Drew Brees strongly defended Sean Payton hours after the NFL suspended the New Orleans coach for the season. It was at that exact moment that Brees reached the low point of his career.
"I am speechless," Brees tweeted in the aftermath of the NFL's decision on Wednesday. "Sean Payton is a great man, coach, and mentor. The best there is. I need to hear an explanation for this punishment."
Here, Drew, let me help you with that explanation, which is in the form of hundreds of pages of documents and years of investigation.
The Saints engaged in turning what was traditionally a small-time bounty system operated by many teams over many decades into a sophisticated and brutal one that became institutionalized. The Saints did to bounties what McDonald's did to burgers. They mass-produced bounties increasing the intensity and danger of the system. The league heard about it. They warned teams to stop. They warned them several times. The Saints ignored those warnings. The league investigated, and the Saints instituted a massive cover-up. So, to be clear, Drew, the Saints took bounties to an unprecedented level, arrogantly ignored league warnings and lied about it to the commissioner.
Hope that helps.
But what makes Brees' statement even more troubling is what seems to be his totally ignoring the biggest aspect of this story. Players were intentionally trying to hurt other players. In Brees' case, his teammates were intentionally trying to injure other quarterbacks.
Brees comes off as one of the worst hypocrites mainly because, on more than one occasion, Brees has talked about the brotherhood of football. He's a leader in the sport, a member of the union's executive committee, and he has spoken many times about how players need to look out for one another. This has long been a Brees message. The brotherhood. The players against the world.
Remember, in the first game of the 2010 regular season, before the lockout that would come later, Vikings and Saints players raised one finger to show union solidarity.
Later during the lockout itself, the Saints were having voluntary workouts and Brees was asked if he was concerned about the players getting injured and not having insurance. Again, Brees discussed the NFL brotherhood.
"That's always a concern, and we've been open about that with the guys," he said. "We have no injury protection right now, but we'll take the risk. I think the general feeling, is we'd all be working out by ourselves anyway but what this does, it brings us together in an organized fashion and it motivates us to compete. It's so much more fun being with the fellas. Guys are out here jawing at each other, laughing. Guys crave that camaraderie, brotherhood, not to mention hard work and the commitment we have to work for this season, whenever it gets underway."
That camaraderie. That brotherhood.
Apparently, to Brees, that brotherhood only extends to Saints players.
Four of Brees' quarterback colleagues were targets of the Saints. They had careers and lives ... just like Brees. They have families that loved them ... like Brees. They were members of the NFL fraternity that Brees touts as so tight. Kurt Warner was one of the NFL's great gentlemen. He was targeted by the Saints. Brett Favre is one of the best quarterbacks in history. The Saints went after him, too. Aaron Rodgers is one of the league's bright young stars, like Brees himself. Cam Newton, another target, is a promising rookie.
Some are saying Brees is doing what he should: backing his coach. But Brees can't have it both ways. He can't, as he did during the lockout, tout the owners as the enemy, and then defend a coach who instituted a system that was designed to injure his fellow players.
I can tell you there are more than a few players who saw that Brees tweet and were initially stunned before becoming angry. There are questions brewing about how a guy who is a high ranking member of the union takes a coach's side in a dispute that is so ugly and so anti-player.
That's what Bountygate is. It is anti-player. Bountygate is worse than anything the owners tried during the lockout. The owners were trying to reduce salaries; the players involved in the bounty scandal were attempting to debilitate, to end careers.
I have always liked Brees. He's a good human being and was perfect for the players during the lockout. It seems though that Brees has forgotten something since those days.
Brees' teammates were endangering the careers of other players.
Other brothers.
Source: http://feeds.cbssports.com/click.phdo?i=604ad3d3c24c0e70d1f6dafa75c34100
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