JOSH FREEMAN IMPRESSES, SAINTS TRY TO CHANGE THE SUBJECT & LAWRENCE TAYLOR HITS ROCK BOTTOM
When Tampa Bay made Josh Freeman the 17th overall choice in the 2009 draft, the pick came with a lot of doubters, me included. I thought Freeman was probably 3 years away from being a decent NFL starting quarterback. The former Grandview High School & K-State product didn't exactly set the world on fire & then came out as a junior. From everything I've read since the season ended, Freeman has taken a major step in his development. Now that they have drafted two wideouts who look to be the opening day starters, along with TE Kellen Winslow Jr. Freeman could be as much as a year ahead of schedule. Head Coach Raheem Morris has heaped a lot of praise on his young quarterback lately. He's a great kid & I hope I was wrong about how long he would take to develop.
The beleaguered New Orleans Saints announced today they had found seats for many of "The Missing 1200." I told you about these people last month, the folks who lost their season ticket seats in the Super Dome because Saints' management wants to expand the number of luxury suites. They claim to have relocated 1,000 of the ticket holders as of today. After the onslaught of really bad press about this relocation, it was thought many of the 1,200 were going to find themselves outside the Dome, probably on the waiting list for new season tickets. The bad news is most of the new seat locations have gone from damn good seats to nose bleed specials, but as many of the relocated 1,000 have said, "at least we're in the building." A Saints' spokesman said they expected to get the remaining 200 "in the building as well."
The other news on the Saints' front isn't as good as "the 1,200." Former director of security Geoffrey Santini has filed a civil suit against the team asking for back pay & punitive damages. His lawsuit has brought the Vicodin controversy to the forefront. He has accused head coach Sean Payton of abusing the painkiller & linebacker coach Joe Vitt of stealing Vicodin. Santini's attorney claims they have a video of Vitt stealing drugs from the trainers locked pharmaceutical cabinet. I believe them. Also claimed in the lawsuit is that Saints' GM Mickey Loomis instructed the trainers to alter the 'controlled substance' logs required by the federal government. The DEA entered the fray, opening an investigation last fall. After looking into the background of Santini, CBSSports.com made it clear to me the Saints may have picked to wrong guy to try to discredit. Santini was the lead investigator & helped to bring down Louisiana governor Edwin Edwards in his bribery, mail & wire fraud, extortion & money laundering case. Edwards is still in prison. He busted a few Mafia guys in this case as well plus the former owner of the San Francisco 49ers, Eddie DeBartolo Jr. He was caught in the Edwards case, paying a cash bribe to Edwards in an attempt to get a gaming license back in 1998. DeBartolo plead guilty to bribery & it caused him to be excluded from the NFL Hall of Fame. I'm thinking this Santini guy is pretty damn good at putting people away, Loomis, Payton & Vitt may very well be in a lot of trouble.
Also in trouble is Hall of Fame linebacker Lawrence Taylor, arrested & charged today with the rape of a 16-year old girl. The former New York Giant great was arraigned this afternoon & just stared at the floor in the courtroom. This very sordid story involves an alleged call from Taylor to a New York pimp who brought the 16-year old runaway to Taylor's hotel room. After Taylor was thru with her, the pimp picked her up & proceeded to take her back into Manhattan. She texted her uncle during this trip & the NYPD responded. Just after midnight police took Taylor from his hotel room & into custody. I encountered Taylor twice while I worked in Vegas, neither was a positive experience. I heard the same & worse from others who had to deal with LT. This always bothered me, he had been one of my very favorite players of all time. I was so impressed with him at North Carolina, winning two bowl games, Taylor was unstoppable, he was the greatest college linebacker I can ever remember watching. He changed the pro game, the outside edge pass rusher with that ultra quick 1st step, recorded 142 sacks. Plus Taylor was dominant against the run as well. There's never been anyone better, possibly the greatest defensive player of all-time. Sadly his personal behavior was not hall of fame-like, it was more gutter trash-like. He did cocaine, was suspended twice by the NFL, he used & abused prostitutes regularly, he sent hookers to his opponents the night before games, Taylor was never known for his respect of women. He has been arrested three times trying to procure illegal drugs. Last night his wife was scheduled to go on CNN's Larry King to deny the charges against her husband, she was telling every media outlet yesterday afternoon "he was setup, he was framed." Right before airtime, she canceled the appearance. Scared of Larry King? God, the guy does nothing but lob softballs, framed as questions, to his guests. If these charges are proven to be true, I think he's burned his last bridge with most football fans, enough is enough.
