The Symbolism of the 2012 Saints: The Next "Eff You" Season?

Sean Payton will still watch over the Saints this season. Is that a good thing?

Due to his role in the bounty scandal, Sean Payton has been banished from all Saints facilities for the 2012 NFL season. However, the brass in New Orleans is ensuring that he won't be forgotten. When Saints players arrived at the practice facility this weekend, they found a giant banner of their coach hanging above them. Going one step further, the Saints coaches will reserve an open seat for him in all team meetings and on every plane and bus during road trips. Is this a fond gesture for their lost leader, a reminder of who is in charge, or something even more motivating?

The Saints have a checkered history with symbolism. After making the NFC Championship in 2006, the team gathered all their awards and literally buried them in a coffin under their practice field. After an 0-4 start, they dug up the casket to no avail and finished with a 7-9 record. Three years later, after New Orleans won the Super Bowl, their fans held their own jazz funeral for the 'Aints paper bag heads they made famous:

Some experts have already closed the coffin on this Saints' season because of their offseason turmoil. That's a knee-jerk reaction that overestimates what New Orleans has lost. Of the four players suspended for their roles in the bounty scandal, two of them (Scott Fujita and Anthony Hargrove) are with different teams now. Jonathan Vilma is probably gone for the season, but his reputation surpasses his play at this point. Last year, Pro Football Focus ranked Vilma 49th out of 51 inside linebackers in the NFL. Even before his suspension, he risked losing his job to newcomer Curtis Lofton. As the Saints' proven pass rusher, Will Smith's four-game ban could be the only player suspension that affects New Orleans' production on the field.

The Saints have already glimpsed life without Sean Payton.

Payton's suspension is a big one, but the Saints are better suited to survive a year without their head coach than most teams. Payton admitted that he handed complete autonomy of his defense to his coordinator, a decision which got him into this mess in the first place when Gregg Williams went rogue. New defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo has the experience to continue to run that side of the ball without a problem. And although the Saints will surely miss Payton's insight on offense, it was coordinator Pete Carmichael who called the plays for the 12 games without a hitch after Payton tore his MCL last season. And if Peyton Manning has taught us anything, it's that an elite quarterback of Drew Brees' caliber is capable of running an offense on his own. Payton will be missed, but things are far from hopeless without him.

So if the Saints' goal is to succeed this season without Payton, then why will they manufacture constant reminders that they don't have him? Many coaches keep injured players away from the team to ward off any negative thoughts from their healthy teammates. How discouraging must it have been last season for the Colts offense to the sideline after another Curtis Painter turnover, only to see Manning standing there in a polo? When the going gets tough, the last thing players need is an excuse for their failures.

In this case, I don't think the banners and empty seats are meant to remind players of what they've lost. Instead, they're meant to remind the players of what has been taken from them.

"Remember Tom, nobody respects us."

When looking at the 2012 Saints, I can't help but think of the last team that felt unfairly persecuted by the league: the 2007 Patriots. After their early season Spygate scandal and punishment, Bill Belichick and his players basically said "Eff You" to their critics around the country. They made it their sole purpose to embarrass every opponent and prove that their previous accomplishments shouldn't be tainted. They almost completed the greatest season in NFL history, going 18-0 before the Giants tripped them up in the Super Bowl.

NFL coaches bend over backwards to find slights, real and imagined, to create this "us against the world" mentality. They cut out newspaper articles and write down quotes from their disrespectful opponents to post in the locker room on game day. If you think this doesn't work, remember that in 2005, fresh off his second straight Super Bowl victory and third championship in four years, Tom Brady proclaimed that the Patriots don't get enough respect. And he was dead serious. Underestimation is a powerful motivator. And no team feels more underestimated right now than the New Orleans Saints.

Using Payton as a symbol is a move that could backfire. If the Saints get off to a rocky start, they may look up at that banner in their practice field and start to feel sorry for what they've lost. But it's more likely that they'll be motivated by what was taken from them. If so, New Orleans will have turned a weakness into a weapon.

Check back tomorrow and Friday for some advice for fantasy football players. In the meantime, you can follow my daily NFL musings at @BostonGiant.

Images found here, here, and here.