Saints Accused of Helping The Catholic Church Do Damage Control On Child Sexual Abuse

Originally posted by dj43:

Originally posted by Waterbear:

Originally posted by dj43:

Originally posted by Waterbear:
Maybe this thread should be moved to the parking lot. Not sure how you talk about this without talking about the Saints and the Catholic church as a whole.

Just my opinion idk.

Feel free to start a thread there if you want. My take is that it would go south rather quickly.

There is an angle that would make sense, that being the importance of guarding all the "soft areas" that are targeted by pedophiles. That would include all churches and schools. If it focused on only one area of religion, it would not serve well.

Even as someone as myself who isn't religious I think you can separate the two things. Just thought that maybe a thread that involves the church it would be hard to not speak about religion at all even in that attempt to differentiate and talk about this issue on the church's side.

If people stay on topic about just the Saints I see no issue as well. And regarding that... I think there should be severe punishment but I honestly doubt there will be any. Especially with this franchise and the whining they have done... they have adamantly expressed that they have been victimized by the league and I think that will be in play when the league decides how to punish or not punish them.

If the 49ers were caught doing this I honestly would be ashamed of being a fan and would want everyone involved banned for life.

What was actually done by the Saints still seems sketchy. However, if it is even close to aiding in the cover-up of illegal activities by the church group alleged in all this, Goodell would be hard-pressed not to come down hard on the Saints.

Unless he's a part of it too

Imagine if the Saints were in the Super Bowl with this news story going around. Yikes

Originally posted by smithgdwg:

Imagine if the Saints were in the Super Bowl with this news story going around. Yikes

Probably would get swept under the rug until proof emerged.T he nfl doesn't want that kind of publicity with a team entering the Super Bowl period I haven't seen espn or fox sports televise the story. Maybe they don't want to mislead people to thinking they actually did it before or if the emails are released, maybe the tragedy of Kobe is taking all the headlines.

Kinda reminds me of when Ray Lewis was caught using the deer antler spray steroid just before the 2012 Super Bowl to help heal his torn triceps. Quickly swept up as if nothing happened no investigation or penalty (Only a week or so till game day) as he road off into the sunset with his retirement ring and most viewing him the goat of mlbs

This is really disturbing! I grew up in a catholic school atmosphere and thankfully never encountered any abuse by the church leaders.

Originally posted by NJNiner:

This is really disturbing! I grew up in a catholic school atmosphere and thankfully never encountered any abuse by the church leaders.

Sounds like you were just an ugly kid.

Jk

Originally posted by tohara3:

Originally posted by Since07:
If they did do this I wonder how the players will feel about playing for an owner like that as well as having their name and even brand associated with the Saints

Agreed

The saint's PR guys gave free advice to the church on how to deal with the aftermath. It's not like they were hiding pedophiles in their locker room or smuggled them around the country on chartered flights to avoid prosecution. It doesn't even sound like they were advising the individual priests in question, but the ones trying to deal with the damage.

I'm not downplaying anything and I'm sure I'd be pissed as a player. Who wouldn't be? I'm sure Brees is pissed. I'm also sure this doesn't affect what I think about him as a player or person in the slightest.

Teams give huge contracts to players that beat their wives and girlfriends because money trumps morality in this league. That's a two way street imo. I really doubt the vast majority of pending FA will give this more than a few seconds of thought, if that. Money and whether Brees returns will be far bigger factors in their thinking.

Originally posted by TheGore49er:

Originally posted by NJNiner:
This is really disturbing! I grew up in a catholic school atmosphere and thankfully never encountered any abuse by the church leaders.

Sounds like you were just an ugly kid.

Jk

lol Either that or they were afraid of my dad.

Originally posted by Overkill:
The saint's PR guys gave free advice to the church on how to deal with the aftermath. It's not like they were hiding pedophiles in their locker room or smuggled them around the country on chartered flights to avoid prosecution. It doesn't even sound like they were advising the individual priests in question, but the ones trying to deal with the damage.

