Sean Payton addressed the media early Tuesday morning and handled himself well. Payton's decision not to address NFL owners and coaches in a meeting later in the morning, however, is drawing some criticism.
Saints Coach Sean Payton did not address a meeting of owners and coaches this morning. That raised a few eyebrows in the room.
- Judy Battista (@judybattista) March 27, 2012
I still think Payton's mea culpa would have done him more good if he had delivered it directly to NFL owners in Tuesday morning meeting.
- Don Banks (@DonBanks) March 27, 2012
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Payton's actions stand in contrast to Bill Belichick from a few years ago. The Patriots coach addressed the league's owners regarding SpyGate shortly after his boss, Robert Kraft, apologized for the affair.
It's possible that Payton didn't want to say anything that would jeopardize a possible appeal of his suspension, but that excuse is missing the point. Payton had a chance to address owners and peers about his role in one of the biggest scandals this sport has every seen. He passed. There is clearly some resentment within NFL circles about Payton's behavior.
"To some people around the league, Payton is reaping what he sowed," NFL.com's Steve Wyche wrote Tuesday. "Not so much for the bounty program, which the NFL found he knew about to some degree, but for doing things his way too often for a lot of people's liking."
Payton comes marching in to the beat of his own drummer quite often. That's one reason why the city of New Orleans loves him.
It is also one of the reasons Payton won't be allowed to coach in 2012.











