HEAVEN TO HELL
Super fall after Payton disgrace
ALITTLE MORE THAN two years ago, Saints coach Sean Payton was sleeping with the Super Bowl trophy — he joked that he was drooling all over it — and then posing with it the next morning standing next to Roger Goodell and Drew Brees.
Payton had come a long way from when Jim Fassel stripped him of his play-calling duties with the Giants in 2002. He then watched the offense take off with Fassel holding the playsheet. He had reached the top of his profession. He was the newest state-of-the-art coach. Now he’s in a state of disgrace. Payton is the first head coach in NFL history ever suspended, a dramatic fall in such a short period of time. Goodell suspended him for the entire 2012 season, and every game he misses is well-deserved. Goodell was tough on him for his role in Bounty gate. But not too tough. Payton must have thought that trophy gave him lifetime immunity from NFL rules.
Payton and Goodell looked so happy together that day. They probably won’t be enjoying each other’s company again any time soon.
Goodell handed Payton and the Saints his version of the death penalty. It’s one of the worst scandals in NFL history, and the punishment fit the crime and the coverup.
It pretty much guarantees New Orleans will not be the first team to play the Super Bowl on its home field on Feb. 3 when the game returns to the Big Easy for the first time since it was ravaged by Hurricane Katrina. Too bad. I had picked the Saints to make it to Super Bowl XLVII.
Goodell, who is on a mission to make the game safer, was completely disgusted by the Saints’ bounty program, Payton’s arrogance in initially denying any knowledge it existed and the damage paying players to hurt other players has done to the NFL shield. Goodell considers protecting the shield his most important job.
He didn’t shut down the Saints, but he came close. He suspended Payton for the entire season, beginning April 1. He can return after the Super Bowl. It will cost Payton about $6 million in salary. Well, at least he will be able to spend more time with his family.
According to t he league’s investigation, Payton knew about the bounties but didn’t do anything to stop them. He is not accused of participating in the program administered by then-defensive coordinator Gregg Williams.
The Saints are now a dysfunctional mess. Brees has refused to sign the franchise tender as negotiations for a long-term deal have gone on for months with no agreement. Brees and Payton are extremely close, and Payton’s absence will put more of a burden on Brees to keep the offense going. Owner Tom Benson and GM Mickey Loomis (suspended for the first eight games of the season) must decide who will coach the team.
They should give the job to recently hired defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo. The former defensive coordinator with the Giants has three years of head coaching experience with the Rams and is one of three candidates the Saints are considering. Offensive coordinator Pete Carmichael Jr., who will call the plays in Payton’s absence, and offensive line coach Aaron Kromer, are the others. Assistant head coach Joe Vitt would have been the most logical candidate. But there was a problem. He was suspended six games by Goodell.
It was a given Goodell was going to suspended Payton. I thought the most he would get is half a season. But sitting him down for the full season is even better. The head coach is the leader of the franchise and is responsible for everything that goes on in the locker room and with his staff.
BACK IT UP
T he Broncos quarterback depth chart: Peyton Manning and now former Bears backup Caleb Hanie, who was signed Saturday. But with all three QBS from last season gone — Tim Tebow (Jets), Kyle Orton (Cowboys) and Brady Quinn (Chiefs) — it’s clear John Elway had to come up with a Plan B as insurance behind Manning.
But here’s what Elway really should have done: Kept Tebow. Dealing Tebow accentuates how much Elway didn’t buy into Tebowmania and was waiting for the first opportunity to dump him. But it was shortsighted. Manning is 36 and coming off four neck surgeries in the last two years, and the Bears fell apart last year after Jay Cutler got hurt and they had to turn to Hanie. If Manning gets hurt, the Broncos could have gone back to last year’s read-option offense with Tebow, the same offense that got them into the second round of the playoffs. And perhaps Tebow could have developed into a real quarterback if he was around Manning for a couple of years. If Tebow hadn’t saved the Broncos’ season when they were 1-4, how attractive would a 4-12 team have been to Manning? If Manning gets off to a slow start and the Broncos had kept Tebow, maybe Elway — and Manning — didn’t want to deal with the Tebowmaniacs who would be demanding he play.
GOING SOUTH BEACH
Things are not going well for the Dolphins. Last year, owner Steve Ross went hard after Jim Harbaugh even though Tony Sparano was still his coach. When he lost out on Harbaugh to the 49ers, he gave Sparano a kiss and make up two-year contract extension (the tactic must sound familiar to Mark Sanchez) through 2013. After the season, Ross fired Sparano, who is now the Jets’ offensive coordinator. Then Ross lost out to the Rams when he wanted to hire Jeff Fisher to replace Sparano. He hired Packers offensive coordinator Joe Philbin, who did not call the plays in Green Bay. He needed Dan Marino to intercede for Manning to even speak to the Dolphins and they didn’t make the cut to the final three. Then they lost out on free agent QB Matt Flynn, who signed with the Seahawks despite being in Green Bay with Philbin. And Alex Smith, who met with Miami, went back to the 49ers after San Francisco lost out on Manning. Surely, all is forgiven with Dolphins fans after Miami signed former Jaguars QB David Garrard, who was cut by Jacksonville right before last season and then missed the entire year after undergoing back surgery. He will compete with Matt Moore. That will light up the season-ticket phone lines.
RULE OF FLAWS
The NFL owners meetings begin Sunday in Palm Beach, Fla. Here are a couple of interesting rule change proposals: Buffalo proposed the replay official in the booth make all the decisions as opposed to the referee on the field in order to speed up the game. The Steelers proposed using the same overtime rules in the regular season as in the playoffs (where the team that starts with the ball cannot win on a field goal on that opening possession). Of course, the new OT rule didn’t help the Steelers in the wild-card round last year as Tebow threw an 80-yard TD pass on the first play of overtime. There is also a proposal that the trade deadline be moved from the Tuesday after the sixth game to the Tuesday after the eighth game.