The thing that will provide traction for this, if that is to occur, is the reality that the Catholic Church has already paid out hundreds of millions of dollars to victims of sexual abuse by priests because it had been proven church officials were covering up what the priests had done. Hence, when Saints' PR guys provide expertise to help diffuse public ire about sexual abuse by priests, they become complicit in the cover-up action.

Originally posted by dj43:

Originally posted by Overkill:
The saint's PR guys gave free advice to the church on how to deal with the aftermath. It's not like they were hiding pedophiles in their locker room or smuggled them around the country on chartered flights to avoid prosecution. It doesn't even sound like they were advising the individual priests in question, but the ones trying to deal with the damage.

The thing that will provide traction for this, if that is to occur, is the reality that the Catholic Church has already paid out hundreds of millions of dollars to victims of sexual abuse by priests because it had been proven church officials were covering up what the priests had done. Hence, when Saints' PR guys provide expertise to help diffuse public ire about sexual abuse by priests, they become complicit in the cover-up action.

Bingo.

There was literally zero upside for the Saints to even talk to the Catholic church other than giving in to their personal religion.

NEVER mix religion and business.

Originally posted by okdkid:

Originally posted by dj43:

Originally posted by Overkill:
The saint's PR guys gave free advice to the church on how to deal with the aftermath. It's not like they were hiding pedophiles in their locker room or smuggled them around the country on chartered flights to avoid prosecution. It doesn't even sound like they were advising the individual priests in question, but the ones trying to deal with the damage.

The thing that will provide traction for this, if that is to occur, is the reality that the Catholic Church has already paid out hundreds of millions of dollars to victims of sexual abuse by priests because it had been proven church officials were covering up what the priests had done. Hence, when Saints' PR guys provide expertise to help diffuse public ire about sexual abuse by priests, they become complicit in the cover-up action.

Bingo.

There was literally zero upside for the Saints to even talk to the Catholic church other than giving in to their personal religion.

NEVER mix religion and business.

Agree there's no upside, and it's never a good idea to mix religion with anything. Trying to put a spin on systemic pedophilia will never be a good look for anyone or any organization. It's not a question of whether the Saints Organization did any damage to themselves, but rather the extent of the damage done.

The point I was addressing was whether the issue would taint the players. This won't impact how the public sees guys like Drew Brees or Cam Jordan. It also will play no meaningful role in their decisions to remain with the organization unless the emails show the PR guys did more than just damage control. Advising the church how best to get the word out on some charitable activity in an effort to shift the focus (for example) is not remotely the same as advising them on how best to deny the pedophilia issue was systemic, that there was ever an issue to begin with, or attempting to hide what they knew happened. Given everyone knew what happened by that point, I think it's obvious they weren't doing the latter.

And unless the emails show a directed effort to participate in covering up a crime, I very much doubt that either the Saints organization or the owners themselves will face any serious repercussions from Goodell.

Originally posted by Overkill:

Originally posted by okdkid:

Originally posted by dj43:

Originally posted by Overkill:
The saint's PR guys gave free advice to the church on how to deal with the aftermath. It's not like they were hiding pedophiles in their locker room or smuggled them around the country on chartered flights to avoid prosecution. It doesn't even sound like they were advising the individual priests in question, but the ones trying to deal with the damage.

The thing that will provide traction for this, if that is to occur, is the reality that the Catholic Church has already paid out hundreds of millions of dollars to victims of sexual abuse by priests because it had been proven church officials were covering up what the priests had done. Hence, when Saints' PR guys provide expertise to help diffuse public ire about sexual abuse by priests, they become complicit in the cover-up action.

Bingo.

There was literally zero upside for the Saints to even talk to the Catholic church other than giving in to their personal religion.

NEVER mix religion and business.

Agree there's no upside, and it's never a good idea to mix religion with anything. Trying to put a spin on systemic pedophilia will never be a good look for anyone or any organization. It's not a question of whether the Saints Organization did any damage to themselves, but rather the extent of the damage done.

