Words without ink: New Orleans Saints quarterback Drew Brees was no longer putting any kind of optimistic spin on his lingering contract standoff with the Saints on Wednesday, telling WWL radio that the process has been “extremely frustrating.” The Times-Picayune reports Brees also ratcheted up the pressure on the Saints, suggesting that the “lack of communication” with the organization has been his biggest disappointment. “There’s always a back-and-forth when it comes to these negotiations. But I know we’ve reached out on quite a few occasions. And at times I know I’ve been frustrated with the lack of response,” Brees says in the radio interview. “I would just say, there should be a sense of urgency, and yet it seems like there’s not.” Read the full story here.
Busted down on Bourbon Street: Brian Downing, the Alabama fan seen on a video apparently committing sexual battery on an unconscious LSU fan after the BCS championship football game, has been indicted. An Orleans Parish grand jury today handed down the indictment against the 32-year-old Downing, formally charging him with one count each of sexual battery of a male victim and obscenity. A video that went viral on the Internet is believed to have been taken at the Krystal hamburger restaurant on Bourbon Street in New Orleans after Alabama defeated LSU on Jan. 9. A man—said to be Downing, of Smiths Station, Ala.—wearing Crimson Tide attire appears to expose himself and perform a simulated sex act on the LSU fan. The court set a bond in the amount of $50,000.
Now it’s personal: Suspended Saints linebacker Jonathan Vilma has filed a defamation lawsuit against NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell. The lawsuit filed today in U.S. District Court in New Orleans claims Goodell has made false statements about Vilma while discussing the NFL’s bounty investigation of the New Orleans Saints. Goodell has said Vilma was a leader of the team’s bounty program and put up thousands of dollars for bounties on opposing team’s star players, including on then-Arizona quarterback Kurt Warner and then-Minnesota quarterback Brett Favre during the 2009-10 playoffs. Goodell has also suspended Vilma for the entire season. Vilma and three other players who received shorter suspensions all have appealed their punishments. Vilma denies putting up money to knock any player out of a game. His lawsuit asks for unspecified monetary damages.
