New Orleans Saints’ Brees appreciates the quarterback in New Orleans Hornets’ Paul
October 31, 2008
Posted by Peter Finney, The Times-Picayune October 30, 2008 8:00PM
Categories: Hornets
Michael DeMocker / The Times-PicayuneChris Paul makes the Hornets’ collection of players perform as a single unit.Years ago, when Tulane and LSU were facing each other in a football game, who would have thought there would be just as much conversation over a basketball game in the New Orleans Arena? For this, you have to put the blame on a kid who goes around wearing a look of Disneyland wonderment on a 23-year-old face.
Blame it on Chris Paul, who has come closer than “Pistol Pete” Maravich, and the onetime New Orleans Jazz, to turning the Big Easy into a basketball town.
Blame it on Paul and the Hornets, who will be playing their first home game of the NBA season Saturday night against the Cleveland Cavaliers and their legend-in-sneakers, LeBron James.
Blame it on a 6-foot-magician whose sleight of hand at point guard not only lifted his team into the second round of last season’s playoffs, and this season into serious championship contention, but someone also responsible for triggering a spike of 5,000 in season-ticket sales (to more than 10,000), the largest rise in the league.
In Pistol Pete’s time, he spiked attendance all right — as many as 40,000 for Jazz games in the Superdome — but he bounced passes between legs, stutter-stepped through traffic and sometimes nailed hook shots from the baseline for a team that was never in playoff contention. As a teammate put it, Pistol was “an American phenomenon, a stepchild of the human imagination.”
The Times-Picayune Photo ArchivePete Maravich helped the Jazz make a splash in New Orleans in the ’70s.
In lifting the Hornets onto his small body, Paul has been a more low-keyed virtuoso helping a team of five become a team of one, headed in the right direction, a team CP pushed from 39 to 56 victories the past two seasons.
It’s not the showbiz bounce pass as much as the penetrating dribble, followed by the soft lob near the basket, usually into the hands of center Tyson Chandler for a slam.
It some cases, it’s not the wow moments, which was the case in Wednesday night’s season opener at the home of the Golden State Warriors. With 19 seconds remaining, it was simply Chris driving the lane and laying it in, giving his team a lead it did not surrender on an evening he finished with 21 points and 11 assists.
No one is more of a CP fan than the basketball-savvy head coach of the Saints, who enjoys nothing more than being tied to the hip of football-savvy Drew Brees.
“What I admire most about Chris, ” said Sean Payton, “are his instincts, how decisive he is with the ball in his hands. He’s a leader with great vision who wants the ball in his hands because he knows he can make good things happen. In that regard, he’s a lot like our quarterback.”
All of which is music to the ears of Brees, who ranks second to no one in his admiration of the Hornets’ point guard.
“I can identify with Chris because we’re both the same size, ” said Brees. “What grabs me is his court presence. When I watch him, I’m not following the ball, I’m trying to anticipate what he’ll do next. I’m watching the look on the faces of his teammates, wondering if the ball might be coming to them. You watch Chris, and the one thing you know for sure is he’s in complete control out there.”
Those sentiments are echoed by Gail Goodrich, a 6-1 guard for the old Jazz, who calls Paul “a coach’s dream.”
“With the game on the line, ” said Goodrich, “Chris wants the ball, not especially to shoot it, but to make the play. That’s a major difference. Chris lets the game come to him. He’s an inch shorter than I was, but man, he’s so much quicker. He’s here to stay.”
The Miami Heat’s Dwyane Wade, a CP teammate on the gold-medal Olympic team, said Paul proves how much looks can be deceiving.
“You wonder how someone so small can do the things he does, ” said Wade. “Then you keep watching, and you realize how far a combination of speed and smarts can take you. You can’t forget smarts. More than speed, smarts is what helps Chris make everyone around him better.”
Two other gold medalists, Carmelo Anthony and Jason Kidd, painted their own picture.
“His court savvy impresses me more thn anything, ” said Anthony, “making him the kind of player that has the talent to fit in anywhere.”
“Chris, ” said Kidd, “has the speed and the heart to make up for a lack of size. In this game, heart can take you a long, long way.”
It goes on and on.
To Allen Iverson, “Chris is a guy who plays a lot taller than 6 feet, a pass-first, shoot-second player who doesn’t take any silly shots.”
To Richard Hamilton, it comes down to a talent who “has a way of establishing tempo, from slow to fast and back again. His unbelievable quickness allows him to dominate in certain situations.”
To David Robinson, the former driving force of the San Antonio Spurs, Paul is “the rebirth of Tim Hardaway, in the way he ran the offense with the wall-to-wall vision to see everything in front of him.”
At the moment, what’s in front of Paul and the Hornets are 80 regular-season games, 41 at home, beginning with the challenge of dealing with the ”second coming of Michael Jordan.”
