Fortunately for the New Orleans Saints, the beginning of free agency was more important to the majority of us fans of loser teams, so a lot of us checked out on that whole “paying players to hurt opponents” things. Still, some Saints players are deeply hurt that the NFL and its fans would accuse them of playing dirty and intentionally trying to end the careers of players like Kurt Warner and Brett Favre.

Take Saints DB Jabari Greer, for instance, who was so insulted by these bounty accusations and looming punishments that he opened his heart and offered us a poem on his New Orleans Times-Picayune blog, Out of Bounds.

Oh, but first I’m going to show you his disclaimer so you don’t get lost in a whirlwind of emotions…

Although some of the allegations brought before us are true. We are men of integrity that play the game the way it’s meant to played … with undeniable passion. We are all professionals, with families and a future. We play a violent game, but we NEVER intend to hurt anyone.

So some of the allegations of being paid to intentionally hurt someone are true, but the Saints would never intentionally hurt someone. Got it. Now, I do believe that we were promised some poetry…

As a child my heart longed for the lights of the stage,
And to all my dreams, life deemed them true.
But while young, I suppose, that the path that I chose,
Was a rockier road than I knew.

My Father explained that although dreams may change,
“To your heart and your two hands be true,”
When the spotlight is on, you still be my son,
But to others, you’ll never be you.

And now here i am, a man of my own,
My dreams, although tried, they came true.
The words of a man, called to lead me to stand,
In the midst of Life’s pain, lead me through.

It’s seemed that I’ve learned, although rightfully earned,
That in darkness, the light shines the truth,
Call it “Bounty” or blame, the world puts to shame,
And convicts, what the world barely knew.

See the media feeds, and puts words to their seeds,
To fulfill it’s own pride and it’s lust,
It calls a King “Thief, he’s possessed by his greed,”
As if what he has earned is not enough.

So be careful of seeds filled with lies and deceit,
Although clothed as a beacon of truth,
We have souls of good men, called to Serve and Defend,
NEW ORLEANS, from the forces untrue.

That’s some deep stuff right there, man. In fact, it inspired me to write a poem of my own. Thank you, Jabari, I hope you enjoy.

(Original banner image via Getty.)