11 comments MMQB Review: Who Dat Who Steal Drugs? Edition

Another Monday, another MMQB. It is what we look forward to all weekend. Getting to hear Peter King's Monday morning proclamations and complaints about the world. Last week it was all about the NFL Draft and we didn't get to hear too much about what terrible things Peter had to endure while traveling or what thoughts he had about the current baseball season. Today, Peter kicks off his long-awaited MMQB with the revelation that the answer to "Who Dat?" may be...dey are people who steal Vicodin. No wonder Sean Payton was so giddy after the Super Bowl victory, he was taking some Favre vitamins.

The story involves the dispensation and alleged theft of 130 Vicodin tablets from the Saints' drug locker at the team's offices and training facility in New Orleans over a four-month period early in 2009. A lawsuit filed by discharged former Saints' security director Geoffrey Santini, a former FBI agent, describes the recipients of the Vicodin as "Senior Staff Member A'' and "Senior Staff Member B,'' and profootballtalk.com reported Saturday that coach Sean Payton is Senior Staff Member A, with assistant head coach Joe Vitt Senior Staff Member B.

Somewhere Jerry Jones is laughing and telling everyone that Sean Payton should never have drank that bottle of wine Jones reserved a few months ago. Bad things happen to people who cross Jerry Jones.

I am also 97.3% sure Bill Polian had something to do with this also. You can't mess with those two guys.

I've read the 13-page lawsuit, filed Friday in Jefferson Parish, Louisiana. Mike Florio of profootballtalk.com reported that Santini sought a $2 million settlement to not file the suit last week and the Saints didn't respond. I'm told the Saints turned over all evidence in the case to the DEA in June and have been waiting for a decision in the case ever since.

By the way, if anyone wonders if this has been a slow NFL news week, this was the most important story of the week that led off Peter King's MMQB.

On Saturday, after the profootballtalk.com report, Payton said, "I have never abused or stolen Vicodin or any other medication.''

He did steal the hearts of the New Orleans people though. That has to count for something.

The lawsuit makes it clear that in January through April 2009, a theft of approximately 110 Vicodin tablets occurred from the drug locker. Santini's suit says Loomis directed that a hidden camera be installed in the trainer's room, so any further theft of Vicodin could be captured on video.

On the morning of April 30, 2009, according to the suit, Santini was informed that eight pills were missing from a Vicodin bottle of 100 pills. The videotape showed Senior Staff Member B -- Vitt -- using the keys from trainer Scottie Patton's office to open the drug locker and take eight pills from a bottle of Vicodin.

In Vitt's defense, the Saints did feel like they had to numb the city's pain after Hurricane Katrina. Perhaps he thought the best way to do this was to use Vicodin.

Plaintiff told Loomis the event should be reported and without copying the video it would eventually be overwritten by the recording equipment and erased. Loomis told the Plaintiff to 'let it go,' in effect instructing the Plaintiff to allow the destruction of evidence of a felony. Plaintiff then told GM Loomis that the crime should be reported, and he [Loomis] stated "this is not a criminal investigation.'' GM Loomis left plaintiff's office and plaintiff made a copy of the video onto a video cassette.''

Who cares if Loomis covered up a felony? Remember that onside kick Sean Payton called? Man, that was gutsy! The Saints are gutsy, what a Super Bowl! Let's focus on that.

Payton's involvement in the case seems almost tangential. Most of the accusations concern Vitt allegedly stealing the Vicodin and Santini describing Loomis trying to cover it up. On page six of the suit, Santini asks Mangum, referring to Payton, "How are they going to explain [SSMA]?''

"He's stopped,'' Mangum said, according to the suit. "Somebody has talked to him.''

This isn't really exciting NFL news and other than the fact Sean Payton is mentioned as having stolen Vicodin there isn't too many people involved the average fan has heard of. I would be shocked if this was the first time something like this has happened and even more shocked if this was the last time something like this will ever happen.

"Mickey is adamant he did nothing wrong,'' said a source close to the Saints. "Sean is beside himself -- he swears this is a trumped-up charge.''

Every Saints fan this morning -- and a nation charmed by the improbable story of the Super Bowl Saints -- has to hope the same thing.