There is more wow in James than Paul, simply because LeBron, the same age as CP, is the game’s ultimate virtuoso, good enough to be worth $170 million in endorsements from Nike and Coca Cola, thanks to a young career in which he went from high school to a two-time All-Star in his first five seasons, and the league’s leading scorer with a 30-point average.
While Tulane and LSU will be playing football in Tiger Stadium, Saturday evening’s concert at the New Orleans Arena will feature a number of things. You’ll have a tattooed LeBron, elevating to mezzanine level, jamming slam dunks at every airborne opportunity.
And you’ll have a more subdued, no-tattoos CP, bouncing a roundball, wondering if he should dish to David West for a fallaway jumper, to Peja Stojakovic for a 3 from the corner, to Chandler for a slam in the paint.
On the first day of November, the Big Easy has never been more of a basketball town.
DeShazier: Revolving door method might work again for Saints
October 31, 2008
Posted by John DeShazier, The Times-Picayune October 30, 2008 9:08AM
Categories: Saints
Joe Murphy / Getty ImagesGlenn Pakulak, who has signed with seven NFL teams but never played in an NFL game, is the Saints’ third punter this season.If changing kickers and punters about as often as he changes socks gives New Orleans Saints coach Sean Payton peace of mind, gives his team a psychological advantage and gives the Saints a noticeable performance bump in those areas, then let him keep up the game of musical chairs and hope someone competent is sitting when the tune stops.
True, bringing in the third kicker and third punter of a regular season that only is eight games old obviously don’t solve the larger problems that seem to be glaring the Saints in the face.
Kickers and punters don’t cover receivers. They don’t block on third- or fourth-and-1. They don’t fumble. They don’t get suspended (unless their name is Todd Sauerbrun).
They don’t call for onside kicks that fail and virtually guarantee points to teams that otherwise might not be able to score, like what happened in the Minnesota game. They don’t give the go ahead for the offense to take a safety that gives an opponent like San Diego a Hail Mary chance to win, rather than order a punt and assure that, likely, if the opponent scores on a Hail Mary the game only will be tied and go to overtime.
They might miss a tackle now and again but if they’re in position to make a tackle, you can believe someone else probably should be on the receiving end of wrath for letting the situation get to that point.
But you can’t argue with the ultimate results after Payton sacked his kicker and punter the first time.
When kicker Martin Gramatica mercifully was placed on injured reserve after helping blow the Minnesota and Denver games, his injured groin given as the cause when his propensity to miss critical field goal attempts probably should’ve earned him a visit to the unemployment line, the Saints beat Oakland with Taylor Mehlhaff handling the duties.
When punter Steve Weatherford surprisingly was booted after the Saints were kicked around by Carolina, New Orleans went to London and took out San Diego with Ben Graham doing that job.
So with Mehlhaff and Graham being shown the door after the San Diego game the Saints are guaranteed to beat the Falcons in Atlanta on Nov. 9, right? Because the first purges at the positions obviously helped produce the desired result (victory).
Gramatica’s absence had to have a calming affect on Saints players, who probably believe the team would have two more victories if Gramatica hadn’t been errant against the Broncos and Vikings.
Weatherford’s dismissal had to have calmed Payton, if not Saints players. Sure, Weatherford’s numbers didn’t appear to be significantly better or worse than most punters and teams weren’t gashing the Saints special teams on his punts more glaringly than, say, Minnesota is being humiliated with Chris Kluwe, who remains employed by the Vikings. But he obviously didn’t meet the standards Payton has placed on the position (and neither did Graham, though one game doesn’t seem like much of a chance to prove anything).
There’s no telling how long Payton will be willing to stomach new kicker Garrett Hartley and new punter Glenn Pakulak. They’re here today; literally, they could be gone tomorrow and, certainly, they could be ex-Saints the day after the Atlanta game. If Mehlhaff and Graham can be whacked after a win in which neither glaringly seemed to stink, then Hartley and Pakulak know the deal.
They’re not on a short leash. There is no leash at all.
But it hasn’t hurt the Saints so far. Change at kicker and punter didn’t keep New Orleans from winning the first two times. Shakeup at the positions might not adversely affect the team this time, either, and if it doesn’t, Payton might be on to something.
Sure, they don’t cover receivers or run block. But if they effectively boost the psyche, changing them out an average of every three games or so this season might be worth it for the Saints.
New Orleans Saints choose kicker Hartley and punter Pakulak
October 30, 2008
Posted by Mike Triplett, The Times-Picayune October 29, 2008 4:32PM
Categories: Saints
Joe Murphy / Getty ImagesGlann Pakulak, who has signed with seven NFL teams but never played in an NFL game, is the Saints’ third punter this season.Kicker Garrett Hartley and punter Glenn Pakulak emerged as the newest Saints on Wednesday after they outshined several other applicants during group tryouts at the team’s practice facility.
