Saints Suck at Reminiscing

by Dave Cariello on Oct 29, 2008 2:00 PM CDT

Not too long ago we were all treated to hear Jim Haslett man up and admit he made a big mistake during his tenure here in New Orleans.

"We had a chance to go to the playoffs, and I got hard-headed because Aaron Brooks got hurt, " Haslett said to Rams beat reporter Jim Thomas in an interview with the St. Louis Post-Dispatch this week. "I should've put the backup in and didn't. Everybody wanted the backup in, and I didn't. In hindsight, I probably should have, because the backup turned out to be a pretty darn good quarterback, Jake Delhomme."

-Times-Pic

Five kickers later and none on the current roster, Sean Payton has even come clean during his tenure thus far.

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.

-Times-Pic

We know the Saints have perennial victims of poor decisions, bad luck and just plain stupidity since the dawn of the organization. I don't know if Mike Ditka was ever apologetic about the Ricky Williams/draft pick fiasco but I think we all know what category that falls under as well, though Ditka got his due. That's our thing and nobody does it better than us and by now we're all used to it. But it does raise a lot of questions.

At what point does it end? How long do Saints fans have to endure this? Will we suffer more years of this before wising up and finally making a change? I applaud Payton for at least admitting his mistakes during his tenure and not years later but the fact is the mistake was still made and here we sit without a shred of confidence in our kicking game.

Are we wasting talent too? (MtnExile)

The most important question, however, is this: What the hell else are we screwing up right now as we speak that is keeping this team from achieving its potential? I would hate to see Pierre Thomas rush and catch for 2,500 yards next season...for the Bucs.

Of course, hindsight it 20/20 and it's easy to spot the obvious while looking in the rear view mirror. Making necessary and positive changes while it's not too late is a challenge that takes not only intelligence but honesty with yourself and the courage to do so. That is what makes a good coach. Being able to make those changes before they even happen is what makes a great coach. Does Payton have either of those abilities? We've seen new Niners head coach Mike Singletary's reactionary comments this past weekend and I think many of us are pretty impressed. Perhaps it's more like jealousy.

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Comments

Singletary is still a badass even when he wears his glasses

Nice editorial, I enjoyed it. But I have to pick a nit: I still like Ricky Williams to this day. Back when he quit football, a female friend of mine called him a female body part that does not rhyme with Delores, and I stuck up for him. Anyone could see something was wrong, nobody in their right mind does locker room interviews with their helmet on. True, Ditka will never admit trading 8 picks for Ricky was a mistake (he has said however, that the 3 years coaching the Saints were the worst years of his life. -Wikipedia). Dan Pompei agreed with me in the Sporting News in 2001, Ricky’s last year with the Saints. And he quotes The Great Bill Walsh in support of his argument.
http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m1208/is_47_225/ai_80680563

by stujo4 on Oct 29, 2008 3:17 PM CDT reply actions

I bet it rhymes with Punt

I like Ricky as a runner, but not for 2 years worth of draft picks. Ditka sucks, but maybe in a round about way he brought Payton and Brees and Bush and Hwy 42 here.

by Steve the fan on Oct 29, 2008 6:12 PM CDT up reply actions

As a Texas fan

I still love Ricky, but he was a train wreck here. The kid obviously had some emotional problems that blossomed here. (Funny, Ricky was a model citizen in college. Never missed a practice, played hurt, popular with his teammates etc, etc. Still one of my favorite Texas players ever. In a million years you never would have convinced me that he was not a sure thing in the pros).

The real problem was not trading up to get him, it was announcing that you would give up all of your picks to do so weeks before the draft, thus obliging teams to ask for that (and then some). Looking back on it, it would have been interesting to see if things would have been different for Ricky here if he didn’t have the added pressure of us trading the better part of 2 drafts for him. Who knows.

