Ovie Mughelli takes a tour of the Gulf Coast oil spill
Falcons fullback Ovie Mughelli took a tour of the Gulf Coast oil spill today. (Bob Andres / bandres@ajc.com)
BIRDLAND — Falcons fullback Ovie Mughelli, the team’s environmentally savvy activist, slipped behind enemy lines as part of a delegation of professional athletes to visit the Gulf Coast to explore the oil spill today.
Deep in the heart of New Orleans Saints territory, the boat Mughelli was on left from Myrtle Grove, Louisiana.
The group took a tour of the damage caused by the spill.
“On the whole boat ride you could see the booms trying to protect the coast, the wetlands and the marsh, but they weren’t doing the job,” Mughelli said via phone. “It wasn’t working 100 percent. There was still oil in the marsh. You can see where the oil had got into the pits of the marsh and devastated it. You could already see the process of where it was eroding the soil.”
Mughelli knows there are more environmental problems than what he could see from the boat.
Race car driver Leilani Munter.
“There is so much more going on underneath and that’s the scarier part,” Mughelli said. “There is twice as much going on underneath the water. There is more than what we can do with the resources that we have right now. It was a little disconcerting.”
Mughelli hopes to stress the connection between sports, health and a clean environment and why a full clean up could lead to more clean and renewable energy.
“I’m thrilled with the chance to come out here and see what’s going on first hand,” Mughelli said. “One of the most important things that you can do as an athlete is to make sure that other athletes, young and old, have a chance to do what we are doing, have clean water, have clean air, have clean beaches if you want to run on them to train. If we are supposed to be the responsible adults I feel like we are not doing our job right now. I’m very disappointed to see what we are leaving behind for the next generation to clean up.”
Other athletes on the tour included ex-NHL goalie Mike Richter, ex-Tampa Bay running back MikeAlstott, NHL player Andrew Ference, X game snowboarder Krista Bradford Ference, ARCA/NASCAR driver Leilani Munter, Olympic skier Stacy Cook, Olympic hammer thrower Loree Smith, Olympic race walker Gary Morgan and tennis star Chanda Rubin.
“This is not a (President Barack) Obama’s problem,” Richter said. “This is not a (British Petroleum) problem. This is everybody’s problem.”
Mughelli has been busy this offseason doing environment-friendly activities through his foundation. In addition to camps in Atlanta and his hometown of Charleston, he helped with a green event on Tybee Island.
The motto of Mughelli’s foundation is “our future is green.”
“I wish I could do more personally, but all I can do is spread awareness, help bring resources to the problem and hope that it is a wake-up call for us to move toward renewable energy, move away from oil and do right by our kids,” Mughelli said.
Tell us what you think about the site
Customer Care »
Vacation stops, manage subscriptions and more
AJC Services
Sections
Other Editions
Visitor Agreement | Privacy Statement
© 2013 The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
130 comments Add your comment
hiramsaint
July 14th, 2010
6:15 pm
what happened to smitty when he took a cheap swing at hall last year? where i work that would have been grounds for dismissal so don’t try to be the all knowing prognosticator of football justice. when the arbitration is over and the facts have been considered and the truth comes out we’ll know . right niether you or i know all the facts of the case so in the american way of justice i say innocent UNTILL proven guilty and so should you
SeenThisB4
July 14th, 2010
6:34 pm
Waynester: The league did not know anything about it a year ago. They were notified of the allegations, in March of 2010. And DEA and FBI know about it, but last I heard, they haven’t done anything with it. Hmmmm, I wonder why?
hiramsaint
July 14th, 2010
6:42 pm
he’s just bitter about the owning of the falcons by the saints for the last 4 years and like all falcons fans cannot accept the fact that their team wasn’t good enough. instead they use any excuse they can muster like refs, turf, bye weeks , away games, and the most famous 2 week magically healing phantom turf toe
SeenThisB4
July 14th, 2010
6:48 pm
And you know what Waynester? NOLA.com, AJC.com and every other news media outlet in the country, including all the major television networks were all reporting, just a few weeks ago, that BP was claiming only 1000 barrels of oil were leaking in the gulf, then it was only 5000 barrels oil were leaking every day. And yeah, they had video too. Where does that figure stand today?
Bottom line: Just cuz it’s reported in the media, doesn’t mean it’s true. CHECK AND MATE!
waynester
July 14th, 2010
7:09 pm
There is no checkmate–apples are not oranges–even the Times Picayunes’ Jeff Duncan wrote that both Jefferson Parish and DEA’s investigation was lackluster due to political pressure. You jokers can keep on trying to make this personal with me, but throwing up smokescreens, muddying the waters or whatever other cliched excuses you can imagine doesn’t change the fact that the Saints organization attempted to cover this up and when that failed tried to shift the focus onto Santini–the messenger they themselves hired to police an unruly franchise. Santini is SO distrusted that he was immediately hired as head of security for the entire UFL!
