Saints GM Mickey Loomis: master spy AND bounty hunter?
There is very little that the NFL takes more seriously than espionage. For whatever reason, they do not want officials from the teams spying on players, coaches, and organizations of other teams. The Patriots were heavily fined and punished for Spygate. Former Denver coach Josh McDaniels was fired over Spygate II. Enter Spygate III. Saints GM Mickey Loomis is accused of having a device in his luxury box that allowed him to spy on opposing coaches.
Some GMs have a radio in their luxury suites or offices that allow them to listen in on their own coaches on the sideline. Apparently, Mickey Loomis is accused of having his radio rewired to listen in on not his own coaches, but opposing coaches. This lasted for his first three seasons with the team, from 2002-04, and the device was removed in 2005. He’d plug a headset into the jack on his desk and be able to monitor various communication devices used on the field and observe the operations of others. Granted, that might not be much of an advantage to a GM, but I imagine every little bit helps.
Here’s where things get tricky. Mickey Loomis has already been suspended for 8 games over the Saints’ bounty program. This little infraction just might get him banned for the entire season, and a team without a GM is pretty much helpless. Odds are the Saints are going to be fined heavily for this one, too. They may even lose some draft picks. In fact, all these things should happen, if only because the Patriots lost two years’ worth of picks over Spygate. There needs to be a message sent over this: if you’re going to spy, don’t do it.
Tags: new orleans, louisiana, new orleans saints, saints gm mickey loomis, general manager mickey loomis, saints general manager, spying, radio microphones, superdome, new orleans superdome, saints gm accused of spying, mickey loomis, mickey loomis spying, football, sports, professional football, nfl football, spygage