The beleaguered New Orleans Saints announced today they had found seats for many of "The Missing 1200." I told you about these people last month, the folks who lost their season ticket seats in the Super Dome because Saints' management wants to expand the number of luxury suites. They claim to have relocated 1,000 of the ticket holders as of today. After the onslaught of really bad press about this relocation, it was thought many of the 1,200 were going to find themselves outside the Dome, probably on the waiting list for new season tickets. The bad news is most of the new seat locations have gone from damn good seats to nose bleed specials, but as many of the relocated 1,000 have said, "at least we're in the building." A Saints' spokesman said they expected to get the remaining 200 "in the building as well."
The other news on the Saints' front isn't as good as "the 1,200." Former director of security Geoffrey Santini has filed a civil suit against the team asking for back pay & punitive damages. His lawsuit has brought the Vicodin controversy to the forefront. He has accused head coach Sean Payton of abusing the painkiller & linebacker coach Joe Vitt of stealing Vicodin. Santini's attorney claims they have a video of Vitt stealing drugs from the trainers locked pharmaceutical cabinet. I believe them. Also claimed in the lawsuit is that Saints' GM Mickey Loomis instructed the trainers to alter the 'controlled substance' logs required by the federal government. The DEA entered the fray, opening an investigation last fall. After looking into the background of Santini, CBSSports.com made it clear to me the Saints may have picked to wrong guy to try to discredit. Santini was the lead investigator & helped to bring down Louisiana governor Edwin Edwards in his bribery, mail & wire fraud, extortion & money laundering case. Edwards is still in prison. He busted a few Mafia guys in this case as well plus the former owner of the San Francisco 49ers, Eddie DeBartolo Jr. He was caught in the Edwards case, paying a cash bribe to Edwards in an attempt to get a gaming license back in 1998. DeBartolo plead guilty to bribery & it caused him to be excluded from the NFL Hall of Fame. I'm thinking this Santini guy is pretty damn good at putting people away, Loomis, Payton & Vitt may very well be in a lot of trouble.
Also in trouble is Hall of Fame linebacker Lawrence Taylor, arrested & charged today with the rape of a 16-year old girl. The former New York Giant great was arraigned this afternoon & just stared at the floor in the courtroom. This very sordid story involves an alleged call from Taylor to a New York pimp who brought the 16-year old runaway to Taylor's hotel room. After Taylor was thru with her, the pimp picked her up & proceeded to take her back into Manhattan. She texted her uncle during this trip & the NYPD responded. Just after midnight police took Taylor from his hotel room & into custody. I encountered Taylor twice while I worked in Vegas, neither was a positive experience. I heard the same & worse from others who had to deal with LT. This always bothered me, he had been one of my very favorite players of all time. I was so impressed with him at North Carolina, winning two bowl games, Taylor was unstoppable, he was the greatest college linebacker I can ever remember watching. He changed the pro game, the outside edge pass rusher with that ultra quick 1st step, recorded 142 sacks. Plus Taylor was dominant against the run as well. There's never been anyone better, possibly the greatest defensive player of all-time. Sadly his personal behavior was not hall of fame-like, it was more gutter trash-like. He did cocaine, was suspended twice by the NFL, he used & abused prostitutes regularly, he sent hookers to his opponents the night before games, Taylor was never known for his respect of women. He has been arrested three times trying to procure illegal drugs. Last night his wife was scheduled to go on CNN's Larry King to deny the charges against her husband, she was telling every media outlet yesterday afternoon "he was setup, he was framed." Right before airtime, she canceled the appearance. Scared of Larry King? God, the guy does nothing but lob softballs, framed as questions, to his guests. If these charges are proven to be true, I think he's burned his last bridge with most football fans, enough is enough.
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