I didn't mean to act like I had been charmed by the Saints...I wasn't. The only charming for me about the Saints would have been if they had not won the Super Bowl and my favorite NFL team had. They never charmed me, and I am not deluded enough to think the fact they won a Super Bowl means everything is fine after Hurricane Katrina. I don't care if it is a trumped up charge. Sean Payton has been acting kind of cocky since he won the Super Bowl, so it may just be karma if this turns out to be true.

Look up the retiring punter's bio and the thing that jumps out is this: the number 22. From 1988, when he entered the league as a free-agent punter making $52,000 with Raymond Berry's Patriots (Steve Grogan and Russ Francis were teammates), Feagles played every game for 22 consecutive seasons. That's 352 straight games played, an NFL record. I don't care if you're a snapper or a ballboy; to never have a tweaked hamstring or suffered a bum back in 22 years and to play every game is amazing.

I do care if you are a snapper, ballboy or punter. It is interesting that Jeff Feagles played every game in 22 years in the league, but it is not nearly as amazing if he did this by playing a position that actually required physical contact and him being on the field for more than a maximum of 5-6 plays per game. There is a huge difference in any other position player having played in 22 straight games and a punter having done that. Brett Favre/Peyton Manning's streaks are much more amazing in my mind.

I've come into possession of the letter sent by the attorney for Ben Roethlisberger, David Cornwell, to the commissioner after Roger Goodell met with Roethlisberger in April and before Goodell issued his sanction against the Steeler quarterback for his loutish behavior.

This is the 4th leading story in Peter's MMQB. It was a slow NFL news week. Didn't an NFL player run over someone or get arrested? So far we have drug theft, Peter honoring punters and a letter...that Peter is going to type of VERBATIM to kill some space.

Though I could not have predicted these specifics, I am not surprised that Ben is dealing with a challenge of personal development. His passion for football and the remarkable success resulting from his commitment to the game necessarily means that he has compromised his development in other areas. No person has unlimited capacity.

If David Cornwell is somehow saying that a person can't be a good person AND good at his/her job simultaneously, then that is bullshit. It can be done. This would be one of the weakest excuses for Ben Roethlisberger's behavior I have heard so far. It is fine that he works hard at football, but this isn't a good reason why he didn't develop enough as a person in other fashions. He is a three dimensional person, not a character on a television show.

Ben bears exclusive responsibility for the consequences of his choices, but that does not mean that these particular consequences were foreseeable. Whether it is in the privacy of a hotel room or in the more risky environment of a semi-public restroom, a false allegation of rape simply is not within the zone of the foreseeable consequences of consensual sex.

How could anyone have known this would potentially happen? Other than the fact Roethlisberger was accused of the exact same thing a few months ago in Las Vegas, Kobe Bryant had a similar situation happen to him very publicly, and Mike Tyson went to jail because he was accused of rape? Other than the situation that happened to him and these two other high profile cases, HOW WAS BEN ROETHLISBERGER TO KNOW HE COULDN'T LOCK HIMSELF IN A BATHROOM AND TRY TO CONVINCE A DRUNK GIRL TO HAVE SEX WITH HIM?

Who could have predicted this could go wrong?

The difficulty that Ben had in articulating a distinction between the risks associated with private and semi-public sex is the product of the undeniable similarity between the Reno and Georgia accusations, even though one event occurred in the privacy of Ben's hotel room and the other in a semi-public bathroom.

It wasn't a "semi-public bathroom," it was in a bar which is a very public bathroom. It was made semi-public by Roethlisberger's bodyguards outside the door refusing to let others enter.

I trust Ben's private conversation with you gave you a glimpse into the difficulty he had in distinguishing who he is from what he does.

I love the attempt to differentiate between "who Ben is" and "what Ben does." It is as if Cornwell needs us to believe there is some other part of Ben Roethlisberger who takes actions he can't control, and these actions aren't representative of who he truly is.

Postscript: Goodell six days later suspended Roethlisberger for a minimum of four and a maximum of six games, and ordered him to undergo counseling after a comprehensive behavioral evaluation, banning him from team activities until counselors allow him to rejoin the team. The evaluation is likely to be done soon, but there's no telling when he'll be able to return to work with his teammates.

This is all we need to know from the counseling...Ben Roethlisberger is wealthy and famous. He likes to have sex with women and from his prior experience knows women like to have sex with him.

