Dear New Orleans Saints

Payton should get M-E to give a 30 second version of this as a locker room speech. If M-E could speak for only 30 seconds. Maybe with some visual aids.

Today is the first day of the rest of your life which mind end any second now. HIT IT!!

Boom rec’d it.

I thought I would point out that an NFL football player has a lifespan that is about 17 YEARS shorter than you and I. So, 56 games costs them about 17 years. Huh. Sad to say, there are a lot of people who would give their left nut. Still want to give that left nut?

It’s all well and good issuing some vague rallying cry on an internet message board. Sure enough a lot of people, especially in sports, have the hairs on their neck raised by the simplest of empty-worded “This is your time. Now go out there and take it!” type speeches. Fine. I can understand that.

How on earth, though, do you know that there was a lack of effort in the losses the Saints have suffered this season? Or that the Saints misfiring comes from a dearth of motivation? That ignores a whole host of other factors. Poor planning by the coaches. Terrible playcalling. Injury. Loss of confidence. Better execution by opposition players at vital moments of games. Not being as talented as the opposition in some positions. But no, of course not, the only issue is that we need to do it exactly the same, but with +10 HEART.

It’s pretty damn insulting to attempt to motivate somebody by suggesting that they haven’t been trying their hardest.

My wife gets more work out of me by pissing me off…………Works every time.

Rec’d.

Exactly what they need to hear and exactly what is frustrating to fans. It’s not that we aren’t loyal enough or ask for too much, it’s that we wonder why they don’t ask enough of themselves when they surely can be everything they desire to be or maybe not, but you have to give the effort first to even know.

On the other hand, you really need to use accurate statistics. Yeah, yeah, I know all about the three types of lies (lies, * lies, and statistics) but still the average shelf-life of an NFL player is NOT merely three years.

The average shelf-life of a player who is on an NFL training camp roster is only three years. This makes them part of the NFLPA’s records and thus they get counted. But quite a few of those players don’t even make it through a single training camp, much less multiple years in the league. The players who manage to make it onto an in-season active roster tend, on average, to have a MUCH longer career. Maybe only 6 or 7 years, which is still very short of course, but even then, that’s ALSO still counting people who only make it onto the roster for a week or two and then get cut and never get back in.

That doesn’t mean they should ignore your advice. They still have very limited time, whether it’s 1 year or 19 years or anything in between. And worse yet, almost all of them will never know when it’s over until all of a sudden it is and they never saw it coming. So yeah, they still need to listen.

But quoting inaccurate statistics doesn’t help your case.

Santa Maria della Concezione dei Cappuccini

 Worth a visit if you’re ever in Rome. It really makes you think about life and death. If the team takes every game as if it were their last, they can win the rest of the games. They have plenty enough talent to make it happen.

message might be the same but you miss out on quite a bit if you don’t read the full story. ;)

you are sort of blaming the players for falling into complacency at times..
i can see you have not played sports, or if you have, too much time has passed..
there are numerous circumstances that cause a player and a team to underperform.. & it is not necessarily not want to.. or being too mediocre.. many times the lack of energy may be of psychological origin.. but the lack of physical reaction is actually very real.. it is not that you don’t want to.. it’s like your mind/heart/soul is weighting you down..
as the opposite.. sometimes you are unstoppable.. & you glide like a magical force propels you.. & you can’t explain that, either.. these players compete.. have their trials & tribulations in practice.. they may have private issues for lack of participation or disfavor by coaching.. etc. etc.. not to even bring in personal issues.. normal baggage that everybody has.. yes, even the alpha-male players..
a consistent physical performance is even rare for a machine.. expecting a sum of “human parts” to perform like the perfect machine, every time, just cause their life duration is short.. is too simplistic..
coaches try to find the way to “bring” the greatness out.. but if it was as simple as reminding them how little time they have, every coach would have a little machine.. humming..

My career would probably last 3 minutes, and my hospital stay 3 months.

When did you guys get so damn picky? Sound like a bunch of old ladies at their weekly book club.

I try to live my life like every day could be my last. I have my down days though, and try to use them to motivate myself. The Rams game I blame more on the play calling, and lack of adjustment, to the Rams play calling.Some the players were exposed for their talent short comings, but the failure to adjust to the shortcomings, was totally a coaching failure.

it didn’t work. I told them that what would happen to you if your fighting with each other and next thing you know one of you drops dead. You want the last thing said to be out of anger?? It didn’t work. I even had an example as my wife’s brother had a brain stem rupture and bang he’s dead. The problem is that you can’t play like this is your last game. You have to save your body for the next week and the week after. You can go out there balls to the wall and put your heart and soul into the game and end up getting hurt for that extra yard. Sacrafice the body for the play, yeah sure you might get the fumble, but next thing you know your shoulder is blown and your undergoing surgery in hopes your able to throw the ball again. If Drew’s surgery hadn’t worked, he wouldn’t be playing football now. All this because he was diving for a fumbled ball. I am not saying he should’t have gone for it, but there are limits you have to put on yourself and your body. To push your body to the brink of exhaustion mentally and physically takes it’s tole. Ask Shockey, he put his heart and soul into the games and see what happens. He got injured way too much. I am not saying you need to be a Haynesworth and be a big ole pile of doo doo, but you do have to protect your investment.

