APA bad offseason for the Saints keeps getting worse.
John Barr of ESPN reports that the U.S. Attorney’s Office in the Eastern District of Louisiana recently was told that Saints general manager Mickey Loomis “had an electronic device in his Superdome suite that had been secretly re-wired to enable him to eavesdrop on visiting coaching staffs for nearly three NFL seasons.”
Saints spokesman Greg Bensel tells PFT that the allegation is “1000 percent false.”
“We asked ESPN to provide us evidence to support their allegations and they did not,” Bensel said.
Generally citing unnamed “sources,” Barr claims that the device was installed in 2000, when Randy Mueller served as G.M. of the Saints. It was used at the time to monitor game-day communications involving the Saints’ coaching staff. Barr contends that, after Loomis took over, “the electronic device was re-wired to listen only to opposing coaches and could no longer be used to listen to any game-day communications between members of the Saints coaching staff.”
The device allegedly was used during the 2002, 2003, and 2004 seasons.
Barr spent plenty of time both online and on camera talking about statutes of limitations for both criminal and civil actions arising from the alleged activities. Coincidentally, ESPN could end up being the target of a civil case.
“The team and Mickey are seeking all legal recourse regarding these false allegations,” Bensel said.
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Brett Favre – you were not meant to make it out alive that game
When it rains it pours, I guess.
“The team and Mickey are seeking all legal recourse regarding these false allegations,” Bensel said.
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Going to go looking for the real killer on Florida golf courses with OJ?
Loomis blew his chance to be given the benefit of the doubt when he got busted for lying about bountygate.
as a vikes fan
they robbed our Super Bowl chances with bounties and now theyre paying for it
just gets better…
And it gets deeper & deeper. Looks like Loomis will be wearing stripes in the near future, and I don’t mean referee stripes either.
Drew brees needs an explanation
And 100% hilarious. Just revoke the franchise.
OK, Saints fans, how is THIS worse than Spygate?
Wow… 3 seasons?? Really Loomis? Prosecute him if this holds up.
The NFL should just move the Saints to LA, bulldoze the Super Dome and delete the teams history from the record books.
Flabbergasted.
Must of heard Gregg Williams as a visiting coach and thought to himself, We need this guy! CHEATERS! This guy makes Dan Snyder look classy!
Well, now if Saints fans want to deny that their team cheats, this puts the icing on the cake.
Pretty reckless of ESPN, if this turns out to be false.
2002: 9-7
2003: 8-8
2004: 8-8
Clearly this had some impact on their wins column.
“Saints spokesman Greg Bensel tells PFT that the allegation is “1000 percent false.”
Ho Ho Ho Hooooooooooo! Fiction can be fun, but I find the reference section a little more enlightening.
Every minute that Loomis still keeps his job, is a more of a confession by Benson that his team is guilty.
Cue all the idiots that think the Saints need to forfeit the Lombardy Trophy
Lmao @ the saints
I really really really hope ESPN gets sued.
Just effin great!!
Drew Brees wants an explanation.
All of a sudden Hurricane Katrina is not the worst thing to ever happen to New Orleans.
and I really really hope ESPN loses big…
Saints makes the Pats look like a bunch of nuns.
“Come at me bro”
- Mickey Loomis
That’s a dirty thing to do.
- Metta World Violence
Spygate II: Electronic Re-Wiring Boogaloo?
Jokes aside this sounds like a load of BS.
Is called piling on.
If it is true it really didn’t help much…lol. They still finished with an average record each one of those years.
Haha I’m sorry, but this is too funny. Saints won’t have a draft pick for the next 5 years
2012—- Let’s pile on the Saints!
What’s next? saints had snitches in every nfl organization ?
Probably the best part about running the Saints at that time WAS the opposing teams coming in to play.
The entire team should be banned forever. Theyve crossed the line into “cartoon supervillainy.”
I believe them. It’s not like they have a history of lying or covering up their wrong-doings. Oh wait…
Would not surprise me if were true! In fact I am inclined to believe it. The Saint’s have completely fallen off and this sounds inline with how they conduct themselves.