Armenti Edwards, second-round Carolina wideout. After a tough first day of NFL receiver work Friday, the converted Appalachian State quarterback (you'll recall he beat fifth-ranked Michigan at the Big House with three touchdown passes and one rushing in 2007) starred Saturday, making a couple of one-handed catches, one from fellow rookie Tony Pike. There's going to be pressure on Edwards to play a big role and to play it early after the Panther dealt a 2011 second-round pick for the third-rounder they used to choose him.

First off it is "Armanti" Edwards, but I guess you would have to follow the NFL to know that...wait, Peter DOES follow the NFL, in that case he needs to spell better. There is no pressure on Edwards to play a big role and the Panthers consider this year as a sort of red-shirt year for him. Unless what they have been saying publicly is all bullshit.

LenDale White, Seattle running back. He weighed 218 over the weekend, down from the high 230s, and coach Pete Carroll, who had him at USC, said, "I don't think he was that light when we recruited him.''

Everyone ready for a LenDale White contract year-type explosion followed by a contract extension/huge contract and him ballooning up to 280 pounds? I know that I am. Ok, maybe he won't do that for sure, but I wouldn't rule it out.

Trent Williams, first-round Washington tackle. There's a scarlet "W'' on the chest of Williams now (for "work ethic'') after Oklahoma's strength coach told the Washington Post that Williams was "definitely not a gym rat ... There's a lot of talent there he just hasn't tapped.'' The Redskins surely plan to start Williams, likely at left tackle, and he'll make his debut in camp this weekend. With what follows him from Oklahoma, he'll have to work harder than he did there.

I know we talked about how Williams fits in with what offense Mike Shanahan runs, but I still have some concerns about the Williams over Okung pick. I didn't even know that Williams wasn't considered a hard-worker at Oklahoma. Of course, it may not matter if he is just good at left tackle no matter how hard he works.

We've added a couple of perks to the football event of the spring in New England: the New England Locker Room Luncheon, benefiting the Matt Light Foundation (www.mattlight72.com) and the Greater Boston Food Bank (www.gbfb.org).

We're also throwing in three perks (well, the first two are perks, and the third -- well, you decide)

3. One lunch guest will get me, after visiting 21 training camps this summer, as his or her personal fantasy-football consultant. I'll either go with you to your draft, or I'll talk you through your draft before you go in.

Right, because the biggest perk is to get a sportswriter who doesn't claim to be a fantasy football expert giving out advice to you on fantasy football.

Here's the top 10 running backs in tackles broken in 2009:

9. Fred Jackson, Buffalo, 35

Buffalo drafted a running back with the #9 pick. Again, there wasn't a better use for that pick available...like using it at any other position? Fred Jackson obviously could have manned that position for another year, I don't care how good C.J. Spiller may be. Fred Jackson was 9th according to footballoutsiders.com. This has to be some indication he is a decent running back, so I don't get why the Bills drafted over him in a way.

"I agree.''
-- Jacksonville rookie defensive lineman Tyson Alualu, told at Jaguar rookie mini-camp that the perception in the football world is that he was one of the biggest reaches in the draft, from a story by AOL Fanhouse's Chris Harry.

I appreciate modesty, but I can't help but think it is a bad thing when a football player thinks the team that drafted him "reached" for him.

Now this is good hotel care: Last Tuesday night, I checked into the Renaissance New York Hotel 57 in midtown Manhattan for one night. (Had some meetings in the city on Wednesday.) I got the key card at the front desk and elevatored up the room. The bed in the room was made, but the rest of the room was dirty. So I called the front desk and asked if they could either clean the room or move me to another room.

Two minutes later, a bellman came up and handed me a key to room 500. Meant nothing to me. "I'm sure you'll like this room,'' the bellman said with a smile. So I went to room 500, a corner suite overlooking Lexington Avenue and East 57th Street, at least 2.5 times the size of the other room, with a nice desk and sitting room. Whoa! The other room wasn't that messy. You've got my business for a long time now, Mr. Marriott.

I like how Peter tries to pretend his whining in MMQB isn't designed to get cool shit like this from a hotel. He tells stories of bad service and then tries to be like a diva and actually boycott an entire hotel chain because of one bad visit, but acts like this isn't all designed to get major upgrades like this. The Mariott isn't stupid, they don't want him whining in his MMQB about a dirty room. They will do what it takes to get on his good side.