You’ve read no excuses being made by me for last season’s results and never will. It’s you fellows that continue to attribute those sentiments to me(unfairly, of course). Again, I expect no more from you, and much more from the League….
waynester
July 14th, 2010
7:23 pm
Furthermore, Santini was never fired–he resigned last August after trying to get Mickey Loomis to do the right thing for the franchise–after showing him video of LB’s coach Vitt removing hundreds of Vicodin from the team medical locker and audiotaped recordings of trainers Scottie Patton and Kevin Mangum discussing orders from Loomis to forge the medical logs to hide the theft.
You guys keep saying “wait for arbitration–we don’t know anything yet” which is patently false. The team only opted for arbitration at the 11th hour to prevent Santini’s lawyer from making the recordings public…..
SeenThisB4
July 14th, 2010
7:39 pm
Waynester: LOL! Your argument reeks of biasd, malicious rhetoric. I am not as gullible as you are, so I will agree to disagree with your vitriolic viewpoint..
waynester
July 14th, 2010
7:56 pm
The only gullibility on display here is your own, and the only maliciousness that of the Saint’s front office toward an honorable employee. As to the vitriol–guilty as charged…..
hiramsaint
July 14th, 2010
8:33 pm
after the vicodin thing i would think you would know better than to mess with vitroil. isn’t that stuff habit forming also?
hiramsaint
July 14th, 2010
8:40 pm
why wasn’t smitty more harshly punished for his assault on a player during a game on national t.v.? maybe nfl players and coaches are not held to a higher standard and after all of this debate what is the outcome? it’s in arbitration and none of us know the whole story. from what i’ve read and using logic—well, go re-read mypost @2:53 and 4:41
waynester
July 14th, 2010
10:02 pm
hiramsaint
apples and oranges–again….
Responding to a rival in the heat of competition vs. premeditated felony theft and felony attempts at cover-up/attempted career assassination of an innocent man…
The actual wording of the NFL rules: “all persons associated with the NFL must avoid’conduct detrimental to the integrity of and public confidence in the NFL’–this policy holds NFL employees to a higher standard, failure of which results in discipline, even when the conduct itself does not result in conviction of a crime”. I’m not making this stuff up just to argue with you and B4.
ps
vitriol is my drug of choice
hiramsaint
July 14th, 2010
10:35 pm
ones ok and one is not- i got ya now .i’ll be honest – if found guilty, then all parties involved should be disciplined severely but untill then you have to assume their innocence. smitty was giulty of striking out at another player, in a most cowardly fashion, and was slapped on the wrist so why shouldn’t it be pushed under the rug for our coach also. i’d have to say that smitty throwing a punch at a player on national t.v. was indeed conduct detrimental to the integrity of and public confidence. perhaps millions of people saw it , including children,yet he was allowed to slide so as not to embarass the nfl or the falcons. our guy is ACCUSED and you want to hang him from a yardarm [ if they still do that]. pretty effed up double standard don’t you think – of course you don’t.
waynester
July 15th, 2010
12:32 am
Smitty accepted his punishment and took it like a man. Will Peyton, or will he continue to obfuscate? To date, he has yet to admit receipt of hundreds of Vicodin from Vitt and has only vaguely adressed the matter by asserting that he “never abused painkillers” which is a non-answer. You keep changing the subject to Falcons personnel rather than your GM and coaches–even so, I’m not here to defend coach Smith’s reaction to Hall’s intrusion onto our sideline during the Wash. game but he didn’t contest the fine– he paid the price. Will Peyton, Loomis or Vitt? To date, they have not…..
SeenThisB4
July 15th, 2010
8:24 am
Smith didn’t contest the fine. That’s good. To Date, Payton, Loomis or Vitt have not been levied a fine. So, what in the world are you talking about?
SeenThisB4
July 15th, 2010
8:34 am
Waynester: Don’t get me wrong now, because I really don’t give a rat’s rear about you, but I do wonder what has soured you so much on the New Orleans Saints. You kinda remind me of a viqueen fans still agonizing over their 5 turnovers, and 12 men in the huddle, and non-flagged penalties on the repeated hits on Favre during the NFCC. Anyway, hope you enjoyed last night’s ESPY’s, yes the Saints won the “Best Team” Award and I just knew that that would make your day today. I laughed my lungs out thinking about you flinging your beer can at your television over that one. LOL!
waynester
July 15th, 2010
12:32 pm
Again with the personal stuff, eh?
As I’ve made clear (I thought) ESPN is a joke and their “awards show” even more meaningless than the Grammys. Congratulations on your team’s Superbowl win– they earned it on the field. My complaint continues to be with what the team’s leadership did (and are still doing) off the field. Change the name of the franchise involved to Raiders or Redskins and ESPN would be all over the story, you’d probably not care and I would still be outraged over the treatment of a lifetime law enforcement officer. At least you got a few chuckles last night and I slept like a baby having thoroughly enjoyed our online exchanges.
