Jeff Duncan's farewell column (1 Viewer)

[FGE413]

I would disagree with any characterization of him as a good writer. He was a very average sports columnist, and those guys are dime a dozen.

His biggest mistake was attempting to leverage Bountygate coverage into a national gig. As the "local" guy, he was getting attention from national outlets and bending over backwards to tell them what they wanted to hear. Now, let me be clear, I'm not saying he should carry water for the team or blindly defend him. That's not the job of the media. But his issue was he went too far the other direction and was trying to throw the organization under the bus because that was the bigger story. And in the process, there was a very real "I'm going to get an ESPN gig if I do this right!" element to it all. It all felt very calculated. And it failed. So then he was stuck in a place where he had just spent months burying the team, his readership despised him, and his gamble on upward mobility crashed and burned.

I don't personally have any animosity towards the guy, but his tenure here is a shining of example of reach exceeding grasp and misreading a situation horribly.

The funny thing was even though it was transparent during Bountygate that he was jockeying for an ESPN gig by carrying Goodell's water...it was Mike Triplett, who wrote far better, more nuanced, less one-sided articles about Bountygate, who ended up getting the ESPN gig.

 

[FootballLady]

If he's hired at the athletic, I'll cancel my subscription.

 

[Shadeaux]

If he's hired at the athletic, I'll cancel my subscription.

Oh yeah,no doubt if I had one I would too.. just out of principle. There's principalities involved in this!

 

[Sun Wukong]

The funny thing was even though it was transparent during Bountygate that he was jockeying for an ESPN gig by carrying Goodell's water...it was Mike Triplett, who wrote far better, more nuanced, less one-sided articles about Bountygate, who ended up getting the ESPN gig.

Yep, I always found that hilarious. He tried so hard to get that gig only for Triplett to get it instead.

 

[zeetes]

Where no man has gone before...

good thing he isn't much a man

 

[NatureBoy]

OK, Are you Jeff's Mother? If you are a true Saints Fan and have read Duncan's bountygate takes, you wouldn't throw him a going away party either. His take was so Anti Saints and pro Goodell, you would have thought he was trying to get a job in the NFL.

7 years is not that long ago when you completely sell The Saints out.

I don’t know how you define “true Saints fan”, but I’ve had season tickets since the Dome opened in the 1970’s, and have maintained them in spite of the fact I moved to Houston 16 years ago. Though I was young and the memory is fuzzy, I remember Archie Manning’s rookie season and that QB sneak to beat the Rams. My first live game was to see the Saints play in Tulane Stadium against the Jets and Joe Willie Namath. I cried when we won the Super Bowl and was emotionally spent after our return to the Dome and Gleason’s blocked punt. I wanted to behead the referees that stole a Super Bowl birth from us. So if being a true Saints fan means I have to be emotional and vindictive over words a 2 bit writer published 7 years ago, I guess I’m not.

 

[Sun Wukong]

Bounty gate was 7 years ago. One persons opinion, 7 years ago, warrants all of this? OK. But it’s not like he stole a super bowl birth from us. His opinion was meaningless. There isn’t anything a reporter can write today, that I will care about next week, much less 7 years from now.

And yet here you are posting in this thread, defending Duncan.

 

[NatureBoy]

And yet here you are posting in this thread, defending Duncan.

This thread is about Duncan’s farewell column. That’s why I clicked it. Defending Duncan and being respectful are 2 different things. I thought his final column was well done. I said I’m shocked by the responses, that’s far from defending anyone. Sorry I’m not part of your echo chamber. Next time I’ll know better than to interrupt the cry session. Peace.

 

[woomf]

I think the column was well done, not a time to be critical of a man who put in a lot of time here, I wish him the best.

 

[mc4saints]

This thread is about Duncan’s farewell column. That’s why I clicked it. Defending Duncan and being respectful are 2 different things. I thought his final column was well done. I said I’m socked by the responses, that’s far from defending anyone. Sorry I’m not part of your echo chamber. Next time I’ll know better than to interrupt the cry session. Peace.

Good to know Duncan's Mother is a long time Saints fan. Appreciate it. ?

Being you are such a huge plugged in fan I am shocked that you are shocked by how most of us feel about Duncan. IMO, forgetting what Duncan did 7 years ago is almost equal to forgetting what Goodell did 7 years ago.

 

[26ISTHEMAN]

No fan of Duncan here. The criticisms of him for his take on bountygate are dead on and 100% deserved. However, the linked article is a good read, especially if you don’t think about who wrote it as you read it.

 

[MLU]

Benson eventually made it right with Saints fans. Scooter doubled down on being wrong.

Lol... Between Tagliabue telling him he wasn't going to be allowed to move the team and Jindal backing up a Brinks truck, he didn't really have a choice in the matter.

 

[sfidc3]

Really detailed, but can any of you out there verify any of this?? All I’ve ever read is that the NFL immediately overruled Benson on a move to SA—apparently now we were moments away from moving to TX & Swimmer was on the committee to approve or disapprove our move? ? WTH Am I missing here? Did that Davenport prediction carry that much weight??

I believe it was common knowledge that after a meeting with Tags, Benson completely changed his tune on re-locating the Saints....but what Swimmer is saying may be correct also...perhaps Tags pushed Benson to make those unrealistic demands knowing it would kill the deal? Its possible....but I always liked the notion that Tags told him "if you don't start acting like a real NFL owner, we will take the team from you"....

 

[Cajun Chat]

I get why Duncan fell in love with the city that's not hard to do but his writing and constant negativity towards our team especially post-Katrina were unacceptable. I do appreciate that his love of the city has grown it's too bad the love of our team didn't.

Like Drew Brees said, "If you love New Orleans, she will love you back." add to that if you love the Saints, we will love you back...if not? There you have it. Scooter you had chance after chance.

 

[MsMSSaintsFan]

The worst for me was his repeated ridicule and condemnation of Saints fans. And, so, for that reason and the others so well elucidate here all I can say, Scooter, is