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Posts Tagged ‘Saints’

Who’s The Least Favorite NFL Team? Here’s a Hint – its in Florida

Deadspin reports that the least favorite team in the NFL is the lowly Jacksonville Jaguars. Based upon how many Facebook likes each team received, Jaguars receive 246,300 likes, 54,480 less than 2nd least favorite time the St. Louis Rams (300,780).

“America’s Team” the Dallas Cowboys still holds true with 3,754,280 likes and close behind is the Steelers at #2 with 3,611,880.

Surprisingly the Saints are the 5th most liked team with 2,447,920 likes ahead of more historic franchises like the Chicago Bears, NY Giants, and the San Francisco 49ers.

Here a bar graph of Facebook likes from each NFL team:

Here are the actual number for each team:

For more stats and graphs, check out the full Deadspin article here

New Details Emerge From Joe Vitt’s Testimony in Bounty Scandal

Mike Triplett has compiled a number of transcripts regarding Joe Vitt’s testimony on the Bounty Scandal. Here are some interesting quotes from the transcripts:

As Vitt said during the testimony, everyone understood that Williams’ “schtick” and “false bravado” were over the top – as was evidenced by the fact that the players didn’t attack the San Francisco 49ers in the way that Williams instructed them to during the infamous 2012 pregame audio tape.

“If our players went out and performed what came out of Gregg Williams’ mouth, and it went from his lips to their ears, and then it went to the performance, we would have people in jail right now ma’am,” Vitt said to NFL attorney Mary Jo White. “We would have people in jail right now.”

Vitt repeatedly described Cerullo as a “liar” and once as an “idiot.” Vitt repeatedly threatened to sue Cerullo and offered to compare stories with him while hooked up to lie detector tests. Vitt recounted many of the alleged lies Cerullo told while working for the Saints – including the alleged story about his fiancée and a child being seriously injured in a car accident. And he referenced the time Saints Coach Sean Payton needed to ask for police protection for his family when he was out of town because he considered Cerullo a threat.

Vitt also shared a text he received from Williams that read, “For your information, I’ve had 20-plus teams reach out to me saying that I must stand firm to take the heat because all teams do this. (Expletive) me.”

Well it looks like the NFL needed a scapegoat and some bitter folks in the Saints organization were willing to tell the NFL what they wanted to hear.

For the full article by Mike Triplett, click here.

Roger Goodell says Saints won’t get second round pick back from bounty gate

NOLA.com reports that one of the interesting question from Roger Goodell’s Q&A on Reddit was if the Saints would get their 2nd round pick back for the 2013 NFL Draft. Well Goodell shot that down with an emphatic No.

Goodell replied: “No, the penalty will continue to include the 2nd round draft choice in 2013.”

For someone that danced around other issues related to Bounty Gate, Goodell was sure with this one. Better have that food tester on deck Roger.

Das Boot: Steve Spagnuolo fired as Saints Defensive Coordinator

Sean Payton is wasting no time getting back to business. 48 hours being back in the NFL, he’s cleaning house and starting with the firing of Defense Coordinator Steve Spagnuolo and secondary coach Ken Flajole. Yesterday Payton mentioned how the defense performance was “keeping him up at night” and I guess he wanted a good night’s sleep. Gregg Rosenthal reports Payton is looking to switch up the defense philosophy:

“Philosophically we are changing our defense to a 3-4 alignment and right now is the best time to accomplish this transition.”

That was fast. But now you have to wonder who that player scathing opinion of Spagnuolo was and it was a factor in Payton’s decision. Either way it doesn’t take much when as a coach you led your unit to a NFL worst defense in league history.

Some will be skeptical of the Saints switch to a 3-4 defense but I can think of two outside linebackers as possible starters in this new scheme, Martez Wilson and Junior Galette. Each had flashes of potential during the season and putting them in outside as pass rushers can only maximize their potential.

Who Sean Payton will choose as his next DC is anyone’s guess. Romeo Crennel comes to mind but I think he should get another shot at head coach. At least many Saints fans are happy that Spags is gone.

Tidbits from Sean Payton Presser

All of The Big Easy is happy now that Sean Payton is back. Here are a couple of quotes from his presser earlier.

“There was no way I was going to another team,” Payton said. He called his contract snafu and holdout a “minor technicality” that took time to work through.

Payton made it clear that he’s not happy with the Saints’ defense. Their problems “keep him up at night.” Payton said that the team will start meetings with the defensive staff immediately and it did not sound like it would be a comfortable experience for defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo.

There has been no conversation with the NFL about getting the Saints’ second round pick back that was lost in the bounty scandal.

The most important one I think is the defensive comment. In the Sean Payton era, that Saints defense was never a top 10 defense (even in their Super Bowl year) but to be a league history worst in my opinion puts Steve Spagnuolo on thin ice. With the Salary Cap hell the Saints can be in and a 2nd round pick still lost from the bounty fiasco, the Saints won’t have a lot of chips to bargain with. But with SP back the Saints will be a contender again in the NFC South.

For more tidbits from Sean Payton’s presser click here

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Gregg Williams served subpoena

Indefinitely suspended Rams Defensive Coordinator Gregg Williams and and former defensive assistant Mike Cerullo have been subpoenaed in Jonathan Vilma’s his defamation suit against NFL commissioner Roger Goodell. According to ESPN’s Ed Werder:

Williams and Cerullo appear to have provided most of the evidence the league used in the historic punishments of Vilma, three other current or former Saints players, plus head coach Sean Payton, general manager Mickey Loomis and assistant head coach Joe Vitt.

During his meeting with Goodell on Monday, Vilma was presented with signed affidavits from both Williams and Cerullo. Vilma told ESPN he denied the accusation made by Williams in testimony he signed three days before the linebacker’s hearing, claiming Vilma helped to fund an illegal pay-for-performance incentive pool and offered a $10,000 reward to any teammate knocking Brett Favre out of the 2009 NFC Championship Game.

“What Gregg Williams said in his most recent affidavit is the same falsity he has previously provided,” Ginsberg told reporters Monday.

“I don’t know what Gregg Williams’ motives are, but I do know that any suggestion by Williams that Jonathan put up $10,000 as an incentive for his teammates to injure another player is absolutely false.”

Well it looks like the truth will finally coming out over this whole bounty fiasco. But too little too late for the 0-2 Saints.