Neither has appeared in an NFL game. Hartley, a 22-year-old rookie, was with the Denver Broncos this summer as an undrafted free agent out of Oklahoma, but he was released before training camp.
Pakulak, a 28-year-old journeyman, has preseason and NFL Europe experience, having bounced around with six other teams since 2003. He earned his first regular-season gig Wednesday.
“I was really hoping if I had a good performance, they would overlook the fact that I’m a rookie and look at the fact that I played at a school like Oklahoma, and I’ve kicked in big-time situations, ” said Hartley, who drilled a 58-yarder through the uprights and into the back wall of the Saints’ indoor facility at one point Wednesday, according to Pakulak. “I’m just excited to have the opportunity to go out and kick a football. That’s what I’ve been doing the last eight years, and that’s what I know how to do.”
Hartley made 32 of 35 field-goal attempts in his final two seasons at Oklahoma, though he did miss five extra-point attempts out of 76 tries as a senior.
The Saints have had a short leash on their kickers this year, most recently cutting rookie Taylor Mehlhaff after three games this week.
The team also tried out veteran Dave Rayner and Arena Football League standout A.J. Haglund on Wednesday. Two weeks ago, they brought in veterans Billy Cundiff and Aaron Elling for workouts.
It’s possible the team will use this bye week to give Hartley an extended audition before deciding whether they want to keep him ahead of the more experienced choices.
Hartley said he understands there are no assurances in this league, but he said that pressure will only help him perform at the highest level “day in and day out.”
“We were impressed with both Garrett and Glenn throughout the competitive sessions, and we will continue to evaluate the positions closely throughout the remainder of the season, ” Saints General Manager Mickey Loomis said in a statement.
Pakulak beat out veterans Josh Miller and Scott Player and rookie Waylon Prather in a tryout Wednesday.
The former Kentucky standout said it was “good to finally be in the right place at the right time, so to speak, ” after so many missed opportunities over the years.
He most recently was with Oakland this preseason, where he averaged 45 yards on 15 punts. However, he didn’t stand much of a chance against five-time All-Pro punter Shane Lechler.
“It’s been a long road. It’s probably easier for me to name the teams I haven’t been with than the teams I have been with, ” said Pakulak, who has spent time with Oakland, Chicago, Tennessee, Atlanta, Pittsburgh, Seattle and the Amsterdam Admirals.
He said cattle calls like the one he experienced Wednesday are nothing new to him.
“I just went out there and tried to stay relaxed, ” Pakulak said. “I’ve done this so long where it’s gotten to the point that I have nothing to lose. When you feel that way, you do your best.”
In another roster move Wednesday, the Saints signed defensive back Tanard Davis to replace Quincy Butler on the practice squad.
BREES HONORED: Quarterback Drew Brees was selected the NFC’s Offensive Player of the Week for the second time in three weeks after throwing for 339 yards and three touchdowns in the Saints’ 37-32 victory over San Diego on Sunday in Wembley, England.
He previously won the award after the Saints’ Week 6 victory over the Oakland Raiders at the Superdome.
Brees, who also was chosen the NFC’s Offensive Player of the Month for September, leads the NFL with 2,563 yards passing through eight games. He is on pace to break Dan Marino’s NFL record for most passing yards in a season (5,084 yards in 1984).
Brees also is a candidate for the FedEx Air Player of the Week. Fans can vote for that award through Friday morning at NFL.com/FedEx. Each week, $1,000 donations are made in the winner’s name to a local Safe Kids USA organization.
RAVENS SIGN COPPER: Baltimore signed former Saints receiver Terrance Copper to replace injured receiver Demetrius Williams.
Copper had been with the Saints since 2006 before he was released, re-signed and released again the past three weeks.
More on the New Orleans’ Saints kicker and punter candidates
October 29, 2008
Posted by Mike Triplett, The Times-Picayune October 29, 2008 11:46AM
Categories: Saints
Michael DeMocker/The Times-PicayuneBilly Cundiff has already had one stint with the Saints.Some background info on the guys the Saints are considering at kicker and punter:
Billy Cundiff, 28, might be the front-runner for the kicking job because Saints Coach Sean Payton is so familiar with him. They brought him in for a workout earlier this month, even before they released Taylor Mehlhaff on Tuesday.
Cundiff played in seven games with the Saints in 2006, including the playoffs, after he signed in late November to be the team’s kickoff specialist. He missed both of his field goal attempts that year, though, including a 47-yarder at Chicago in the NFC Championship Game. Cundiff spent four years with the Dallas Cowboys from 2002-05, making 60 of 82 field goal attempts. He also auditioned with Atlanta and Kansas City in the past two offseasons.
Dave Rayner, 26, has the most recent experience of the bunch, having appeared in two games with the Cincinnati Bengals this month while Shayne Graham was out with a groin injury. Rayner made his only field goal attempt from 26 yards and made all three extra-point attempts. He has also kicked for Kansas City, Green Bay, Indianapolis and San Diego, making 42 of 49 field goal attempts in his career.
