We begin this morning with a headache of headaches for the New Orleans Saints, a story the team has fervently denied, but one that isn't going away unless the Drug Enforcement Administration makes it go away.
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.'' On Saturday, profootballtalk.com reported that coach Sean Payton is Senior Staff Member A, and assistant head coach Joe Vitt is Senior Staff Member B.
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. On Friday, the Saints said the lawsuit had no merit, and that Santini, in effect, had shopped the lawsuit to them before filing it. On Saturday, after the profootballtalk.com report, Payton said, "I have never abused or stolen Vicodin or any other medication.''
The allegations in Santini's suit, in essence, include these: Vitt had a medical problem that required the use of pain-killers and he was being prescribed Vicodin to help him deal with the condition; Payton didn't have a medical condition that required pain-killers but was using them. Additionally, Santini said Saints general manager Mickey Loomis covered up Payton's use of Vicodin while trying to protect Vitt from being prosecuted for stealing additional Vicodin...............
