Your view of Tom Benson

The people who don't go to games or don't support the team because of an owner are only punishing themselves. The owner still gets rich. Besides he is freezing tickets prices yet again for next season so he is alright in my book.

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one of the worst (primary) owners in the NFL

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I guess you don't remember John Mecom.

Benson is, at worst, a mediocre owner. He's not Donald Sterling. He spends money, but quite often foolishly.

However, even in calling him mediocre, he is 1000x better as an owner than Mecom. If the Saints were a large market team, I think Mecom would have been recognized as one of the worst owners ever to control a professional team.

I don't know that much about him except what I read/hear. Maybe its just a perception that I have and a false one at that. After Katrina I didn't like that crap that he tried to pull dangling the team out in front of everyone saying that a move to San Antonio/LA or whatever would be better.

Sometimes I think he's too much of a bottomline business man and not enough of a football owner who really tries to build a championship organization.

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He's a used car salesman, what do you expect?

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Perfectly stated.

Benson should be becoming irrelevant in the very near future.

Make no mistake, Mecom had more than his share of faults. However, I couldn't see him openly trying to bail on New Orleans after Katrina or leaving the team in his granddaughter's care, as Benson has / is doing.

Frankly, if Benson were drowning and I was the only guy that could save him, I'd throw an anchor and the sumbitch.

He's defintely in the lower tier in overall quality of NFL owners but certainly not the worst. At one time he was head of the finance committee of the owners. That probably reflects his used car salesman persona.
Still, he is a world of improvement over Mecom. That guy hired non football people to run the show, gave draft picks to Dallas for draft "advice", etc. I do think he might have been better in the free agent era though. Maybe wacky spending like Daniel Snyder when he started.
Last, I do think Benson is committed now and has Rita in place to call the shots fully when he goes. I think she will bring more improvement. Probably the nicest owner to look at too.

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But Benson has given us 22 more years of Saints football, which has to count for something

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Benson never gave the fans jack $h!t. The fans PAID for those 22 years, and Benson made a lot of money in the process.

it is a legit point tho that he did pay for the team tho to keep'em in NOLA. Granted, he's made at least tenfold return in the investment (that should require no ransom money from the state) but he did step up keeping them from becoming the Jacksonville Saints.