The New Orleans Saints season was capped off against the Atlanta Falcons, where WWL host Newell Normand said the team disrespected the entire city and all its fans.
And Normand was fired up. He went so far as to say after the way the team cheapened the game, fans shouldn't 'go too hog wild' when one of the same players gets injured.
"How many times have you seen fights break out in the aftermath of a victory formation after they think someone took a cheap shot?" Normand asked. Then he answered himself, saying, "Almost every week."
In this case, Normand says the players didn't just disrespect Dennis Allen, they also disrespected themselves and each other. The goal of a victory formation is ensuring the safety of players and indicating that was happening and then doing something else.
"What's next?" Normand asked. "The players on the Saints team, they've cheapened and diminished the value of this sportsmanlike protocol ... They actually made fools of themselves."
Normand asked if the next thing they'll do is hold out a hand to help up another player and then let go so they fall. "Is there any doubt that this is a business," he added, "And if those in middle management or front line decided they needed to make a fellow employee look good and do something contrary to management each and every day, how does that company survive?"
He added that if they did work for corporate America instead of for the NFL, they would be 'in the unemployment line.'
The Saints coach apologized on the field to Falcons coach Arthur Smith — who did not appear to accept that apology initially, the AP reported. Allen then explained during postgame interviews that Saints coaches called for the offense to run out the clock, but they were overruled by the players on the field.
“They did that on their own. That’s not acceptable,” Allen said, adding that Smith “should be” upset about it.