Aaron Elling, 30, has played with the Vikings, Titans and Ravens, making 19 of 28 field goal attempts in his career. He last played in Baltimore in 2005, but he has played in the preseason since then, most recently in Oakland this year, when he made 4 of 5 field goal attempts.
A.J. Haglund, 25, has no NFL experience. But he was the Arena Football League’s Kicker of the Year in 2008. He made 21 of 25 field goal attempts and 116 of 124 extra-point attempts for the San Jose SaberCats.
Garrett Hartley, 22, is a rookie out of Oklahoma. He signed with Denver as an undrafted free agent but was released before the start of training camp.
Punter Josh Miller, 38, is a veteran of 13 NFL seasons with Pittsburgh, New England and Tennessee, averaging 43.1 yards per kick over his career. He has not played this year, though he signed with the Titans for one week earlier this month as a potential injury replacement. He played in just one game with the Titans last year.
Glenn Pakulak, 28, has bounced around the league for several years, though he’s never landed a regular-season gig. He was most recently with the Raiders this preseason, averaging 45 yards per punt.
New Orleans Saints’ QB Brees wins NFC honor
October 29, 2008
New Orleans Saints’ QB Brees wins NFC honor – New Orleans Saints Beat – Times-Picayune – NOLA.com
Posted by Mike Triplett, The Times-Picayune October 29, 2008 10:44AM
Categories: SaintsDrew Brees was named the NFC’s Offensive Player of the Week for the second time this season after throwing for 339 yards and three touchdowns in the Saints’ 37-32 victory over San Diego.
Brees was also named the NFC’s Offensive Player of the Month for September. He leads the league with 2,563 passing yards through eight games, and he is on pace to break Dan Marino’s NFL record for most passing yards in a season (5,084 yards in 1984).
New Orleans Saints cut kicker and punter
October 29, 2008
New Orleans Saints cut kicker and punter – New Orleans Saints Beat – Times-Picayune – NOLA.com
Posted by Mike Triplett, The Times-Picayune October 28, 2008 7:01PM
Categories: Saints
Michael DeMocker / The Times-PicayuneKicker Taylor Mehlhaff, a sixth-round draft choice, has been cut twice by the club this season.The Saints continued their fickle approach to special teams Tuesday, releasing kicker Taylor Mehlhaff and punter Ben Graham, according to league sources. No replacements have been named, but the Saints have likely will use the bye week to audition candidates.
Mehlhaff, who was drafted by the Saints in the sixth round of this year’s draft, lasted just three games with the team after he replaced injured and inconsistent veteran Martin Gramatica.
Graham lasted just one game after he replaced Steve Weatherford on the trip to London last week.
Saints Coach Sean Payton did not disclose either move during his press conference Tuesday afternoon. He did, however, express displeasure with Mehlhaff, who missed an extra-point attempt during the second quarter of Sunday’s 37-32 victory over San Diego in London’s Wembley Stadium.
Chuck Cook / The Times-PicayuneBen Graham’s stay as the Saints punter lasted one game.
When asked if the poor field conditions affected Mehlhaff’s kick, Payton said, “I don’t know. With an extra point, I don’t think so. I think we just missed one.”
Mehlhaff, a rookie from Wisconsin, made three of four field-goal attempts and nine of 10 extra-point attempts. His kickoffs were decent but not great for someone who was known for his strong leg. He averaged 64.9 yards on 17 kickoffs, with one touchback.
Gramatica won the job in training camp, but the Saints re-signed Mehlhaff after Gramatica missed four of 10 field-goal attempts, including two potential game-winners vs. Minnesota and Denver. Gramatica, who also was dealing with a nagging groin injury, was placed on injured reserve in Week 6.
Five kickers have played for the Saints since Payton took over as coach in 2006 — John Carney, Billy Cundiff, Olindo Mare, Gramatica and Mehlhaff. Payton has admitted that he never should have let reliable veteran Carney go after the ’06 season, when he tried to upgrade to the stronger-legged Mare.
Carney is now one of the league’s most consistent kickers for the NFC East-leading Giants, who have two proven veterans on their roster with Lawrence Tynes recovering from a knee injury. Still, there is no indication that they plan on letting either kicker go, even when Tynes returns.
Also, re-signing Weatherford as punter is not an option, as he was picked up by Kansas City last week.
New Orleans Saints’ Payton reflects on London, first half of season
October 29, 2008
Posted by Mike Triplett, The Times-Picayune October 28, 2008 4:16PM
Categories: Saints
Michael DeMocker/The Times-PicayuneSaints coach Sean Payton said the best thing about the trip to London was winning the game.Don’t be surprised if Saints Coach Sean Payton decides to permanently move his team into a hotel for the second half of this season.
