Saints' Alvin Kamara Got Really Smart After Real Stupidity To Lighten His Suspension To 3 Games | Glenn Guilbeau

Alvin Kamara may have just helped the New Orleans Saints win the NFC South.

After legitimate talk of a six- or even eight-game suspension for a felony, battery arrest outside a Las Vegas nightclub in February of 2022, the NFL suspended Kamara for only three games in the 2023 season early Friday afternoon. That came about an hour after one of the better athlete apologies on record.

Kamara, who is the best and most versatile back in the NFL or close to it, will sit out the Saints' first three games and the week of practice leading up to each one. He will keep practicing with the team during training camp and can play in the Saints' three preseason games.

In a 17-game schedule, a three-game suspension is basically a water break, particularly when the opponents are considered. Kamara will only miss Mediocrity's Row.

Of course, the Saints have looked pretty mediocre as well. They were 7-10 last season under first-year coach Dennis Allen after Sean Payton went 9-8 in an injury-marred final New Orleans campaign. The Saints also have a career mediocre, though durable and steady, quarterback in Derek Carr. But he enters the season as the best in the NFC South. Carolina rookie Bryce Young will struggle in his first year behind an average-at-best offensive line. And if newly healthy Saints receiver Michael Thomas has not lost a step and can return to 2019 form, the Saints could win double-digit games and take the division.

Saints running back Alvin Kamara was charged with felony battery on Feb. 5, 2022, over the Pro Bowl weekend in Las Vegas. (Getty Images).

They should also be 2-1 without Kamara. The Saints open on Sept. 10 at home against Tennessee (1 p.m., CBS). The Titans were 7-10 last season. Carolina is next on Monday Night Football on Sept. 18 (7:15 p.m., ESPN). The Panthers were 7-10 last season for their fifth straight losing season and sixth of last seven. New Orleans jets to Aaron Rodgers-empty Green Bay for a Sept. 24 game (1 p.m., FOX). The Packers fell to 8-9 last season. On Sept. 25, Kamara can start practicing again.

Alvin Kamara will make his return against Tom Brady-less Tampa Bay on Oct. 1 in New Orleans (1 p.m., FOX).

"Any time you lose one of your better players for any period of time, it’s disappointing, but I think a three-game suspension is a pretty good outcome for us," Saints coach Dennis Allen said.

He can say that again.

"The great thing about it is we know what it is, and we know we’re going to have Alvin for 14 games and he’ll still be a big part of what we’re doing," Allen said.

Saints Should Win NFC South With Kamara For 14 Games

He will have 14 games to see if he can rush for 855 yards and catch passes for another 625, which are his averages through six seasons. That includes five Pro Bowl years. In each of his last three seasons, he rushed for more yards - 932, 898 and 897 - than in each of his first three. On a team with quarterback and receiver issues the last two years, Kamara is a rock.

The Saints' playoff entry or seeding could come down to a game or two or three as usual, and it will have Kamara for all but three, instead of all but six or eight. The three-to-five games Kamara will not miss - barring injury - could make all the difference.

Considering how rock stupid and thug-ish Kamara was on Feb. 5 outside Drai's Nightclub in Vegas, he should have been suspended for more games. Kamara started or re-started the physical altercation with Darnell Greene by pushing him in the chest. Greene, naturally, pushed back. Then members of Kamara's entourage and Kamara, according to Greene, pushed him to the floor and kicked him into submission. Greene suffered a broken orbital lobe and injuries to his shoulder, back and neck.

It wasn't a fair fight. Funny thing about some NFL players. They like to hang out with bodyguards, supposedly for their protection. But what often happens is the other guy needs the protection. In an effort to be a rock star, many NFL players, like Kamara in this case, end up more cowardly than cool. So much for the street cred, AK.

As is frequently the case with athletes, an expensive lawyer got Kamara's felony battery charge downgraded to a misdemeanor. Then Kamara pleaded no contest last July 11 to a breach of peace and agreed to pay $100,000 toward Greene’s medical bills and to perform community service. That's pocket change for Kamara, who is one of the highest paid backs in the NFL. He has three years left on a $75 million contract and will make $9.4 million this year and $10.2 million in 2024. This court action made Greene's $10 million civil lawsuit against Kamara for injuries magically disappear.

NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell Meeting Helped Kamara

With that taken care of, Kamara suddenly grew smart. Under good advice from the Saints, he requested a meeting with NFL commissioner Roger Goodell last Wednesday in Manhattan. Goodell accepted that, and it went well.

Goodell instructed Kamara to apologize publicly. And he did and then some to reporters at the Saints facility in Metairie on Friday.

"I never want to be involved in something where someone gets hurt or severely injured or anything," Kamara said to a throng of reporters. "Poor judgment on my end. Definitely a bad decision. I can say when I'm wrong, and I was completely wrong."

Kamara did not use the usual athlete statement - "I'm sorry IF I hurt anyone."

He fessed up like a man.

"I embarrassed the Saints," he said. "I embarrassed my family and my mother. I embarrassed myself. I embarrassed this city and the shield (NFL logo). I embarrassed the NFL."

Wow, that might have been right out of Goodell's mouth, but again, smart. And he kept going. He even waved off a Saints media relations official to keep talking.

"I'm not looking for any pity, not looking for somebody to give me a pat on the back and say it's OK," he said. "I know what I did. I know what I was involved in. I take responsibility. That's part of being a man and growing. From here, I've got to make the right decision and make the right choices."

This was much better than what Allen had said previously. He termed Kamara's meeting with Goodell as his chance to get out "his side of the story."

As former Saints quarterback and radio game analyst Bobby Herbert said, "He has no side of the story."

And Kamara admitted that.

"I put my hands on somebody," he said. "That's the last thing you want to do, because it comes with trouble, and it could've been worse."

Kamara did not say this was out of character for him. People already know that.

And Kamara, unlike former Alabama basketball star Brandon Miller and all his blind Bama supporters, admitted he was in the wrong place at the wrong time by his own doing. Miller brought a gun to a fight after 1 a.m. on Jan. 15, and a murder happened.

"I mean, I was out at 5 in the morning," Kamara said. "Nothing good happens after midnight. It's gauging those situations and being able to make right decisions, being where you're supposed to be, and taking yourself out of that position."

Did you catch that Brandon?

Alvin Kamara decided to meet with Roger Goodell, and that does not often happen in similar situations, particularly with the player initiating it. And then Kamara delivered an MVP apology.

That's why he will be playing again in week four instead of significantly later. And, more importantly, he may have learned something.