New Orleans Saints

Chuck Muncie, a star running back with the New Orleans Saints and the San Diego Chargers who overcame a cocaine habit that ended his career and then devoted his later life to helping others avoid drug abuse, has died. He was 60. Muncie died Monday of a heart attack at his Los Angeles-area home, his family announced. After a stellar career at UC Berkeley, Muncie played in the National Football League from 1976 to 1984 and was selected to play in three Pro Bowls. He spent more than four years with the Saints before joining the Chargers in the middle of the 1980 season.

Chuck Muncie, a star running back with the New Orleans Saints and the San Diego Chargers who overcame a cocaine habit that ended his career and then devoted his later life to helping others avoid drug abuse, has died. He was 60. Muncie died Monday of a heart attack at his Los Angeles-area home, his family announced. After a stellar career at UC Berkeley, Muncie played in the National Football League from 1976 to 1984 and was selected to play in three Pro Bowls. He spent more than four years with the Saints before joining the Chargers in the middle of the 1980 season.

Upon further review… the New Orleans Saints ruling stands. NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell on Monday upheld the discipline imposed on Saints Coach Sean Payton, General Manager Mickey Loomis and linebackers coach Joe Vitt for their role in the team's pay-for-performance bounty scandal. Payton has been suspended for a year, beginning April 16; Loomis will miss half the season; and Vitt will be out the first six games. All suspensions are without pay. Former Saints defensive coordinator Gregg Williams, now with the St. Louis Rams, has been suspended indefinitely.

Rob Ryan's five minutes of unemployment lasted four weeks, but he's now the defensive coordinator for the New Orleans Saints. When Ryan became one of the fall guys for the Dallas Cowboys' failed season, he said he wasn't worried about losing his job because "I'll be out of work for like five minutes. " That was Jan. 8, when the Cowboys announced they were changing directions with their defensive unit and fired him. Now Ryan, brother of Jets Coach Rex Ryan and son of former Bears defensive coordinator and Eagles coach Buddy Ryan, will try to help Coach Sean Payton rebuild the Saints into a Super Bowl contender again.

The New Orleans Saints have been hit hard by the NFL for their "pay-for-performance" bounty system. Really hard -- their season may be ruined. But then again, their behavior could have ruined much more than a single season for some opposing players. After a three-year investigation, the Saints were found to be paying players -- from a cash pool made up of contributions from players, defensive coordinator Gregg Williams and others -- for injuring opponents. Four people have been suspended: Head Coach Sean Payton for the entire 2012 season without pay; General Manager Mickey Loomis for the first eight games; defensive coordinator Gregg Williams, now with the St.

Sean Payton has been reinstated as coach of the New Orleans Saints, the NFL announced Tuesday morning. Payton was suspended for a year for his role in the Saints' "bountygate" scandal, although the players allegedly involved had their suspensions lifted. Commissioner Roger Goodell reinstated Payton after meeting with him Monday. The coach "pledged to uphold the highest standards of the NFL and ensure that his staff and players do so as well," the league said Tuesday in a news release.

Randy Moss to the New Orleans Saints? Sounds kind of crazy with everything else that the Saints have going on right now, but it could happen. Fox Sports' Jay Glazer is reporting that the awesome-when-he-wants-to-be wide receiver will work out for the defending NFC South champions on Tuesday. Moss is one of the best wide receivers in NFL history and, even though he spent all of 2011 out of the league, he still could be a valuable asset to a team ... if he wants to. And he says that he wants to. But do the Saints, who were the No. 2 seed coming out of the NFC last year, really need to bring in the talented but controversial receiver right now?

The NFL has suspended four players for their participation in the New Orleans Saints pay-for-performance bounty scandal -- among them linebacker Jonathan Vilma, for the entire 2012 season. Vilma received the harshest of sanctions, with defensive linemen Anthony Hargrove suspended for eight games without pay, defensive end Will Smith four games, and linebacker Scott Fujita three. Hargrove now plays for Green Bay, and Fujita for Cleveland. It was Vilma who offered $10,000 to any Saints teammate who knocked Minnesota quarterback Brett Favre out of the 2009 NFC championship game.

If the New Orleans Saints go from swaggering to staggering this season, no one will be happier than the rest of the teams in the NFC South. Of course those teams want to see the Saints knocked off their perch - they all have their hearts set on the division crown - but there's a personal vendetta in play too. In recent years, the Saints haven't just beaten divisional opponents, they've rubbed their noses in the dirt. In last season's finale, for instance, New Orleans beat Carolina, 45-17, and kept its foot on the gas even after the game had been decided.