Or perhaps he’ll just take them on the road to a new location each week.
Although Payton vented Tuesday that his team’s week-long journey to London was a logistical nightmare fraught with annoying travel delays and poor field conditions, he couldn’t help but admire the way it stayed focused and earned a critical 37-32 victory over the San Diego Chargers.
The Saints, who are 4-4 heading into their bye week, also won a pivotal Week 1 showdown against Tampa Bay after they evacuated to Indianapolis to avoid Hurricane Gustav.
“We’ve done pretty good when we’ve spent a week in a hotel, ” Payton said. “We’ve got to find a way, and I’ve got to find a way, to do a better job of getting the team that focused and that prepared mentally and physically each week in the next eight weeks.”
Payton was also impressed with how the team dealt with the loss of injured tailback Reggie Bush and the reports that starters Deuce McAllister, Will Smith and Charles Grant are facing possible four-game suspensions after testing positive for banned diuretics.
“We understand that in this league, no one really cares (what you’re dealing with), ” Payton said. “I don’t mean that in a negative way. But no one wants to hear about your pains. What we can control each week is how we go about preparing for a game. And I thought last week with all the other things going on, I thought we had real good focus as a team. I felt confident that they were prepared to play a good game against a good team.”
The coach, however, stopped short of saying he was happy to be 4-4 at the midpoint of a turbulent season. Even though the Saints can use things like injuries, suspensions and scheduling quirks as excuses, Payton said the team had plenty of opportunities to win more games.
“We’re not going to be able to keep winning one week and losing the next week. If we do that, we’re on pace to be right at 8-8, ” Payton said. “Fortunately for us, we have a lot of football left, but we’re going to have to play more consistently. I think anyone would see that.
“We’re going to have to play better in all areas, not just on defense or the kicking game, but on offense too. . . . It would be easy just to say that the defense has to play better, but in some of those losses I felt that they played real well and we came up short on offense.”
Payton said he is specifically disappointed with the Saints’ inability to put games away with their “four-minute offense.” He said even in the game against San Diego, that crept up when they gave the Chargers two opportunities to come back in the final five minutes.
The Saints will practice twice this week, Wednesday and Thursday, before giving players a three-day weekend. Both sessions will likely be closed to the media, though, so players may not be available again until next Monday, when the Saints begin preparing for their Nov. 9 game at Atlanta.
TRAVEL WEARY: Payton stressed the people of London, the fans and the hotel employees were “fantastic.” But he didn’t have much else good to say about the Saints’ international experience.
He was still peeved Tuesday after a long, cramped flight on a plane he said was “over 30 years old.” The ride to the airport took nearly two hours and the week was filled with long bus rides through heavy traffic.
“It’d be hard for me to say it’s a great experience, a great thing for your club, ” said Payton, who said San Diego Coach Norv Turner experienced some of the same problems. “Logistically, I think it’s hard to bring two teams over there and play a game during the regular season like this. The travel, the transportation, those aren’t club issues, those are league issues. . . . I think they just have a lot of work to do to figure this thing out.”
Payton was also “discouraged” by how poor the field conditions were at Wembley Stadium, especially since the New York Giants and Miami Dolphins had experienced similar problems when they played there last season. And unlike last season, it didn’t rain this time.
“I thought the field conditions were poor. Real poor, ” said Payton, who said both defenses were at a disadvantage as result of the poor footing, because it’s more difficult to rush the passer and adjust to make tackles. “We had the longest cleats possible to wear. It’s just real loose and it started tearing up during the walk-through (the day before), so we knew it was going to tear up in the game.”
Payton did, however, point out the obvious: “As bad as all that is, it would certainly be a lot worse if you didn’t win the game.”
SUSPENSION REACTION: Payton said he is not allowed to get into specific details about the possible suspensions of McAllister, Smith and Grant because of the league’s confidentiality policy. But he admitted he was disappointed and surprised to hear the reports, just like any fan might be.
“Right now, what you want to have happen is make sure all the correct facts are out, and I think we’ll wait and see as the weeks go by what happens, ” said Payton. He said he does not anticipate anything will happen before the Saints’ next game.
“Any time you lose a starter, that’s something you have to deal with, ” Payton said. “I don’t want to speculate in that specific case with those three players, but obviously it becomes harder than if they were active. It’s like having a rash of injuries all at the same time for four weeks. . . . We’ve lost a few to injury so far.”
INJURY REPORT: The Saints should be fairly healthy after this much-needed break. Bush (knee) isn’t expected back for at least another two to three weeks. Center Jonathan Goodwin (knee) is “week to week.” Payton mentioned the triceps injury that Grant suffered against the Chargers, though he didn’t give a specific prognosis. Everyone else should be good to go next week.