Oh and Drew Brees is a fraud. He knew all about the bounties.
If the saints were truly innocent of this accusation, they would’ve said “10,000 percent false”
Okay, so if the allegations are true, the Saints will have committed an illegal bounty scandal and an illegal spying scandal. All they need is some sort of boat-related sex scandal and they’ll have themselves a nice little hat trick. Keep it up fellas.
Los Angeles Saints
humm… ESPN is never wrong… right?
(I find this wicked funny somehow)…
I hope ESPN blew this one and the gets crushed in a civil court…
Once NBCSport Network goes big, ESPN will cease to exist. What a joke they are.
“unnamed” sources are getting real popular lately…
It is time to consider taking away the Super Bowl title for this franchise. As for the immediate denials regarding this story. If memory serves correct, they denied the bounty allegations for over 2 years also.
Generally citing unnamed “sources,”
Look at this point nothing will surprise me…however this is some shoddy reporting. Put a damn name on it if you are going to run with a story. Seems like someone is trying to get 15 mins of fame by piggybacking on the pay for performance scandal.
Who cares they sucked back then, obviously it didnt help
Next Drew Brees will demand a trade
Well Sean Payton is buddies with Bill Bellicheck…
…just sayin’
Wow. When it rains, it pours I guess. This is getting ugly
letter to the commissioner:
Please sir announce the player penalties NOW.
the conspiracy stories are swirling to epic proportion because of your delay in this matter. please kind sir, the media are experimenting on their fiction writing in the absence of this vital information only you can provide. As others have called for “What is the delay!”. The fan base and hater base are eagerly awaiting your voice to calm the ever growing tornado swirling aroung the internet.In closing, please announce the penalties now.
saints fan
Meh, it probably didn’t help them too much.
I think you still need proof these days. Oh wait, this is the NFL. All you need is hearsay and innuendo’s.
Did anyone expect them to come right out and admit it? Scumbag organization. Not a surprise.
I LOVE THIS!! NEW ORLEANS your cinderella story is over!! the saddest part is with all this cheating they’ve only one super bowl….hahaha
“the electronic device was re-wired to listen only to opposing coaches and could no longer be used to listen to any game-day communications between members of the Saints coaching staff.”
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Wow. Wire-tapping visiting teams? IF the allegations are true, (I’m a little suspicious) this could bring up a very interesting discussion on gaining a competitive advantage.
Assuming there is some truth to this, things are going to go from bad to worse for the Saints…
ESPN must really love the courtroom.
If this team didn’t have cheating, they wouldn’t have anything at all. What ever happened to winning games by the rules?
Next? Proving the Saints were responsible for Katrina based on a weather machine they had created in secrecy.
I’m not a fan of the Saints but this “unnamed source” crap is getting old. Not just with this whole Saints fiasco it’s happening daily.
Man up or shut up and don’t try to spout off about legally being able to protect sources. This isn’t about government cover ups or murders … it’s about a game of football.
I have a source in the NFL league office in New York that says Roger Goodell regularly has sex with several different species of farm animals.
I can’t disclose the source, you’ll just have to trust me…..and now it’s on the internet so it must be the truth!!!
What good is putting a name on the rumor? The Boston Herald named Matt Wash as the person who “filmed” the STL practice before the Super Bowl. And when it came time to admit it under oath and produce evidence, Walsh admitted he never filmed the practice, either in the stadium or from a distance. He was a disgruntled ex-employee trying for revenge. The Herald published a front page apology, but what good did that do? The small brains on these threads will forever think the Pats filmed the practice. New Orleans is screwed, whether its proven or not.
“Put a damn name on it if you are going to run with a story…”
You do realize that you are posting on a website that got famous for running stories attributed to unnamed sources, don’t you?
Just because a journalist protects his sources by not giving the public the names, does not mean the source does not exist.
Just when you thought when it was finally over, the Saints are in another mess. I hope for their sake it’s a false report, but it’s not like people are really trusting of the Saints front office lately.