I'll never forget the sight of Brett Favre stumbling down a Superdome hallway, welts on his neck, fog in his eyes, his career essentially ended after a blatant mugging by the New Orleans Saints. "I wonder if I can hold up, especially after a day like today," he said after his Minnesota Vikings were beaten in the NFC championship game two years ago. At the time, we thought we were watching tough football. Turns out, we were witnessing sanctioned evil. I'll never forget the sight, eight days earlier, of Kurt Warner lying flat on his back, motionless and mumbling into space, his career basically cooked after absorbing a furious sucker punch from the Saints' Bobby McCray.

NEW ORLEANS -- Officials from the NFL, Superdome and Entergy, the company that provides power to the stadium, still were working Monday to unravel the mystery of why the lights went out for 34 minutes of Super Bowl XLVII the previous night, although the league emphasized it would not affect New Orleans' chances to host future Super Bowls. "We know that they have an interest in future Super Bowls, and we look forward to evaluating that," NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell said. "I do not think this will have any effect at all. What I think will be remembered is that it was one of the great Super Bowl weeks, and we thank the people of New Orleans for that.

Super Bowl XLVII programming airing Saturday morning through late-night Sunday includes concerts, specials, highlights and a football game. SATURDAY “Best Super Bowl Concert Ever” 11 a.m. Saturday, VH1: Celebrating Super Bowl XLVII in New Orleans; Train performs; appearances by NFL favorites. “Kickoff in New Orleans: A CNN-Bleacher Report Special” 1 p.m. Saturday, CNN: Interviews and profiles that capture the excitement of Super Bowl XLVII. (N) “Star-Spangled Sundays” 1 p.m. Saturday, NBCSP: The NFL transforms the Super Bowl into the biggest entertainment event on the American calendar.

NEW ORLEANS - Ray Lewis already has said this is his final NFL season, but could another Baltimore Ravens defensive star be riding into the sunset too? "That question was asked a couple days back, just about this being my last ride," said All-Pro safety Ed Reed , 34, who has flirted before with the notion of retiring. "I'm not focused on that right now. It's pointless to answer at the moment. " Reed, whose team arrived in New Orleans on Monday evening, said he prefers to keep the focus on the team and the final go-round for Lewis.

Sean Payton has been reinstated as coach of the New Orleans Saints, the NFL announced Tuesday morning. Payton was suspended for a year for his role in the Saints' "bountygate" scandal, although the players allegedly involved had their suspensions lifted. Commissioner Roger Goodell reinstated Payton after meeting with him Monday. The coach "pledged to uphold the highest standards of the NFL and ensure that his staff and players do so as well," the league said Tuesday in a news release.

The megastorm expected to create massive problems along the Eastern Seaboard over the coming days is already affecting sports. Weather concerns prompted former NFL Commissioner Paul Tagliabue to postpone a scheduled Tuesday appeals hearing that he was to oversee in the New Orleans Saints' bounty-related case, with no new date immediately announced. And the Boston Celtics will make their first road trip of the NBA season a day earlier than planned, choosing to fly into Miami on Sunday instead of Monday in an effort to beat the storm.

Drew Brees stands at the brink of NFL history, although he and the New Orleans Saints don't feel much like celebrating. Brees, whose 0-3 team plays the Packers at Green Bay on Sunday, is one scoring pass away from tying Johnny Unitas' record for a touchdown pass in 47 consecutive games. That mark has stood for more than half a century. Meanwhile, the Saints have slipped deeper into the abyss, tumbling from a Super Bowl contender to the NFC's only winless team. Rocked by the multiple suspensions from the bounty scandal, they return to the site of the 2011 opener, Lambeau Field, an epic game (won by the Packers)

Quarterback Dave Wilson signed a three-year contract with the New Orleans Saints.

The New Orleans Saints cut five players, including veteran safety Anthony Gibson and linebacker Scott Ross of USC.

If the New Orleans Saints go from swaggering to staggering this season, no one will be happier than the rest of the teams in the NFC South. Of course those teams want to see the Saints knocked off their perch - they all have their hearts set on the division crown - but there's a personal vendetta in play too. In recent years, the Saints haven't just beaten divisional opponents, they've rubbed their noses in the dirt. In last season's finale, for instance, New Orleans beat Carolina, 45-17, and kept its foot on the gas even after the game had been decided.

The New Orleans Saints have a new head coach. Make that an interim-to-the-interim coach. Aaron Kromer, the team's offensive line coach, will serve as head coach for the first six games of the season, while interim coach Joe Vitt serves his suspension for his involvement in the Saints' bounty scandal. Coach Sean Payton is serving a full-season suspension for the alleged pay-to-injure scheme. The Saints' pick of Kromer is not a surprise. He's widely considered the most head-coach-ready prospect on the staff, and he's not a coordinator so the team wouldn't need to further shuffle the coaches by promoting him. "Ultimately, I wanted to have the least amount of change on both the offensive and defensive staffs, and maintain the most continuity with the program that has been in place for the last six years," said General Manager Mickey Loomis, who begins his own half-season suspension in the week leading up to the Sept.