New Orleans Saints trio to play through appeals process
October 28, 2008
Posted by Mike Triplett, The Times-Picayune October 27, 2008 11:47PM
Categories: SaintsAlthough they are fighting an uphill battle against the NFL’s zero-tolerance policy on banned substances, the Saints’ Deuce McAllister, Will Smith and Charles Grant will remain on the active roster throughout the appeals process.
Their appeals are scheduled for the middle of November, according to Fox’s Jay Glazer. There is no telling how long it will take the league to review their cases — especially considering that they are among a group of at least six to eight players league-wide who have reportedly tested positive for the banned diuretic Bumetanide.
The players are arguing that the banned substance came from an over-the-counter weight-loss product called StarCaps, which advertises itself as an all-natural blend of papaya and garlic. Bumetanide is not listed as an ingredient.
But the NFL and the NFL Players Association have emphasized repeatedly that players are responsible for what goes into their bodies, even if it is a legally purchased supplement.
Bumetanide is one of 20 diuretics on the NFL’s list of banned substances because it can be used to mask steroid use.
As first-time offenders, McAllister, Smith and Grant are subject to four-game suspensions without pay if their appeals are denied. The Saints have a bye this week and will play their ninth game of the season at Atlanta on Nov. 9.
The NFL has declined to comment on various reports about the positive tests, but league spokesman Greg Aiello offered a general comment on the league’s appeals process, saying it takes “as long as it needs to take, depending on providing the appropriate time to develop necessary information and to resolve any potential scheduling conflicts of individuals involved.”
In 2006, for instance, Saints defensive tackle Hollis Thomas tested positive for a banned substance in August and did not begin serving his suspension until early December, when there were four weeks remaining in the regular season.
Attorney David Cornwell, who is handling appeals for several of the players in question, including McAllister, Smith and Grant, did not return calls seeking comment.
According to reports, the group of players who tested positive for Bumetanide includes Vikings defensive tackles Pat Williams and Kevin Williams, Falcons defensive tackle Grady Jackson and Texans long snapper Bryan Pittman.
Saints guard Jamar Nesbit also tested positive for Bumetanide, in late July, but he chose to waive his right to an appeal and began serving his four-game suspension immediately after the league’s testing process was completed in late September. He returned from suspension Sunday in the Saints’ 37-32 victory over the San Diego Chargers at Wimbley Stadium in London.
McAllister said he learned of his positive test in mid-September. It’s not clear when Smith and Grant found out about their positive tests, or when the tests took place. But reports have suggested that all of the players involved were attempting to lose weight before they reported to training camp in mid-July.
Nesbit said he decided it would be futile to challenge the league’s decision, because he couldn’t dispute the results of the test or the testing process. Instead, he chose to fight his battle in court.
He hired an attorney, Brian Molloy, who is planning to file a federal lawsuit this week against the manufacturer of StarCaps.
Molloy said that Nesbit had four bottles of the StarCaps pills, which were sent off for lab testing, and all of them tested positive for Bumetanide. He also pointed to an independent study performed by scientists at the University of Utah in 2007 that was published in The Journal of Analytical Toxicology.
The study found Bumetanide in the urine of two male and two female test subjects who ingested StarCaps.
“What I’m saying in the complaint is that at least as of then, if not sooner, StarCaps knew there was an issue. They had a duty to advise consumers and to change their product. They did none of that. In fact, the product is still contaminated,” said Molloy, who also has represented tennis player Guillermo Coria and NFL running back Mike Cloud in similar cases, both of which were settled out of court.
“Since the contamination from bottle to bottle was consistent, it’s not inadvertent contamination,” Molloy said. “That really indicates to me that they’re spiking the product.”
StarCaps officials could not be reached for comment.
Molloy said Nesbit will be looking to recoup the losses of his four game checks, among other damages to his reputation and marketability. Nesbit forfeited $235,294 during his suspension, based on his scheduled base salary of $1 million.
McAllister would stand to lose the most among the Saints facing suspensions. He is scheduled to earn $2 million in base salary this season, plus incentives he might not be able to meet. Grant is scheduled to earn $750,000 this year and Smith $700,000, despite the lofty contract extensions they signed in the past two years. Most of that money went toward signing bonuses and future salaries.
McAllister said he had been taking the StarCaps pills for at least four years, and that he had sent them in for testing when he began taking them.
Because supplements are so loosely regulated and monitored, the NFL and NFLPA have increased their efforts to warn and educate players. The league instituted a supplement certification program, through which players can attain approved supplements.
The league’s steroid policy goes into specific and thorough detail about the risks of supplements.
“Despite these efforts, several players have been suspended even though their positive test results may have been due to the use of a supplement,” the policy reads, using bold and italicized letters to emphasize the next sentence. “Subject to your right of appeal, if you test positive or otherwise violate the Policy, you will be suspended. You and you alone are responsible for what goes into your body. Claiming that you used only legally available nutritional supplements will not help you in an appeal.”
