There's A Flag On The Play

How far have the New Orleans Saints fallen since their historic Super Bowl win 3 years ago?  Ask fan David Mancina, who is suing the Saints organization for five million bucks.

In a class action lawsuit filed this week, first spotted by The Times-Picayune, Mancina calls for other Saints fans to join in free of charge to pursue a claim against the National Football League and league commissioner Roger Goodell for their roles in the suspension of several top players and members of the team’s management staff, including the head coach and general manager.

The NFL said earlier this year that the Saints had a “bounty” program that paid financial rewards to players who injured certain opponents. Defensive players were given $1,000 bonuses delivering a hit to an opponent that got him carted off the field and $1,500 if the injury was game-ending.

Four players were suspended along with members of management, and though Goodell reduced two of the players’ sentences, he said last week that he supports the league’s decision.

“Our investigation disclosed nearly two dozen players who either contributed to, or received money from, the pool operated by the Saints’ defense,” he told reporters on Tuesday, October 9. “The four disciplined players either were involved in specific bounties on an opposing player, contributed substantially to the bounty program, engaged in payments that violated League rules or were untruthful when the program was initially investigated.”

That didn’t quite wash for Mancina, a season ticket holder. He told ABC News affiliate WGNO in New Orleans on Tuesday that the league has a responsibility to inform people like him that it may suspend players and coaches at will.

“The NFL was not up front when I bought my tickets,” he said. “It’d be like buying tickets to go see ‘The Rolling Stones’ in February for a performance in the fall, and Mic Jagger’s not there.”

That seems like the suit will get dismissed out of hand, but something tells me it won't be the last time we'll see fans sue organizations like this, especially if behavior is bad enough to warrant suspensions like the Saints were slapped with after Bountygate in the off-season.

Who knows?  This guy's suit might actually go somewhere.