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It was a Friday night in early winter (HansDat note of trivia - it was the day before Sean Payton's birthday), and as the New Orleans Saints and their fans, fresh off a heart-stopping overtime win at Dallas, were preparing for the final game of 2012 against the Carolina Panthers, a tiny man with a big voice, a mighty love for MMA, and powerful sports friends sent out a tweet of great significance for Saints fans:
I'm reporting the Saints and Sean Payton have "agreed in principle" to a new contract extension to remain head coach of the Saints
— Jay Glazer (@JayGlazer) December 29, 2012
Dave posted it here on CSC within minutes of it appearing on the Interweb, and before too long, we were loving life with loquaciousness, class, dignity, and Photoshopped jpegs in the comment section:
Now, can we please have a redo on the season?
by ChuckM1 on Dec 28, 2012 | 7:15 PM rec flag actions
I'm sorry....
But F*** YEAH!
"I cannot, however, uphold a multi-game suspension where there is no evidence that a player's speech prior to a game was actually a factor causing misconduct on the playing field and that such misconduct was severe enough in itself to warrant a player suspension or a very substantial fine."
-- Paul Tagliabue
by Cha-Ching! on Dec 28, 2012 | 7:18 PM rec (1) flag actions
F***ity, F***, F***
by slumD on Dec 28, 2012 | 7:26 PM rec flag actions
The Coachinator was right
by Travis Dauro on Dec 28, 2012 | 7:29 PM rec (6) flag actions
It's
SHOWTIME
The Easter Bunny is a savage...
by ShadowFlash on Dec 28, 2012 | 7:29 PM rec flag actions
WOOO HOOO!
Told ya' so!
by canu2u on Dec 28, 2012 | 7:30 PM rec flag actions
My Effing God!! WOOHOO!!!!
Every time I go outta town, new Saints news happens good or bad. This is GOOD!!!! Just got home a couple of hours ago
Welcome back Payton!! Bring on 2013 baby!!
My daddy always told me, you wanna be a good farmer, you gotta keep your livestock clean.
Don't worry about it Tommy, you don't have to look pretty working down at the slaughterhouse.
I'm glad you're here officer. Oh I just bet you are........ BOOM!!
Famous quotes from Sheriff Hoyt. Texas Chainsaw Massacre, The Beginning
by Jricky70 on Dec 28, 2012 | 7:33 PM rec flag actions
Pat Y's coverage on ESPN.com was updated through the night and next day into THIS PIECE, which included a quote from owner Tom Benson's official statement:
"I am pleased that Sean Payton will be our head coach for a long time," owner Tom Benson said in a statement. "Now we can focus our attention on building on the winning tradition with the Saints that Sean has played such a large role in."
And just in case you forgot, this news was happening in the first place because in November, we found out that the contract extension Payton signed in 2011 had been voided by the league:
Once again, Dave was on it, bringing us the originating, breaking tweet from Adam Schefter in THIS POST:
NFL voided contract extension Sean Payton agreed to with Saints, making him a free agent after this season. is.gd/ar7SsH
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) November 4, 2012
Dave tried to keep it real for us...
Before we all start to freak out and panic, let's take a deep breath. None of this means Payton is actually going anywhere. I would hope and pray that he plans on working out a new contract with Saints owner Tom Benson allowing him to stay in New Orleans. How could he possibly leave the team after this year and in such a ruined state? It would be unforgivable.
But Nabb1, who was there with the first comment, wasn't having any of that:
I know a lo of this is ESPN just generating page clicks, but I still feel ill.
How did everything go so wrong so fast?
And CP (aka CounterPoint) was looking at it in a whole different way...
This is like a dream come true
If Payton walks, the only thing I'd be worried about is Benson sticking with Vitt, instead of going out and finding a new head coach and/or OC that's willing to balance out the play calling, while we still have Brees under center for the next four years or so. That appears to be the only way they'll ever get back to the Super Bowl. Of course, they'll also have to improve the defense, but that's on their must-do list regardless.
A true community of voices!
So, that's what brought us to another of HansDat's HighPoints of 2012. I tried to maintain an even keel throughout all of it, but have to admit that I was VERY RELIEVED and excited when Payton agreed to terms on that new contract. In a year that was full of surprises, drama, BAD DEFENSE and legal wranglings, it made me so happy to have Coach Payton officially locked in with a contract extension.
* * *
How did this news make you feel? Were you worried when the November "voided contract" news came out?