One morning last March, I stumbled to the coffee pot, poured a cup, went to living room & turned the TV on. The first thing I heard was ESPN's Trey Wingo loudly proclaiming, "The NFL has uncovered a bounty system by the New Orleans Saints!" Not the way I wanted to start my day. As I listened further, it became apparent that NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell would come down VERY hard.
Earlier this morning, the NFL announced they have reinstated Sean Payton as head coach of the New Orleans Saints. Check out all the released statements from Payton, Tom Benson, and Roger Goodell on the matter.
This parody "Visitor's Guide" is getting shared like fire on Facebook today; I don't know the original author, but this was obviously written by someone VERY familiar with New Orleans (and the Saints' history with the 49ers).
2013 OFFICIAL TOURISM AND INFORMATION GUIDE FOR VISITING 49ERS FANS
My dream to join the volunteer team for Super Bowl XLVII as Drew Brees' driver didn't quite work out the way I'd hoped it would, but thousands of other volunteers and fans will participate in dozens of other important activities leading up to the big game.
New Orleans area bar owners and restaurateurs are making it known that NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell is not welcome in their establishments.
Remember Sam Gordon, the 9-year-old female version of Tecmo Bo Jackson? So does NFL commissioner Roger Goodell. Her Pee Wee football highlight reel and gaudy season stats got the attention of NFL executives. She was invited to the Super Bowl in New Orleans after hanging out with Goodell at a Giants game.
Will The Saints 'Re-Tool' in 2013? A lot of people are probably expecting that. I'm not. Every team makes changes in the off season, and I'm sure the New Orleans Saints will be no exception. I don't expect a major overhaul.
The Saints won 37 regular season games between 2009 - 11. That's more than any other NFL team. They fell to 7 -9 in 2012 with essentially the same personnel. What went wrong? Suspensions, lawsuits, and the implementation of a new, complex defensive scheme.
The offense is clearly not broken. Drew Brees passed for 5,177 yards and 43 touchdowns.He didn't get selected to the Pro Bowl. Marques Colston and Lance Moore both surpassed the 1,000-yard mark receiving.
So Much For An All Manning Superbowl. So much for my "expertise", too! A couple weeks ago, it was apparent that my beloved New Orleans Saints weren't going to make the playoffs. No Home Superbowl.
Now that (most of us) have returned to Lafayette and somewhat of a normal routine, we can finally look back on our weekend in New Orleans and say: "Where is my phone, my debit card, and..." - well, you get the picture. But we can also look back on the weekend and say: "Damn, that actually happened!"
Were you there? If so, you may be in the photo gallery below. If not, check out what you missed!
What says "happy holidays" more than ignoring your family so you can bask in the warm glow of a football game between two teams you don't know anything about and haven't seen play since, well, last bowl season? Here all the highlights from this week's slate of college football bowl games.