As for what we would’ve done with those picks that we traded away – with Ditka and Bill Kuharich? We would have pissed them away of course.

by SaintBevo on Oct 29, 2008 9:21 PM CDT up reply actions

told ya

rotoworld.com:

Interim coach Mike Singletary reportedly dropped his pants and pointed to his backside during his halftime speech in Week 8 against Seattle.
It was apparently an attempt to visually describe what was “getting kicked” in the first half. The 49ers were down 20-3 through two quarters. They were only outscored 14-10 in the second half, so maybe it worked a little bit.
Oct. 30 – 1:21 p.m. ET
Source: Arizona Republic

by stujo4 on Oct 30, 2008 3:39 PM CDT up reply actions

If you EVER...

put our boy in the Tampa uniform again, I’ll cry. When is his contract up anyway?

by asaint on Oct 29, 2008 3:24 PM CDT reply actions

Your obsession with Pierre Thomas is ridiculous.

The guy is okay sometimes, but at best he’s a backup. Let it go.

by xen-cuts on Oct 29, 2008 3:25 PM CDT reply actions

Dave likes Stecker a lot, too

There have been plenty of backups who evolved into legitimate starters: Barry Sanders behind Thurman Thomas at Okla. St. Priest Holmes behind Jamal Lewis. We’ll have to see. No one talks about this much, though:

Pierre Thomas was predicted to be a camp body (someone who is there to make up the numbers at training camp) for the Saints but ended up having a stellar preseason and beating out Antonio Pittman, a player the Saints had traded up to take in the fourth round of the draft, to make the Saints final 53 player roster.

-Wikipedia

Coach Payton’s draft skills are taking a beating today.

by stujo4 on Oct 29, 2008 3:44 PM CDT up reply actions

That was a big mistake.

We need pittman here now. And he singlehandedly beat the saints last year in one of the 8 ‘must-win’ games that we could have won to make it into the playoffs.

by xen-cuts on Oct 31, 2008 11:38 PM CDT up reply actions

I don't think that Peyton has drafted bad...

I think he is the only coach in the league that is honest in his assessment of his picks, and will not hesitate to keep someone else who performs better, not matter how he was acquired.

Not too many coaches would have made the decision Peyton did regarding Pittman, because they would fear looking bad. Where is Pittman now?

Every team has busts. That is unavoidable. Heart can’t be measured at the combine.

I applaud him for having the guts to go with the best players…

by Hollywoo! on Oct 29, 2008 3:55 PM CDT reply actions

BTW...That photo is awesome.

Exile was able to find 2 photos of different players in the same position from the same camera angle!? However it was done…I’m impressed

by Hollywoo! on Oct 29, 2008 4:02 PM CDT reply actions

At least MT...

…kept the original helmet. But I beg you sir, don’t ever do that again. I know, put Lito in a black and gold uniform! Come to think of it, don’t. It’ll hurt even more…

Saints have about, and please correct me if I’m wrong, 3 draft picks next year. Some of it went for Vilma, some for Shockey. I consider myself lucky for what Vilma is giving us with what we paid. Shockey? Regardless of my own dislike for the player and the man, you have to admit that wasn’t the best (or necessary) move from the Saints. Wiil it get any better with #88? That would be nice considering we’re at mid-season already. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not doubting Shockey will to play. In fact, not taking time to fully heel is what kept him for being healthy on Sundays since the start of the season. But, in my opinion, that was one case of bad team management. Why waste precious draft picks improving our already explosive offense than adress our eternal needs on D?

So I ask myself. Is Loomis tough enough to stand up to Payton? Did he want Shockey as much? I hope so because I never saw a pro-sport franchise make it with a two-headed GM. Lack of draft picks and two bosses are pretty good conditions for making wrong choices…

As much as Payton is making me nervous with some of it’s play calling I still like his gut and creativity. Furthermore, he turned Reggie in one of the most dangerous weapon in the league, discovered Colston and made Lance a damn good receiver. Oh, and I didn’t hear somebody complain this week about Deuce play time either…

I just think Sean should stick with coaching and let Loomis trade, hire and cut players. Otherwise, we should start to worry.

by FrenchFreak on Oct 29, 2008 7:46 PM CDT reply actions 3 recs