Saints head coach Sean was suspended by the league for a full season and the team lost two second-round draft picks as penalties.
"It's reckless, it's careless, it's hurtful to me and the great time I had with the Saints," said Shockey, who was labeled a "snitch"on Twitter by Sapp after NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell put his fist down on Wednesday.
"Sean Payton is like a father figure to me," he continued. "I would never do that to him or the Saints."
Shockey then twice offered to take a polygraph to prove he wasn't the rat.
While the Bountygate scandal came to a conclusion on Wednesday, there are a few questions which remain unanswered. It starts with who did leak the information to Goodell's office if it wasn't Shockey.
Someone in the Saints inner-circle had to be the culprit, but who.
Sapp maintains that his source was very close to the situation and he trusted what he was told:
"I trust my source unequivocally," said the former-NFL star. "I did not call anyone in the league and I did not receive any information from the league."
Sounds like we have a "Deep Throat" situation.
Shockey responded to Sapp's accusation by taking to Twitter and offering to get hooked to a polygraph on live television.
Both men played their college ball at Miami University— at different times—but those blood ties "Ended right there" after Sapp's allegations, tweeted Shockey.
The former Saints tight end played under Payton when the team won Super Bowl XLIV over the Indianapolis Colts in 2010. He was coached by Payton prior to that with the New York Giants.
"I know Sean Payton's family and I have been around them. I have been to his son's birthday party parties. I've had family around him. We're friends," Shockey said. "I loved my time in New Orleans and now people are killing me on social media thinking I did this. I love Who Dat nation."
It's hard to put a lot of stock into what Sapp "heard" about Shockey.
The former-defensive end has called everyone from Oakland Raiders owner Al Davis to defensive lineman Albert Haynesworth a name or accused them of one thing or another in the past.
A larger question remains. Why wound the NFL Network— which is owned by the NFL— let Sapp make his claim about Shockey on air?
This is a direction which threatens to undermine the NFL's policy of protecting sources. It contradicts the NFL's message that it would protect "whistleblowers" who anonymously report league violations.
NFL spokesperson Greg Aiello had no explanation on why the NFL Network aired Sapp's claims or why Sapp— a league employee— was allowed to make the claim in the first place.
Let's see how many players line up at the confessional now.
Meanwhile, Shockey kept up the attack on his accuser.
"Sapp can say what he wants about me, but if he really says that he'll put his life on the line for his source, we'll see," said Shockey. "I've never been a guy who failed multiple drug tests. I've never been divorced. I don't have four kids by four different women. I don't lie. This attacks my character and it's not fair."
The out-of-work Shockey is still looking to hook up with a team in 2012, and— if he plays the Saints— it could be interesting.
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