New Orleans Saints defence players ready for 2012-13 season, will keep Gregg Williams intensity alive - NFL News
New Orleans Saints will face a rough season in 2012-13 as the full impact of the bounty scandal punishments is likely to take its toll on the franchise.
Most heavily affected by the scandal will be the defensive roster that ran the illegal bounty programme for three years.
The National Football League (NFL) came down hard on the Saints defence after it was revealed that the players ran a pay-to-injure system under the guidance of former defensive coordinator, Gregg Williams.
This led NFL commissioner, Roger Goodell, to suspend the Saints defence captain, Jonathan Vilma for an entire season while defensive end, Will Smith received a four-game ban after both were alleged to have played leadership roles in the scandal.
However, Saints players are not ready to throw in the towel yet and have rallied around their new defensive coordinator, Steve Spagnuolo, as they prepare to surprise franchises who might think the Saints will be easy pickings after the scandal.
Speaking to the New Orleans Times-Picayune, Saints safety, Roman Harper praised the new coordinator who arrived just after winning the Super Bowl with the New York Giants.
"He speaks with so much confidence, you have nothing to do but believe in this guy and know he's going to be great for us,"
Adding further he said.
"He's been a head coach in this league, had a lot of success as a defensive coordinator, and you've got to respect this guy. I'm looking forward to working with him more and more."
The Saints have developed an us-against-them mentality after the bounty punishments and Harper said that the defence will keep their former coordinator Williams’ intensity alive in the dressing room.
"You know, Gregg lit a fire that a lot of us aren't going to let burn out. A sense of intensity and now we understand what it takes to win. We know what it takes to get there. And that's what we're trying to do now.”
It will be interesting to see how the Saints defence cope with the loss of two of their best players.
The Saints players were not the only ones to be suspended as head coach, Sean Payton also received a season long ban while general manager, Mickey Loomis is suspended for eight games and current interim head coach, Joe Vitt will not be able to lead the team
for the first six games.
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