Look I played some college ball and as a fan I see your point. We rah rah everyday and we check our boards, get our game day gear together and we say we are up for this game and ready to go. Now you ask yourself why aren’t the players just as amped as you are? Look they breathe football everyday. They practice 3 times a week. They have to lift and look at game film. They work at their craft more than you probably work at your job each week. (disclaimer I’m coming back to your job). They feel prepared each week. For some reason you are discounting that the Rams and Bucs are not just as amped when they come to these games just because they don’t have a good record. Winning on the road in the NFL is one of the most difficult things to do. Each week because their contracts are not guaranteed NFL players have to ‘grade out’ well on tape. I will argue with ‘grading out’ is sometimes more important to some players than actually winning the game. You grade out well your job is secure until next week. NFL players care about the fans but I guarantee you they care about making money more and providing for their families. Will they make money if you don’t watch the game or show up? No, absolutely not. They need you but really getting you in the seat is not their job. It’s all a business and you sometimes have to seperate fanhood from business. Charlie Brown didn’t take care of business vs Long. He probably would have been replaced with Strief coming back anyway. Now he is on IR and probably a real question will he be on the 53 next year. That’s just business.

Now I’m going to go back to you and your job. Do we really give 100% on our job everyday? Do we do everything that we can possibly do to ensure that our companies are profitable and successful? I don’t everyday. I have had great days and I have had days I didn’t get anything done and probably should have just stayed at home. The players we are talking about are humans the same as we are. We think we love the game so much that we would play for free. That is until we start games and players on the bench are getting paid millions. That would change our attitude. Look I love the Saints. I’m upset when they lose and on top of the world when they win. When a guy is not guaranteed a job next week, I think I can assure you that he cares about his assignment. The opponent cares just the same and sometimes we don’t come out on top. That’s why they say any given Sunday anything can happen.

Geaux Saints!

What do people do with all these “left nuts” when they get them in a transaction?

From a fans perspective it’s hard to disagree with any of the OP.

In defence of the players I offer the following excuses.
St Louis was pumped having won the baseball thingy. That sort of
emotional energy can help a home team, a bit like when we whooped
the Falcons that famous night the LSD* re-opened.
We are fairly deep into the season and still haven’t had our bye week
something Payton recognised , I think , with his handing out of the bats
this last weekend. The lockout and all that entailed regarding training
schedules and conditioning etc probably adds to the weariness.
The team were still patting themselves on the back following their
record performance against the Clots.

Other than that , all I have is sometimes we suck, which isn’t particularly
scientific , but possibly significant.

*Now proudly brought to you by Mercedes Benz.

They all had Chili laced with Exlax over their Western Omlets at breakfast. That would take the starch out of anyone.

This is why there is no “I” in team.. Play one game at a time.. revel in victory or roll with the punches.. As a fan I have the luxury support my team win or lose and it doesn’t affect my health or paycheck.. most of these athletes became what they are from playing the game they love with “all heart” for a very long time from pewee to NFL.. I’m sure they are motivated each and every game… so is thier opponent.

But for a team like the Saints to be losing to a team like the Rams 17-0 in the first half and then losing the game completely is totally uncalled for. It’s bull crap to say the Rams won this game because they were hyped up. The fact of the matter is, is that the Saints plumb out lost this one due to the entire organization. Coaching was terrible, players were terrible and Payton didn’t give a crap in the booth. I don’t care how much he claims that he hurts, there’s no reason he couldn’t come down at half time with his team. Maybe they were suppossed to lose to this team, because the Saints are way better than that. Maybe the Colts made a deal with the Saints and the Colts let the Saints embarrass them if they lost the following week to the Rams just to be in contention to grab Luck next year. Who knows if Peyton will be back? Sorry, you can’t demolish a team 62-7 and then lose next week to a 0 win team. That’s not football, that’s called not giving a crap. I don’t blame all players because some tried, but the majority didn’t. I just may be right about the deal with the Colts, and if I hear of anything else the Saints receive from the Colts, then I know I’m right.

You know what’s even more stale than complacency? The argument that millions of dollars should somehow magically erase that, WHEN THE VAST MAJORITY OF YOUR PEERS ARE MAKING THE SAME MONEY. Who gives a hairy rat’s rectum what the average fan CLAIMS he would do for that money? The fact remains that he doesn’t have the talent to realize that pipe dream. Beyond that, if he was somehow magically granted the athletic powers to command such a salary, the effort would soon dwindle away to the status quo, as the realization set in that he can still make roughly that same amount of money resting on his new found laurels. Blow as much smoke as you want on the subject. It’s straight up human nature to live contently, once you feel you’ve peaked. The few that go above and beyond probably take the same gung ho approach in every facet of their life, even if they’re not getting paid for it. It would be different if the losing team took home minimum wage — not the veteran minimum, I’m talking $7.50 an hour for the game — and the winning team collected the excess. THAT’S when a professional athlete vs Joe Blow comparison would hold water. As is, it’s pure rhetoric on the part of Mr. Blow.