1. I think the Bears have a underrated group of receivers, with Devin Aromashodu particularly on the verge of hitting it big. The group doesn't worry me the way it worries some Chicagoans. But Mike Martz sounds a little like Sparky Anderson saying Chris Pittaro is the next Pete Rose (remember?) when he says the receivers will be the strength of the Bears this year, and "you can put that in granite.'' Yikes.

So Peter thinks the Chicago group is underrated, yet he thinks Mike Martz is getting ahead of himself by saying the receivers will be the strength of the team and to be put in granite. Sounds like Martz is a little more confident than Peter King about his own predictions.

3. I think the Brett Favre ankle-surgery story from the other day will have little to do with whether he plays this season, the same way something I heard the other day will have little to do with whether he plays.

I think the best point I have heard about Favre came from (of all people) Mike Lupica. He said that Favre comes out and tells us about a surgery he needs to come back for this upcoming season, but also says he doesn't need it to play this season. So why is he telling us about minor surgeries that all players have in the offseason? If it isn't going to affect his status for the upcoming season, why announce the injury?

An NFL player who knows the quarterback well told me Favre said to him after the season, "I'm 100 percent positive I'll never put on pads again in my life.''

I've said a couple of things as a Favre-watcher this offseason: I'm finished predicting what he'll do, because I've been wrong every time I've predicted recently. And if I had to go to Vegas, based on the long emotional scene with several teammates and coaches in the locker room after the NFC Championship Game loss to the Saints, I'd bet he'd play this fall. He loves that team. But please, keep your money in your pocket. That's where mine is staying.

How about we don't ever talk about Brett Favre and him retiring/unretiring until he has made a decision? Can we just ignore him until that time? He is going to have the surgery last minute and then, whoops, miss training camp again. It is all a ruse to get out of training camp.

7. I think my money's on Bud Adams in the Chris Johnson/Titans contract stalemate. Bud hates big-money contracts. Hates 'em. He particularly hates big-money contracts paid to young players after two years.

What a non-bold call. My money is on Bud Adams too. The NFL doesn't have a CBA so we don't know anything about the salary cap and Titans aren't about to give him a new contract with no knowledge of the NFL's salary cap (if there is one), Chris Johnson has to play this year or sit out this year which would hurt him pretty badly in the future and is really not an option, and there is absolutely no reason the Titans would give him a new contract right now overall. So no one should have their money on Chris Johnson in this case.

a. Our prayers, thoughts, karma are with you, Gulf Coast people dealing with the oil spill. What an unending nightmare it is for all of you, careening from one disaster to the next.

I don't want to come off as sounding insensitive, I really don't, but people who live on the Gulf Coast know they live near an area where hurricanes hit and water-based accidents. This is something they should know and they do know. I am sure they may not want sympathy. It doesn't make it any easier and no one deserves this type stuff, but if you live near the Gulf Coast hurricanes and natural/non-natural disasters happen. I am pretty sure the people who live there know this and don't need to be felt sorry for.

h. While my rotisserie team languishes in 13th place in a 12-team league (that's what it feels like, anyway), I'd like to thank the Los Angeles Dodgers, and Jonathan Broxton in particular. I broke the dam in my league and picked the first reliever in the draft. Broxton. He was the guy all the RotoWorlds of the internet told me to pick first, and so I did.

I know this is baseball and Peter covers football, but that person who wins Peter as his own fantasy football consultant is going to end up last in his league. I have no doubt about this.

i. Re Philip Rivers: Mea culpa time in one parting football thought. Last week, I said Rivers was "full of himself'' when discussing a quarterback who has been accused of the same hubris, Jimmy Clausen. I got called on it, rightfully.

Oh no, Philip Rivers is full of himself. Make no mistake about that. I heard stories from N.C. State about his opinion of himself on that campus.

Rivers is a confident guy who sometimes lets his emotions run away on the field, but it's not fair to call a good leader, one who's admired in his locker room and with a good human base, "full of himself.''

You can be a good leader and have a good human base (whatever that is) and still be full of yourself.

It was a pretty slow week for the NFL this past week and I already miss the NFL Draft discussions. Maybe an NFL player will create some news this week.