Saints interim coach Joe Vitt submitted his own affadavit backing linebacker Jonathan Vilma’s request for a temporary restraining order, following Vilma and Saints trainer Scottie Patton’s.
Vitt also used the forum to deny the existence of the bounty system, the one which he was suspended six games for his role in by NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell.
“While I anxiously await being able to provide substantive and truthful testimony and information about the allegations made by Mr. Goodell regarding the so-called but non-existent Bounty Program, and to refute that the Saints ever had a bounty on an opposing player and set out to injure anyone or to encourage any other Saints player to injure anyone, I will restrict my Affidavit here to issues that I have been informed are relevant to Mr. Vilma’s Motion to Restrain Temporarily the Suspension,” the affidavit said, according to the New Orleans Times-Picayune.
He also echoed previous statements that Vilma needed to participate in training camp.
“The Suspension, and our inability to work with Mr. Vilma, in my opinion jeopardizes the entire Saints football team and our 2012 -2013 Season,” Vitt said in the affidavit.
That’s good strong language for a legal brief, but it does perhaps ignore the football reality, that Vilma was in decline last year. There’s a reasonable argument to be made they’ve upgraded at the position with Curtis Lofton. But that’s a different affidavit for a different day.