Report: NFL Not Investigating Saints Assisting New Orleans Archdiocese in Sexual Abuse Case

The NFL is not investigating the Saints' involvement in advising the New Orleans archdiocese on how to respond to sexual abuse allegations, according to David Kaplan of The Athletic.

The league does not plan to open an investigation unless Saints emails "show troublesome actions," reports Kaplan.

Last week, the Associated Press reported that the Saints were going to court to keep hundreds of emails from going public that allegedly show team executives doing damage control for the archdiocese. Attorneys for two dozen men suing the church claim that 276 documents obtained in the case show the team helped the archdiocese in its "pattern and practice of concealing its crimes."

The Saints released a statement in response to the AP's report.

"The advice was simple and never wavering,” the team said in a statement. "Be direct, open and fully transparent, while making sure that all law enforcement agencies were alerted. ...We remain steadfast in support of the victims who have suffered and pray for their continued healing."

A source told Kaplan that many people assumed the NFL would investigate the situation because the emails were sent from an nfl.com address. However, the league is reportedly not concerned over the use of an nfl.com address and is not asking to see the Saints' emails in question. 

The NFL will wait to see if the emails are disclosed in the case and if they reveal "troublesome actions." If they do raise concerns, the NFL would investigate, according to Kaplan.

On Thursday, the Associated Press reported the Saints helped determine which names of clergy members were put on a list of "credibly accused" priests.

The list was first published in November 2018 after a longtime deacon and schoolteacher, George F. Brignac, continued serving as a lay minister in the church decades after he was accused of sexually abusing children. An Orleans Parish grand jury indicted Brignac last year on claims he raped an altar boy beginning the late 1970s. 

The Associated Press contributed to this report.