NFL: Saints' Whistleblower Revealed
 

Saints Bounty Scandal: Former Coach Mike Cerullo Reportedly Blew Whistle on Team


Bleachersreport 12 April 2012

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Although there had been some speculation with regards to how the NFL found out about the New Orleans Saints' bounty system, there is now a name that may have been responsible for blowing the whistle on Sean Payton, Gregg Williams and the Saints.

According to Ken Trahan of SportsNOLA.com, freelance filmmaker and writer Alan Donnes believes that former Saints defensive quality control coach Mike Cerullo was the one who implicated the team and tipped off the commissioner's office.

Donnes wrote a book entitled Patron Saints: How the Saints Gave New Orleans a Reason to Believe in 2007. Because of that, Donnes likely had his finger on the pulse of the team during that time frame.


Cerullo left the team following the Saints' Super Bowl-winning season in 2010 but was unable to catch on with another NFL team. According to the report, Cerullo believed that Payton and Williams caused him to be blackballed around the league, and that is why he decided to blow the whistle on them.

This has yet to be confirmed by any other sources, but Donnes said that he isn't the only one who believes Cerullo is responsible.

Because of the league's findings regarding the bounty scandal, Payton has been suspended for the entire season, Williams has been suspended indefinitely, Saints general manager Mickey Loomis has been suspended for eight games and Saints assistant coach Joe Vitt will be forced to miss six games.

Williams, who signed on to be the St. Louis Rams' defensive coordinator during the offseason, appears to have been hit hardest, as he has been looked at as the ringleader of the operation.

Cerullo has yet to comment on Donnes' accusations in reference to whether or not he implicated the team.