New Orleans Saints OT Zach Strief wants teammates to take on siege mentality - NFL News
Just a few days after receiving some of the severest punishments ever given to a franchise, the New Orleans Saints are already going into a siege mentality.
The Saints were fined $ 500,000 for running an illegal bounty program in addition to losing all of their second round draft picks for two years.
Head coach, Sean Payton, was suspended for a year without pay for his refusal to clamp down on the program earlier and lying to National Football League (NFL) investigators by denying the existence of the bounties.
General manager, Mickey Loomis, and assistant coach Joe Vitt have also received suspensions for six games.
However, offensive tackle Zach Strief is sticking with his embattled coach and in an interview in Friday urged his teammates to put up a united front in face of the adversity.
"This season is going to take on an us-versus-the-world mentality. The perception at this point is not positive with us. We've worked very hard, to gain respect. That perception will go completely out the window now, and I think that'll be kind of a rallying
cry for us.”
He also wants the team to dedicate the season to their leaders.
"It will give us a chance to kind of come together closer than we've ever been and say, 'Look, nobody wants us to even win anymore, and we're going to win for each other, and for coach Payton and Mickey and the guys that essentially took this fall.' "
The Saints were running the bounty schemes for three years with the full knowledge of both Payton and Loomis who turned a blind eye.
The scheme involved only the defensive line of the team who were paid $ 1,000 to 1,500 out of a total pool of $ 50,000 to injure targeted opponents during games.
Defensive line captain Jonathan Vilma was also named in the report and was said to have offered $ 10,000 of his personal money to teammates who injured the then Minnesota Vikings quarterback Brett Favre during the 2009 National Football Conference (NFC)
Championship game.
Around 22 to 27 players were allegedly involved and the league is taking its time to come up with individual punishments for all who were involved.
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