If this somehow ends up being true, I’m sure the coaching staff knew about this as well. I say for the benefit of the fans just wipe the slate clean of the staff and restart with a new one. Best way to move on from this whole ordeal the last few months.
If this is false, the team will seek out legal action to clear their name.
memmmbberr whhennn allll zemmmzz ‘aintzz fanzz herd of tha bounty thing. and said nawwwwwww.
well, where there is smoke there is fire baby!
sorry for the typo, it was Matt Walsh.
If ESPN has no actual proof of this I hope the Saints sue them for all they’re worth.
Of course they will deny, that’s what cheaters do, they lie.
I don’t see how ESPN is liable for anything. They are just reporting on an active investigation by the U.S. Dept. of Justice (you know, the sort of thing reporters do for a living). If the Taints want to undertake civil action against someone for alleged “false allegations” they need to find out who reported it to the U.S. Attorney’s office. Of course they would have to wait until the FBI is done investigating to make a claim that any allegations were “false”.
However, we all know it is probably true, given the Taints track record. Maybe the best course of action for the NFL is to just revoke the Taints NFL membership and award a team to one of the L.A. groups. That would solve several problems at once.
Bill Belicheat approves.
The Saints are also responsible for the space program ending. Shame on them.
wow – you just can’t make this stuff up.
ESPN fabricating a story? No way. Syracuse ring a bell? See what ESPN says when they get sued.
oddly enough, this one I believe….
“Saints call report of Loomis espionage “1000 percent false””
..because saying “1,000 percent” carries so much more weight than just saying “100 percent”…
kidpresentable says: Apr 23, 2012 4:27 PM
Just because a journalist protects his sources by not giving the public the names, does not mean the source does not exist.
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I have worked in journalism for near 15 years and I have never used an anonymous source in a story. It’s lazy, unethical, and downright dangerous.
This just in : ” Anonymous sources claim Loomis and Payton told a group of 1st graders that there was NO Santa Claus”
denverwally says: Apr 23, 2012 4:26 PM
What good is putting a name on the rumor? The Boston Herald named Matt Wash as the person who “filmed” the STL practice before the Super Bowl. And when it came time to admit it under oath and produce evidence, Walsh admitted he never filmed the practice, either in the stadium or from a distance. He was a disgruntled ex-employee trying for revenge. The Herald published a front page apology, but what good did that do? The small brains on these threads will forever think the Pats filmed the practice. New Orleans is screwed, whether its proven or not.
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This is very true and it reinforces the fallacies of the so-called “information age”.
Any dork with an axe to grind and some outlet can start any rumor they want and the sheep will blindly eat it up.
I’ve got an anonymous source that says Roger Goodell has sex with farm animals. Hey! It’s on the internet so it must be true.
When the Saints say nothing happened, we all know something happened. . Get the dagger ready Roger
My goodness this site must have either a bunch of kids posting to this or just people who have no job and nothing to do all day. Get real people all you saints haters this is nothing and ESPN way of showing how much they want to be the #1 story. Oh lets talk about something the saints are doing. This is totally bogus and I hope Loomis sue whoever put this report out.
Get a life people the Saints are not going any where read for once! 85 million dollars in construction for the dome. They have the most updated stadium in the league. Oh yeh funny none of the players got suspended at this time.. Humm I wonder why??
Loomis was also seen hiding in the suite, disguised as a potted plant. ESPN reports it was the same disguise he wore when he shot Kennedy.
You left the Ravens for this, Ben Grubbs?
Tell us again how this situation was not as bad as Spygate…
“I have worked in journalism for near 15 years and I have never used an anonymous source in a story. It’s lazy, unethical, and downright dangerous.”
I too have worked in journalism. If you are reporting in an area where there is some level of secrecy like sports or politics on the low-end or national security on the high end, if you want to get dirt, the person dishing the dirt needs to be protected from any backlash from his or her employer. It’s why media outlets have things like editors and fact checkers who can follow-up with the unnamed sources. Even if the source is no longer working for the Saints, will any other NFL team hire him if they believe he will leak team secrets? Are teams lining up to hire Eric Mangini as an assistant coach?
