Sean Payton: He’s back
By Mike Dyce
January 1, 2012; New Orleans, LA, USA; New Orleans Saints head coach Sean Payton during their game against the Carolina Panthers at the Mercedes-Benz Superdome. Mandatory Credit: Chuck Cook-USA TODAY Sports
NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell has reinstated supsended New Orleans Saints’s head coach Sean Payton. Greg Aiello, the spokesman for the NFL announced the reinstatement of the coach suspended for the “bounty gate” scandal this morning. Earlier this month Aiello refuted claims that anything would happen before the Super Bowl.
Per Aiello, he “acknowledged in the meeting his responsibility for the actions of his coaching staff and players and pledged to uphold the highest standards of the NFL.”
Apparently there was a meeting between the controversial commissioner and the coach on Monday of this week.
“We had a very productive discussion,” said Goodell, via Pro Football Talk. “Sean fully complied with all the requirements imposed on him during his suspension. More important, it is clear that Sean understands and accepts his responsibilities as a head coach and the vital role that coaches play in promoting player safety and setting an example for how the game should be played at all levels. We are committed to delivering football that fans love and the safety players deserve. Coach Payton agrees and I look forward to working with him going forward to do that.”
The lifting of the suspension means he is free to get back to work and there are certain benefits to the timing.
He can start filling holes on his staff by hiring assistant coaches. Payton is also free to attend the Senior Bowl. The Senior Bowl, is college seniors’ version of the Pro Bowl, so for a lot of NFL Coaches it’s a time to examine up close and in person the talent they will be vying for in the NFL Draft.
The Super Bowl of course is in New Orleans this year, and Goodell isn’t expecting the warmest of responses when he visits the team he decimated with suspensions. The New Orleans had been a perennial playoff team under Payton until these suspensions that had them finish well below what they’ve become accustomed too.