"But Goodell’s actions say he wants us to just trust him. I’m not trusting anyone. We do that all the time, trusting Joe Paterno and Jerry Sandusky as leaders doing what’s right for young men. We trusted that Tiger Woods was a good family man, that Roger Clemens was defying age."

Assistant Head Coach/Linebackers Coach spoke with the media on Tuesday

One of the best quotes...

"We never taught any of our players that when they crossed the white line to injure another player. I regret the words that were spoken at meetings. Again, I want to say this one last time and (the) players in our league already know this, what you do on the field speaks so well that there is no need to hear what you have to say. The body of work that our players have on the field has spoken well. I don’t think that you acquire the players that we have and the coaches that have come here unless you’re a first-class organization. That’s what we have here."

I'm sure the transcript and video will be up soon but if you didn't hear Joe Vitt's interview it's freaking AWESOME. It's easy to understand why he was chosen to be interim head coach. And he flat out denies any intent to injure.

Linked to Saints website

PDF format

I wish I could find the audio I head tonight on WIST. I have never heard him like that before. He straight up defends his team like he is on fire. It made me feel like he is still with us regardless of not being in practice today. Maybe a news site will post it at some point.

"Brees told NFL.com that when discussion turned to the "bounty" system, near the end of the meeting, "we didn't get any meaningful evidence, or any meaningful truth or facts." Asked if progress was made toward a resolution in the one unresolved area of the case -- player penalties -- Brees simply responded, "No."

Link leads to audio. Starts at 8:47. He said it wasn't a bounty system to intentionally hurt someone, it was for legal hits, interceptions, etc. Everything he says is exactly what most of us have been saying. Never an intent to injure.

Either way this is a FLAT OUT ADMISSION. If Goodell does not investigate this it will be total BS.

Ah, yes please. Not sure if the Saints would even do the show but it would be AWESOME. Maybe we should write to HBO?

"The Saints were second in the NFL with 17 regular-season defensive flags for violating rules intended to protect players from being hurt, just behind the Oakland Raiders' 18. The league averaged nine per team."

Point of emphasis for officials:

"Here is the statement straight from the NFL’s competition committee report: "Prior to a snap, any quick, abrupt movement by an offensive player, or several offensive players in unison, which simulates the start of a snap, is a foul. These acts include (a) a quarterback in shotgun formation thrusting his hands forward in an exaggerated manner when there is not a simultaneous snap, (b) abrupt movement of the ball by the center, (c) abrupt movement by the center's head or other body part, and (d) a quick abrupt shift by two or more players in unison.""

"The agent for the Saints' Joe Vitt says his client has decided to appeal his NFL suspension for his role in New Orleans' bounty system. David Cornwell said in an email to The Associated Press on Friday he and Vitt had talked about the appeal. ProFootballTalk.com first reported Vitt's decision."

"Tight end Jimmy Graham and running back Pierre Thomas were judges for a dunk contest at Fogelman Arena on Thursday."

"The New Orleans Saints will bring in veteran cornerback Kelvin Hayden for a visit this weekend, according to CBSSports.com's Larry Holder. Hayden, 28, spent last year as a backup with the Atlanta Falcons after being a longtime starter for the Indianapolis Colts."

"Besides, how would the league tell the Saints whom to pick? Since the goal is to win, why wouldn’t they pick the best coach available? If the NFL’s brass forbids Parcells, then what about Jon Gruden? Or Tony Dungy? Or Brian Billick? You can’t tell the Saints to choose someone already in their employ since you’d be picking from a pool the league has already deemed corrupt."

I like this person.

Palm Beach, Fla. -- At the NFL owners meetings closing news conference, commissioner Roger Goodell fielded more questions about the New Orleans Saints and the bounty scandal.

Multiple major rule changes and bylaw proposals such as changing the trade deadline and training camp roster limit along with several more on the table.

THIS IS AN ARTICLE THAT HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH BOUNTYGATE AND MAKES ME HAPPY. IT SHOULD MAKE YOU HAPPY TOO.

From Facebook:

SHOW YOUR SUPPORT FOR COACH SEAN PAYTON BY SENDNG A PACK OF JUICY FRUIT GUM TO NFL COMMISSIONER ROGER GOODELL. JUST WRITE A NOTE THAT SAYS "FREE SEAN PAYTON" AND SEND IT WITH THE GUM. IT'S THAT SIMPLE.... LET'S MAKE A STATEMENT WHO DATS!!

NFL Headquarters Attn: Roger Goodell, 345 Park Ave, New York, NY 10017

Saints fans aren't the only ones frustrated with the NFL's decision to suspend Head Coach Sean Payton the entire season; Louisiana lawmakers are now asking football execs to reconsider the penalties.

A sports station in Dallas wants to give Sean Payton a $75,000 1 year contract to come on their station every Friday for an hour as well as do interviews after Cowboys games and breakdown game tape. They put a bounty on him saying that if anyone has any connections and can get Payton to call them with an answer, even if he says no, that person will be well compensated. Audio is after the jump.

"An English friend of mine once defined for me the difference between rugby and American football: "Rugby is a game for savages played by gentlemen; football is a game for gentlemen played by savages." This is especially true of the professional game: Gentlemen don't make it to that level..."

Exactly!

Former Saints offensive lineman Kyle Turley today told WWL's Bobby Hebert and Deke Bellavia that he believes quarterback Drew Brees needs to explain what he knew about the so-called "bounty program" in the organization.

Turley said that Brees holds a higher obligation to be up-front about his knowledge of the pay-for-performance system.

"He (Brees) holds an executive position on the committee of the player's union. And with that, he has a responsibility not only to the players in his locker room, but to every player in the NFL," Turley said.

The former Saints lineman pointedly said that Brees, as a player representative, has an obligation to disclose anything he knew about the program.

"If you're going to throw Jonathan Vilma under the bus, if you're going to throw the (coaches and GM) under the bus...I'm simply raising the question that needs to be answered. The coaches, the owners, the GM, and the training staff...are protected to all lengths to any obligation to player health and safety. But Drew Brees has a duty to do, and the union has a duty to do.

Following an earlier apology by former Defensive Coordinator Gregg Williams and today's joint apology by Sean Payton and Mickey Loomis, Turley said he found the lack of comment by Brees on the matter disturbing.

"I believe personally that a guy like Drew Brees...In the position he's holding, by not answering the question of whether he knew or not...is disturbing," Turley said. "It's a simple yes or no answer, as far as I'm concerned. All that Drew Brees needs to do is say, 'yes, I knew,' or 'no I didn't.' Period."

Drew Brees was hit with the franchise tag by the New Orleans Saints on Saturday, despite having made it clear that that's not what he wanted. So what happens now? Well, according to CBSSports.com's Rapid Reports, Brees gets really mad.