The point I was addressing was whether the issue would taint the players. This won't impact how the public sees guys like Drew Brees or Cam Jordan. It also will play no meaningful role in their decisions to remain with the organization unless the emails show the PR guys did more than just damage control. Advising the church how best to get the word out on some charitable activity in an effort to shift the focus (for example) is not remotely the same as advising them on how best to deny the pedophilia issue was systemic, that there was ever an issue to begin with, or attempting to hide what they knew happened. Given everyone knew what happened by that point, I think it's obvious they weren't doing the latter.

And unless the emails show a directed effort to participate in covering up a crime, I very much doubt that either the Saints organization or the owners themselves will face any serious repercussions from Goodell.

From the somewhat limited reports so far, it appears the Saints, at the direction of Mrs Benson, a long-time contributor to Catholic activities in the area, made their staff available to the diocese to phrase things in the best light possible given the fact the primary perpetrator was clearly guilty of decades of sexual abuse of children.

It isn't about mixing religion and business. It just so happens this involved a religious organization, however, it would be the same problem if an alumni group acted to cover-up long-term abuse by a school or university. Oh wait...

Originally posted by dj43:
From the somewhat limited reports so far, it appears the Saints, at the direction of Mrs Benson, a long-time contributor to Catholic activities in the area, made their staff available to the diocese to phrase things in the best light possible given the fact the primary perpetrator was clearly guilty of decades of sexual abuse of children.

It isn't about mixing religion and business. It just so happens this involved a religious organization, however, it would be the same problem if an alumni group acted to cover-up long-term abuse by a school or university. Oh wait...

Actually, it's worse than that according to the latest reports. The emails apparently show the Saints were advising the diocese on how to get the names of some of these guys off the list of pedophiles they needed to publish. That changes things. That's a fair bit beyond what normal people would consider damage control, if true.

Originally posted by Since07:

Originally posted by smithgdwg:

Imagine if the Saints were in the Super Bowl with this news story going around. Yikes

Probably would get swept under the rug until proof emerged.T he nfl doesn't want that kind of publicity with a team entering the Super Bowl period I haven't seen espn or fox sports televise the story. Maybe they don't want to mislead people to thinking they actually did it before or if the emails are released, maybe the tragedy of Kobe is taking all the headlines.

Kinda reminds me of when Ray Lewis was caught using the deer antler spray steroid just before the 2012 Super Bowl to help heal his torn triceps. Quickly swept up as if nothing happened no investigation or penalty (Only a week or so till game day) as he road off into the sunset with his retirement ring and most viewing him the goat of mlbs

Honestly I thought there would be more out about this given the magnitude but I really haven't heard about it much. Does seem like the nfl is trying to sweep it under the rug.

Originally posted by Jaci:

Originally posted by Since07:

Originally posted by smithgdwg:

Imagine if the Saints were in the Super Bowl with this news story going around. Yikes

Probably would get swept under the rug until proof emerged.T he nfl doesn't want that kind of publicity with a team entering the Super Bowl period I haven't seen espn or fox sports televise the story. Maybe they don't want to mislead people to thinking they actually did it before or if the emails are released, maybe the tragedy of Kobe is taking all the headlines.

Kinda reminds me of when Ray Lewis was caught using the deer antler spray steroid just before the 2012 Super Bowl to help heal his torn triceps. Quickly swept up as if nothing happened no investigation or penalty (Only a week or so till game day) as he road off into the sunset with his retirement ring and most viewing him the goat of mlbs

Honestly I thought there would be more out about this given the magnitude but I really haven't heard about it much. Does seem like the nfl is trying to sweep it under the rug.

Getting by the Super Bowl first.

Originally posted by Strwy2Hevn:

Getting by the Super Bowl first.

Don't see them televising it 2 weeks late that would look bad, they are keeping it under wraps until those emails are released. Honestly that's the way it should be this is a disgusting accusation