The idea of "bad blood" between division rivals is often little more than a media-driven fantasy. But not always.
Take, for instance, the Atlanta Falcons and New Orleans Saints, two teams that seem to genuinely dislike each other.
Saints linebacker Scott Shanle told Yahoo! Sports' Michael Silver that two Falcons players purposely walked through the Saints' pregame warm-up routine on Sunday to taunt linebacker Curtis Lofton, who left the Falcons for the Saints in free agency in March.
The two Falcons players were linebacker Sean Weatherspoon and defensive tackle Jonathan Babineaux, according to ESPN. Lofton reportedly ignored the taunts.
"They were talking (crap) to our guy Curtis Lofton," Shanle told Silver on Sunday night. "I couldn't even understand them. They were just walking all over our drills trying to mess with him. (Jonathan) Vilma went and told their coach it was classless and they didn't even say anything. It set the tone for the day. It was classless and they got what they deserved."
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The Falcons, who entered Sunday at 8-0, lost 31-27 in a game that reinforced the Saints' dominance in this rivalry since 2006. Shanle said the Saints "own" the Falcons, calling them their "little brothers."
Saints linebacker Jonathan Vilma told ESPN on Tuesday that "the Falcons acted like the baddest, toughest team in the league." He said a Falcons assistant coach "stood there smiling" when he asked him to move the Atlanta players from New Orleans' warm-up area.
ESPN cited a source in reporting Falcons coach Mike Smith does not plan to address the accusations.
Follow Dan Hanzus on Twitter @danhanzus.
