NFL deserving of criticism, scrutiny with regard to Saints

In the matter of public law and presiding over cases involving those who they may have a relationship with, judges most often recuse themselves.

The same is true of prosecuting attorneys, defense lawyers and public defenders.

Conflicts of interest are always an issue when it comes to assigning people to a particular entity or in the actual participation of judging those you know or to whom you may have any kind of allegiance.

That the NFL would deem a former player to a game involving the team that player once played for is puzzling, problematic, even a bit preposterous.

As Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk reported, the league did just that, subbing Phil McKinnely as the down judge for the Saints’ game at Atlanta last Thursday night.

We all know what transpired in the game. Whether McKinnely had the responsibility in any of the calls that were deemed questionable, if not objectionable against the Saints, is irrelevant.

What is particularly strange is that McKinnely was not even part of Clete Blakeman’s crew, which worked the game. McKinnely works on Bill Vinovich’s crew.

McKinnely played for the Atlanta Falcons for five seasons from 1976-1980, during the era of Big Ben and Grover Klemmer nightmares for the Saints.

It is clear that the Saints are the biggest rival of the Falcons and vice versa. Anyone who has ever played in the series would understand the competitive, heated nature of the rivalry. Ask Morten Andersen. Ask Bobby Hebert.

To avoid any aspect of impropriety, shouldn’t it be easy to prevent any former player from being involved in officiating a game involving his former team or teams? After all, there are not many former players officiating in the NFL.

My first thought when I saw the story was of Bernie Fryer.

A former player, Fryer had a short stint in professional basketball, spending one year with the Portland Trail Blazers and one year with the New Orleans Jazz.

Fryer went on to serve as a referee in the NBA from 1978-2007. He frequently had Portland games and New Orleans Hornets games. I am sure he had some Utah Jazz assignments. Fryer is now the Vice President and Director of Officials for the league, a position he has held since 2008.

Of course, Fryer had little or no allegiance to those teams, having spent such little time with them. Additionally, the New Orleans Hornets had no attachment to the New Orleans Jazz.

How hard can it be to avoid this obvious potential conflict of interest? That is a rhetorical question. This was simply a poor job by the league.

As a native of New Orleans, having lived in the New Orleans area all of my life, as someone who worked selling ice cream at Saints games, attended Saints games, covered the team since 1978 and served a broadcaster for the team and running the Saints Hall of Fame, it is easy for my view of this to be jaded.

As a professional journalist looking at the situation in unbiased fashion as I strive to do daily, it would appear to have simply been an oversight, a mistake to assign McKinnely to such a big game involving a team he spent significant time with against its most hated rival, at least from my media-based perspective.

I do not know McKinnely. He is likely very good at his job and most likely a good person and a man with integrity. Officials are the integrity of any game. They are also human, bound to have some built in prejudices, as we all do, whether we are willing to admit it or not. Some overcome that aspect of their character and conduct themselves in admirable, often superb fashion. Others are not so good in doing so.

Speaking of integrity, there is the matter of the NFL hiring former Saints defensive assistant Mike Cerullo.

I do not know Cerullo and have nothing against him on a personal level.

I do know that he was deemed a subpar employee and summarily dismissed by Sean Payton and the Saints after the 2009 season, the most successful and storied season in franchise history. To get let go in the midst of a Super Bowl championship season is duly noted, eye opening. Coaches typically get extensions in the midst of such success.

Payton expressed his feelings publicly via Twitter, though that tweet is no longer available. Mike Triplett of ESPN.com, who reported the story, included the tweet in what he published.

Regardless of what is stated publicly, people are fallible. We all are. My faith teaches me that we are all sinners saved by grace. We all make mistakes. The key is to not repeat them, to turn away from improper behavior and actions and to not repeat those offenses again.

Cerullo was jilted, for whatever reasons. The Saints had every right to do that.

While the Saints did many things wrong over a period of time, it is notable that Paul Tagliabue basically overturned the harsh convictions Roger Goodell placed on the Saints across the board in the most severe suspensions any one organization has ever incurred in NFL history as a result of “Bountygate.” The punishment doled out by Goodell was stunning. You could not help but at least think on some level that it was personal.

I thought we were long done with “Bountygate” term and that dark period in Saints history. We were until the NFL made another head scratching, peculiar move to hire the guy who became a whistleblower against the Saints.

Regardless of whether Cerullo’s accusations were accurate, somewhat accurate or largely or totally inaccurate, the NFL and Goodell placed credence on what he had to say. Regardless of whether he was truthful or not, Cerullo should not be hired by the NFL, based on his obvious bias against the Saints, Payton and Mickey Loomis. He should not have been hired based on what Tagliabue concluded. The Saints are a paying, contributing member of the league, one who apparently engenders marginal, even little respect from the hierarchy of the league they belong to.

I am not a conspiracy theorist but what does all of this say about the league and its relationship and feelings about the Saints? You can judge for yourself and there is no need to recuse yourself from this case.