DeShazier: Personal responsibility makes appeal longshot
October 28, 2008
Posted by John DeShazier, The Times-Picayune October 27, 2008 10:35AM
Categories: Saints
Chuck Cook/The Times-PicayuneDeuce McAllister could be facing a suspension.It’s hard to tell a man to quietly take his medicine and accept his punishment when he doesn’t feel like he did anything wrong.
It’s hard to tell him that his defense amounts to little more than a waste of time and, likely, money when he feels he’s defending his reputation and honor.
So I’m guessing no one is going to be able to convince Saints running back Deuce McAllister and defensive ends Will Smith and Charles Grant to reconsider appealing the likely four-game suspension that they, and several other players, are going to be given by the NFL for taking a diuretic that falls on the league’s list of banned substances.
No one is going to be able to convince them that their attempt to use a particular over-the-counter water pill to lose weight was an error, their defense based on the fact that reportedly, the manufacturer of the pill didn’t list Bumetanide, the banned substance, on the label as an ingredient in the product.
Given the same set of circumstances, every one of us might do the same thing. We might be inclined to mount a legal challenge of a system that lumps in the “honest mistakes” with the brazen cheaters, one that penalizes the unknowing user of Bumetanide as seriously as it penalizes the player that uses the diuretic as a masking agent to hide steroid use.
But that said, it’s hard not to see the appeal as little more than a waste of time and, likely, money.
And delaying the inevitable isn’t going to help matters, isn’t going to solve the problem, isn’t going to make the NFL reconsider its stance on banned-substance suspensions. Because the league stance is clear.
The player is responsible for knowing what he puts into his body, end of discussion.
The player is responsible for asking the right questions, doing the proper homework, accepting advice and “help” from the right people. And if the player asks someone in the league office what he can’t take and that person isn’t quite sure of what it is the player can’t take – and the person should be able to tell the player what he can’t take – then that person sure as heck should be able to tell the player what he CAN take. And the potential problem would be solved before it became a real problem.
The groundswell of support for the players is understandable. For the most part the guilty are big guys who haven’t previously tested positive for steroid use and, likely, weren’t trying to mask steroid use this time. The probability is high that each one of them only wanted to lose weight and chose the water-pill method to do so.
But the support is misplaced, too.
First, the line must be drawn and the penalty for crossing it can’t be compromised. Because simply trusting a player’s word is a tad naïve.
Sure, I believe Deuce, Smith and Grant only wanted to lose weight. Really, I do. And personally, I like all three guys and consider them all consummate pros – men who are willing to face the media and discuss what happened in victory or defeat. Especially, there’s admiration for Deuce, not because of what he has done for the franchise, but because of what he has had to go through (ACL reconstruction on both knees and microfracture surgery) in order to do it.
But just because I like them and believe them, and just because the league source who confirmed their failed tests and pending suspensions believed they simply were trying to lose weight, doesn’t mean that defense is true.
Unlikely as it is, it’s not impossible that they were trying to mask something. And the league simply can’t get into the business of suspending one player for a certain amount of time because it believes that player wanted to hide steroid use, and suspending another player for a shorter amount of time because that player swears on a stack of Bibles that he wasn’t trying to deceive.
There’s no way truly to know who aimed to cheat and who didn’t. So the easiest solution is an across-the-board penalty; that’s the ultimate deterrent.
Second, and always, we return to the pesky bottom line that the player is responsible for what he takes, and no one else. He has to know what is contained in Star Caps, which has been identified as the offending water pill, or be willing to face the consequence if the pill isn’t what it says it is. Bottom line: If a player wants to work in the NFL he has to abide by the NFL’s rules, or find another line of work.
No one is going to be able to tell the Saints’ trio, and other players on the verge of being suspended, to take their medicine when they genuinely believe they did nothing wrong. No one is going to be able to tell them that their appeal probably amounts to little more than a waste of time and money.
But the overwhelming probability is that it does. With no way to gauge intent, no way to tell the Boys Scouts from the brazen offenders when it comes to drug use, NFL commissioner Roger Goodell simply has no choice other than to treat them all alike.
The more the league does that, the more likely the innocents will be inclined to ask the right questions and the more likely the cheaters will be inclined to stop.
Because if everyone is clean there’s no need to wonder who purposefully is dirty.
New Orleans Saints saved their season … for now
October 28, 2008
Posted by Jeff Duncan, The Times-Picayune October 26, 2008 9:54PM
Chuck Cook/The Times-PicayuneDeuce McAllister played well against San Diego, but will he be around when the Saints play again in two weeks?WEMBLEY, ENGLAND – Three hours and 30 minutes after Joss Stone sang “God Save the Queen,” the New Orleans Saints saved their season.
That might sound a little dramatic, what with half the schedule remaining in the 2008 slate — but face it, the Saints were sunk if they hadn’t won Sunday.
