career. Johnny Unitas failed in San Diego. Joe Namath only played a few games with the Rams and did not have any type of success. Montana achieved some success with the Chiefs but never the same heights he had with the 49ers. Lastly, Brett Favre went to two different teams but never won another Super Bowl. What Elway is trying to do is get instant success by bringing in the grizzled old vet, instead of waiting patiently and developing his team around Tebow. Will the Broncos be better than 8-8? Yes. Is the AFC West easy to win? Of course. But I believe Manning does not have that much more time left to play or that much left in the tank to make a serious contender. The Broncos have more holes than he and Elway think. If Manning really wanted a fast track to the Super Bowl he would have went to San Francisco where the pieces are already in place and where he would be the missing link. Manning stated its a win now situation for him. The win now situation is not only for him but it's on Elway as well. This decision will either bring an instant championship or the Broncos will be setback for another decade. People in Denver have been searching for the next John Elway to lead them to the promise land. Don't believe a semi-healthy Peyton Manning is the answer.

Peyton's New Home

Here is what KDC and I discussed about Peyton going to the Denver Broncos:

KDC: To me, Denver was the worst team he could've joined. I know he likes familiarity, but TN would've been a better fit to my mind. Yes, the AFC West should be easy to win, but ... so much turmoil there. He could've hidden out in Nashville w/nary a problem...

Momo: Not being bias but if he really wanted to win another championship it would have been San Fran. What Peyton wants is control over everything from the offensive side. Also he does not want to block Eli from getting to another Super Bowl, however, if you really want to be a champ then embrace Montana, embrace Young and beat your brother. I think familiarity with John Fox helps but I don't in the long run you can with with that roster. Peyton thinks he can mold those young receivers and that team in his Indy image and that's why he's there.

KDC: I'm a 49ers hater & i think SF would've been the place to go. If you guys hadn't had a couple goofs in the NFC champ game, you'd of been in the Super Bowl. I get the brother thing & the NFC being tougher than the AFC right now, but TN would've been a better choice than Denver IMHO.

Momo: Tennessee is better than the Broncos BUT 1. he doesn't want to face the Colts twice and then what would happen if he lost to them? His pride would take a huge hit. Playing Indy will be hard for but playing them twice would be unbearable. It would have been better in Tenn because he had a running game and a pretty good defense. Plus he is/was so revered here it was probably too much to bear.

Momo's March Madness Pick'em

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Here is the link: Pick'em and password is tourney. You have until 11 a.m. central.

The Madness Begins

It's my favorite time of year. March Madness!!!! The brackets are out and the tournament technical starts tomorrow with the first four game but everyone else starts paying attention on Thursday. One note, last year VCU started play on Tuesday of last years tournament and made it all the way to the Final Four. Could that happen this year? Possibly, but not likely. The tournament is all about matchups. I'm going to take a look at a few of the matchups that are intriguing to me for this week slate of games from each region. First up the South:

Iowa St vs. UConn: This is a classic case of the turtle and the hare. Iowa St. is the turtle and UConn is the hare. Meaning the Cyclones will try to slow UConn down and make it a half-court game. UConn likes to run and have an uptempo game. Plus you have an experienced, HOF coach, Jim Calhoun versus a second year coach Fred Hoiberg. I'll take the old coach and the defending champ in this one.

Wichita St. vs. VCU: This will probably be one the better games of the tournament. Both these teams play similar styles. Both have young and up-coming head coaches. Both are mid-majors who experienced success last year(VCU to the Final Four, Wichita St. won the NIT) and its the classic 5-12 matchup. Doesn't get any better than that.

East

Gonzaga vs. West Virginia: Not a lot of glamorous games in this bracket. Since I am typing this, watch how a lot of the upsets come from this region.

West

Memphis vs. SLU, New Mexico vs. Long Beach St., Louisville vs. Davidson, Murray St. vs Colorado St.. I love this region. You got a good mix of experience coaches and young coaches. Rick Majareus at St. Louis Univ, Josh Pastner at Memphis, Rick Pitino, Tom Izzo, Steve Alford and Billy Donovan just to name a few. Plus there are a lot of underrated players/stars in this bracket. You have Will Barton of Memphis and Casper Ware of Long Beach St (probably the two best pro prospects) and Bradley Beal from Florida. This probably has the "best" teams in the tournament. By that I mean teams that don't rely just on one guy to shoulder the load. Teams that have multiple scorers and play tenacious defense. SLU, Mizzou, Louisville, Memphis are all teams that play well together and can make some serious noise this week.

Midwest

Not a lot of great matchups initially in this region. Looks like an easy run for North Carolina or Kansas. Possible upsets by Creighton or Georgetown could make it interesting.

For the 4th straight year, I created a group for us to compete in a bracket game. Go to Pick'em and look for Momo's Sports Musings and the password is tourney. I'll post update throughout the week.

Bounty-Gate

The NFL "recently" discovered that teams, mainly on the defensive side of the ball, put out bounties, or cash payments to players who knock out other players. This has been apart of football for years. The New Orleans Saints are the first team ever to get caught and former defensive coordinator Gregg Williams was the ring leader. A few weeks ago I wrote a post about how I thought that Jeff Fisher should consider someone else for the D-coordinator job in St. Louis. I knew that Williams and Fisher have been for over 20 years and that would override everything but my point was that the Saints got scored upon with easy in the last few years. Now I understand why. Williams made payouts for big hits on star offensive players, especially quarterbacks, fumbles and interceptions. If you watched the Saints defense the last few years, one always wondered why the left their feet for routine tackles, and why their were always out of position on most of their plays. The worse part about all this is the "intent to injure" players. The bounty part, although not a good thing, has always been apart of the game for motivation and for entertainment. But when you add the intent to injure, then you not only put your team at risk but also the league as well. Looking back at the 2009 season in particular, the Saints tried to take out Kurt Warner, Brett Favre, and Peyton Manning. After watching those games, I remember vividly feeling like I was hit. Most of the Saints hits were high-low, and by that it was at the qb's knees and trying to break him in half. The hit on Kurt Warner after an interception, basically ended his career. If you track Williams career, the one thing you will find that all the teams he coached play through or after the whistle. For instance in 2007, Tony Dungy(read here) has talked about the play that Manning hurt his neck on. It was against a Williams Redskins where Manning was hit so hard that during the timeout, he told backup Sorgi to get ready.

Why put your team at a disadvantage by getting penalties called against you? One word explains it all. Intimidation. Fisher and Williams learned at the feet of Buddy Ryan, and Buddy ball is all about intimidation. Just ask his other protege's Rex and Rob Ryan. The problem going forward is that if Fisher keeps Williams on board, anytime there is a personal foul, or a player from the opposing team gets hurt, people will immediately think bounty. Fisher's teams normally play close to the whistle. Does his regime really need this scrutiny? Can the Rams, a struggling franchise afford to have the league poking around all the time? Williams actions have not only put his previous employer in trouble but has definitely put his current employer in a tough situation as well.

I will leave with this question. Sean Payton knew about the bounty, as well as Mickey Loomis, the GM. Jonathan Vilma is mentioned in the report as well as a few other defensive players. My question is what did Drew Brees know about this bounty program?

Coming up later this week March Madness Preview