The team that keeps on giving the whole year long…
What is the next thing they are going to say. The Saints rigged the draft to get Archie Manning, or M. Dikta talked to ricky williams before drafting him. Watch and see how many comments from these fools buy in that and believe it.
Yet if one person that is on this page had one alleged thing against them they would be crying wolf and wanting to sue. Please stop all the madness.
1000% isn’t 100% as high as you can go?
Think they said the same thing when asked about the bounty.
If you are reporting in an area where there is some level of secrecy like sports or politics on the low-end or national security on the high end, if you want to get dirt, the person dishing the dirt needs to be protected from any backlash from his or her employer.
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Let’s just say this is not a case of national security.
The Saints spokesman denying this report is the equivalent of a parent defending their kid when they get into a situation where they weren’t in the right. Did anyone expect anything different?
#improperfractions.
Warren Sapp says:
“My sources tell me Jeremy Shockey did the electrical work”
mdd913 says:Apr 23, 2012 4:43 PM
This is very true and it reinforces the fallacies of the so-called “information age”.
Any dork with an axe to grind and some outlet can start any rumor they want and the sheep will blindly eat it up.
I’ve got an anonymous source that says Roger Goodell has sex with farm animals. Hey! It’s on the internet so it must be true.
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This has nothing to do with an “anonymous source” as a product of “the so-called information age”. The “anonymous source” is obviously the same source that reported it to the U.S. Atorney’s office.
If you had witnessed a murder and reported it to the authorities and then notified your local media about said murder to make sure the public was aware of it – would you want the media to disclose your name while the investigation was still going on? Didn’t think so.
I dislike ESPN as much as the next guy, but they are not in any way at fault here. They verified the allegations with the U.S. Dept. of Justice BEFORE reporting on it.
Revoke the Saints franchise and relocate the Vikings to the Superdome! Brilliant!!
And people say that The New York Jets have major “issues”!!! This team is “shaked and baked”!
Are you kidding me? Revoke the Superbowl trophy immediately. It is pretty much worthless at this point any way since nobody respects the Saint’s Super Bowl win anymore.
mjbulls45 says: Apr 23, 2012 4:06 PM
Brett Favre – you were not meant to make it out alive that game
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Please read the story:
“The device allegedly was used during the 2002, 2003, and 2004 seasons.”
Not 2009, genius.
Never trust anyone who says that anything is “1000%” anything. (Well, except for statisticians in certain cases, etc.) It’s like using multiple exclamation points – it immediately calls into question the basic credibility of the person doing it.
The Saints should have dumped Loomis when the bounty stories were first confirmed. (I can see them not wanting to lose a Super Bowl winning coach, but somebody needed to get fired over the scandal.) By keeping everybody involved in the bounties, they’ve left themselves wide open for continued new allegations.
It’s nice to finally see other teams getting caught besides the patriots and jets….just further proof all teams will do whatever they can to get an advantage. Now people might finally stop bitching about the arc east being the biggest cheaters in the league
2002-2004???
Statute of frigging limitations???
Are uncaught steroid users suspended or punished by the NFL?????
No!!!!
Bill Belicheck is horrified at the allegations!
Oh, and HE also wants an explanation……after Drew of course!
cakemixa says: Apr 23, 2012 4:11 PM
Pretty reckless of ESPN, if this turns out to be false.
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I haven’t seen enough evidence to believe if this is true or not and I feel for the good, rational Saints fans for all of this mess. That said, I love it for ones like you who harp on and on about my team’s mess ups in a very patronizing way. How’s that shoe fit? Do you like all the ignorance you see out there now that it’s YOUR team?
Meaning it is true.
Saints??? What is going on down there? Yikes. Any good vibes or PR they built up has completely vanished this offseason. They are rapidly turning into one of the leagues most despised teams.
In the future, I will say that viking fans embarassing themselves with these knee jerk reactions was pretty funny.
“and they kept demanding that the nfl vacate the saints superbowl win… lol.”
“1000 percent false”
yet 100 percent true, that he did do it…. wonder how that can work itself out????