You knew it.
I knew it.
Even the Saints knew it.
One game does not a season make — unless, of course, it comes after the worst loss of the year, before a bye week and in the middle of a trans-Atlantic road trip.
Yes, the Saints’ 37-32 victory against San Diego definitely qualifies as a season saver. In fact, it was as sweet and important a win as the club has had since the magical 2006 season.
“We had to win this game,” right tackle Jon Stinchcomb said. “Just to get to 4-4 instead of 3-5, that’s a world of difference for this team.”
The Saints played like a team with its season on the line. They played aggressively on both sides of the ball, attacked the Chargers from the moment they waded onto the soggy pitch and never relented for four quarters.
And more impressive, they did it without Reggie Bush, pretty much without a hobbled Jeremy Shockey and with a cornerback-by-committee defensive backfield.
Click to view the graphic.
“This was huge,” said tight end Billy Miller, who more than filled in for the hobbled Shockey by grabbing a game-high seven passes for 82 yards. “It was exciting — a little bit too exciting. Maybe we need to come to London more often.”
Sean Payton coached like someone with a season on the line. You could feel the intensity of his sideline work in the chilly, damp British air.
He went for it three times on fourth down. Three times.
At one point, he sprinted to the 5-yard line to drop the red challenge flag at an official’s feet in the third quarter. Later, he sprinted to midfield to protest the officials’ decision to put one second back on the game clock and give San Diego one final attempt to pull out the game.
“I think both teams felt coming in here, coming off tough road losses last week, that the significance of this game followed by a bye week, getting ourselves to 4-4 was something that we didn’t — no one — took for granted.”
Coupled with losses by NFC South rivals Tampa Bay and Atlanta, it was a good day for the Saints, who find themselves within one game of second place in the NFC South.
Yet, the specter of possible league sanctions against at least three Saints players loomed over the victory like a black cloud.
Click to view list of banned substances.
The reports that Deuce McAllister, Will Smith and Charles Grant have tested positive for a banned substance and face four-game suspensions this season couldn’t be ignored, even if Payton tried his best to dismiss the situation by calling it a league matter.
“The league will handle it, and they’re the ones that will make a comment on it,” Payton said. “And that’s really it.”
If only it were that easy.
The situation threatens to derail the rest of the Saints’ season if the players’ legal counsel, David Cornwell, can’t successfully appeal the suspensions and lift the punishment.
And that’s a big “if.” I don’t know the number of players who have successfully defended drug suspensions in the NFL, but you could count them on one hand.
Overturned suspensions happen about once a solstice.
The good news is the league appears to be listening. McAllister said he has been dealing with the issue for five weeks and is optimistic it will be resolved in his favor.
Regardless, the news was a stunner considering the names involved. McAllister, Smith and Grant are three of the most popular and productive players on the roster. Smith is a team captain. Grant is tied for the team lead in sacks. And McAllister is arguably the most popular player on the roster.
“You really hate to put yourself in a situation like this because … you always want to play by the rules and that’s what we’ve tried to do, myself as well as the other individuals,” McAllister said. “My counsel will put his case together, but there’s more to the story than just a couple of lines.”
Michael DeMocker/The Times-PicayuneDefensive end Will Smith didn’t say much today, other than the failed test “surprised me.”
Smith wouldn’t address the matter other than to say, “It’s something that surprised me. It’s a shock to me and everybody else. We’ll have to wait until we get back to the States and take it from there. When I’m able to say something about it, I’ll say something about it.”
Because of the league’s strict confidentiality policy regarding its banned-substance program, players were reticent to speak on the record about the situation.
But word around the locker room was that more Saints players could be implicated in the coming weeks for taking the same diuretic — an over-the-counter diet pill called Star Caps — that has McAllister, Grant and Smith in trouble and previously landed guard Jamar Nesbit on probation.
In other words, this story isn’t going away anytime soon. And for the Saints, that’s not good news. The team has been forced to battle an extraordinary number of injuries this season. They’ve endured a hurricane evacuation and overcome losing a critical home game to the NFL’s scheduling whims.
Drew Brees has almost single-handedly guided the Saints to their 4-4 mark so far. He has been the league’s Most Valuable Player through the first half of the season. But there’s only so much weight his surgically repaired right shoulder can bear.
“We just let the league take care of those things,” Miller said. “Things like injuries and suspensions we can’t control. We’ll deal with it when it comes.”
Wide receiver Lance Moore said the news was a nonissue for the team — at least for now.
“It wasn’t even mentioned; nobody’s said anything about it,” Moore said. “We had one goal when we came over here, and that was to get a win. We can’t worry about what the league does. We’re going to celebrate this right now. We’re not going to worry about that.”
Besides, that’s what lawyers are hired to do.
Unfortunately, the Saints season might be in their hands now.
That’s a scary thought now, isn’t it?
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