This will be our final Chronicle Award of the year, the winner getting placed on the ballot with the winners from our previous three elections to decide the most memorable moment of the Saints 2010 season. As the headline says, our category today is 'Biggest Scandal/Controversy." Looking through the archives I was actually surprised how many candidates were available for this award.
After the jump you'll find the six events I've nominated for this award and a brief description of each to help refresh your memory. All you need to do is cast your vote for the one you think deserves the award. You may base your decision on how important the event was in relation to a specific game or even the season. You can base it purely on how silly, stupid or funny it was. It Doesn't matter. Just pick one and vote. The poll will be open for 72 hours.
And, of course, feel free to reminisce.
Vicodin-gate
When the Saints' former director of security Geoff Santini filed a lawsuit against the team accusing Joe Vitt and Sean Payton of stealing Vicodin from the teams drug locker and claimed to have video and audio evidence, the front office and coaching staff looked to be in danger. But the DEA's investigation never led to further action and the lawsuit was settled behind closed doors. We'll never know the truth.
Pierre Thomas in the Doghouse
Rumors started to fly that Pierre Thomas was in Sean Payton's doghouse after an ankle injury he suffered was taking longer than anyone expected to heal. Thomas missed significant time and after reports that he was almost traded to New England many fans, like myself, thought he was finished in New Orleans. Fortunately, those people were wrong and Pierre eventually returned to the field in a Saints uniform. But will he be back?
The Brees Knees
It was no secret that Brees twisted his knee a bit in the Saints Week 3 loss to the Falcons but in early November, Kenny Wilkerson caused a stir when he went on the air and claimed Drew's poor passing was due to a torn meniscus and would require off-season surgery. Our own Kevin Held heard similar reports from his own private sources. But Sean Payton and other members of the media laughed it off as Drew did jumping jacks in front of his locker. Reports of off-season surgery for Brees have yet to surface.
Roddy White Crosses the Line
It seems every season someone has to make a disparaging comment about Hurricane Katrina and the city of New Orleans. This year it was Roddy White taking a tweet a little too far the week before the Saints second duel against the Falcons when he claimed "The grace of god gave them tht championship so tht city wouldn fall apart now." He eventually apologized and was a non-factor for the Falcons, who lost the game.
X Marks the Spot
After last season's NFC Championship Game the tension was high all summer between Saints and Vikings fans in anticipation of their league-opening matchup. That spilled over into the locker room as well after Darren Sharper tweeted "X marks the spot" regarding Brett Favre's previously injured ankle, Vikings tight end Visanthe Shiancoe stood up for his quarterback and a war of tweets ensued. All in good fun.
The Missing 1200
As part of the continued Superdome renovations, holders of 1,200 season tickets were told this summer they would be losing their seats for the 2010 season and began a mission to force the Saints to relocate them within the Dome. The movement gained traction as local media picked up the story and ran with it. Everything ended peacefully as those asking for seat relocations for the season received them and nobody had to miss a game.