Michael Ealy: The Bounty Scandal Is Devastating For New Orleans: Love Of The Game

In our weekly "Love Of The Game" series, HuffPost Black Voices talks sports with a person of note. This week we caught up with "Think Like A Man" actor Michael Ealy, who opened up on the New Orleans Saints 2013 Super Bowl chances following the recent bounty scandal.

“I just spent five and a half months down in New Orleans and this whole Sean Payton, Greg Williams fiasco and the fallout that’s going to happen with the player’s later on after the Player’s Union gets involved. I mean, this is a very serious issue. And it’s devastating because the Super Bowl is in New Orleans and everybody in New Orleans was really hoping for the team to go to the Super Bowl at home next year. And it’s going to be a little bit of a tougher road without their coach, for sure.“

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Comments

[Ezra Black]

02:03 PM on 05/01/2012

As a Saints fan and a native New Orleanian I can tell you that Hurricane Katrina was devastating, this football scandal is a bump in the road

[dave ochs]

07:38 PM on 04/23/2012

on top of the bounties and other things the New Orleans Saints are more corrupt than the New Orleans Police Department and thats saying something.
dave

[doctorj2u]

09:42 PM on 04/28/2012

Not true, but keep on hating. NOLA goes on as she always has.

[Odessa1]

01:45 PM on 04/23/2012

There should have been much stiffer penalties against the Coach and those involved.

A 5 year ban would have sent a stronger message that what the Coach allowed would not be tolerated.

Where are the law suits? What these airheads did had nothing to do with sportsmanship or gamesmanship, it was paid ASSAULT!

[Ezra Black]

05:13 PM on 04/23/2012

@Odessa1,

Are there any players who played against the Saints who are injured to the point of not being able to play anymore. Can you name one player who was put out of a game due to the Saints ? NONE NONE NONE

[Jondrea Smith]

11:43 AM on 04/24/2012

Football is paid assault. I'm all for a culture change, but it's not gonna be achieved with fines and sanctions.

[BLAQ RAIN ANGEL]

12:24 PM on 04/23/2012

All I can say is Damn...Go GreenBay :)

[LLNYRN]

08:10 AM on 04/23/2012

So does this mean I can't even put on my SIGNED Jonathan Vilma jersey now?
The jersey I waited almost two years for from one of my peeps in NOLA to send me?

Well....
There's always my HOMETOWN SUPER BOWL CHAMPIONS NY GIANTS!!!

[Jondrea Smith]

10:00 AM on 04/23/2012

I want to see how they find offenses now when neither the in-game officiating nor the post-game review found any. I definitely think a culture change is necessary in the game, but I don't think this is the way to achieve it. And yeah...I think it's safe to wear your JV jersey. Hayiti Stand Up!

[speakthetruth2012]

08:59 PM on 04/22/2012

By the way, Peyton Manning and John the cry baby Elway suck too. Give New Orleans the Broncos. Go Tebow. We need more players like you than maybe football would be a real sport again like the Johnny Unitas days. The players hit hard back then because they loved the game. Now the players hit hard to collect a bounty. Talk about sad.l

[emperance]

06:05 PM on 04/22/2012

Ealy, dude -

WHY COULDN'T YOU MAKE IT WORK WITH HALLE?

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I don't think you tried hard enough (LOL).

[Justjack1]

08:01 AM on 04/23/2012

Or, maybe shes to complicated.
I see that like this, if someone is single its because of one of 3 things,
1. They arent made for a relationship and have come to terms with that.
2. They are to complicated for anyone to deal with for long in an iintimate relationship
3. They go to Yoga, so you can identify they are the crazy ones.

[emperance]

05:11 PM on 04/23/2012

Many people in this country live in rural areas where the pickings are SLIM TO NONE.
Some people NO LONGER want a partner.
Some people may have medical reasons that prevent them from having a relationship.
Etc., etc., etc.

[unclebeast]

05:43 PM on 04/22/2012

If your not a New Orleanian you dont understand us. We are the who dat nation,and we are strong in number. Don't ever count us out. WHO DAT FOR LIFE!!!!!

[hjo4]

04:55 PM on 04/22/2012

Michael Ealy was ROBBED of the nomination of Oscar and all the other awards for the part he portrayed in the movie Colored Girls. If folks want to see an actor who portrays a part as a mentally ill Veteran, then please see that movie just to see his acting chops. It's a travesty when excellent work is not acknowledged because of ignorance and racism which I believe was the case here.I say that because anyone who saw Michael Ealy in Colored Girls will tell you his acting was Oscar worthy, there is no excuse why he wasn't nominated.

[wkingsolomon77]

08:51 PM on 04/22/2012

If a people were robbed of africa,why don,t you think that will continue.More BM ans BW will be robbed until we have unity and 24-7 love. Hollywood is for sale and we can afford to buy it.

[edsimon77]

03:28 PM on 04/22/2012

More devastating then being branded America's murder capital a few years ago? Nice to know folks have their priorities straight.

[doctorj2u]

06:04 PM on 04/22/2012

You know problems, even devastating ones, happen more than one at a time. Just look at Katrina, the levees failures and the complete incompetence of government response. That is three right there. Thankfully the Saints were there to help us then. This lastest blow goes right to the heart of the city because the Saints are the heart of the city. Mr. Ealy is reporting the truth, which is more than I can say for the press a lot of the time.

[Beverly Tregre]

07:04 PM on 04/22/2012

If you are not from NOLA----you dont understand!

[Jondrea Smith]

02:21 PM on 04/22/2012

yeah...you just stick to being another purty face, and leave the football talk to us menfolk.

[atiramisu]

09:11 AM on 04/23/2012

Your fangs are showing. LOL.

[Jondrea Smith]

09:56 AM on 04/23/2012

I've been a Whodat since the were the Aints, and I'm a former football player. I tend to get a little sensitive about these things :-D

[doctorj2u]

02:03 PM on 04/22/2012

Won't bow down. Don't know how.

[Jondrea Smith]

11:46 AM on 04/24/2012

alright now...out there in that Shallow Water....:-D

[doctorj2u]

09:02 PM on 04/24/2012

Mardi Gras Indian chant. In case you did not get the reference.

[BossanovaBkwoman]

10:53 AM on 04/22/2012

I don't care about the game, but what I care about is.....how smoldering delicious Michael Ealy is...OMG, this man is yummy....lol....I fell in love with him when I first laid eyes on him in the movie "Barber Shop"...."""In my sexy voice""""".........Heyyyyy Michael!!!...lol

[thewholestory]

01:04 PM on 04/22/2012

lol!

[one1byke]

01:07 PM on 04/22/2012

.....who re you?

[LadyG76]

01:32 PM on 04/22/2012

No who are you????....If you're not M.E. then buzz off..lol