As far as Smith is concerned, your comrade hiramsaint kept dragging him into the discussion for comparison’s sake and the difference between their responses to being caught on tape doing wrong were like night and day. Smith admitted his mistake and paid the price. The Saints leadership is hiding behind their lawyer’s skirts, trying to push their comeuppance as far into the future as possible. The NFL wants the same thing–to drag it out long enough that the average sportsfan forgets that if justice had been swift , the complexion of last season would have been dramatically different with Vitt, Loomis and Peyton involved in litigation DURING the season. 31 other franchises were affected by the League’s footdragging, abetted by ESPN….
SeenThisB4
July 15th, 2010
1:41 pm
Maybe so, but Vitt and Payton were on the sidelines not on the field, and Loomis was up in his box suite during each and every game, so exactly how they other 31 franchises were affected is not as nubious as you would think. First of all, the Saints only played 15 of the other 31 franchises last year, therefore, more than half of the 31 teams you cite were not even remotely affected one way or another. Assuming that Payton and Vitt were either suspended, fired, incarcerated or otherwise indisposed, Gregg Williams would have managed the defense, and probably the offense as well, and Drew Brees would have managed the offense on the field. I bet Gregg Williams is as aggressive on offense as he is on defense. Exactly how these 15 teams would have benefitted by the absense of Payton and Vitt, nobody, including you, will never, ever know. Who knows, maybe we would have gone 19-0, instead of 16-3.
All I know is that Payton is going to be on the sidelines this year, and he is going to put a game plan together for each and every game.
I don’t recall the whole story on Smith and his altercation, but my guess would be is that that video made itself to the public airways, and it would have been extremely hard for him to “dodge” the fine. The Saints video on the other hand, hasn’t been made public, so right now, it’s Santini’s word against Loomis, Payton and Vitt’s statements. Since the Saints are my team, I’m standing with them, you certainly can’t find fault with that. If there was a story there, ESPN would be all over it, hell they spent an hour on Lebron saying: I’m going to Miami. Don’t hand me “collusion” between the Saints, ESPN, and NFL, just because the events haven’t unraveled like you would have liked them to. That’s just sour grapes.
Oh and regarding your allegation that the Saints management opted for arbitration at the 11th hour to keep those tapes from becoming public. First of all, arbitration, it requires both parties to agree to it. And as a condition of employment, didn’t Santini agree that any disputes would be settled via arbitration? I believe his contract did require that. So, it wasn’t so much that the Saints management opted for it, as much as they elected to go that route; it is cleaner, it is faster, and it is cheaper. And Santini agreed to it, probably cause he figures he can get “paid”. I still believe Santini is nothing more than a gold digger looking to get “his”, the easy way.
truth
July 15th, 2010
2:00 pm
Don’t worry waynester…..once the real aints show up this year, ESPN will start airing their dirty laundry. This dating relationship with ESPN and the aints will come to an end after they get slaughtered by the Vickings in their first game.
Hiram, write this down, the aints will get beat 35-13 to the Vickings. If the aints figure outa way to win, I will not write another word an this board.
truth
July 15th, 2010
2:01 pm
WOW….how retarded I typed Vickings. What an insult do the organization.
waynester
July 15th, 2010
3:13 pm
DLed
My rather lengthy and detailed responses to B4 continue to go un-posted–what gives?
SeenThisB4
July 15th, 2010
3:27 pm
Hmmm, I guess you have to add NBC to the conspiracy theory since the Saints/viqueens game will be broadcast live, nationwide on NBC. The Saints are not only going to beat down the vikings silly this year and send Favre back for more reconstructive ankle surgery, but they will be hoisting the Super Bowl Banner up in their collective faces! LOL! Two weeks after that, it will be time to dismantle the hopes and eviscerate the dreams of the falcant nation. I can’t wait!!! Who Dat!!!
SeenThisB4
July 15th, 2010
3:53 pm
Hey Waynester, don’t get your panties in a wad, but I’ve had enough of your so called lengthy and detailed responses. All you post is venomous allegations without a single firm fact as a basis, just what you have read in internet websites that you champion as truth. Don’t bother.
hiramsaint
July 15th, 2010
3:54 pm
truth- is that the truth? waynster- get the hint- d-led knows your just embarassing yourself and the true falcons fans and probably doesn’t want to post more conspiracy theory garbage about the saints and espn and whoever won’t let the falcons win a super bowl. it’s a dead horse but your determined to keep beating it the way we’ve beat y’all for the past 4 years. that has to be the root of your obsession with the saints. you really want to be a fan but your from atlanta and your friends may not approve. it’s o.k. waynster- be yourself and jump on our bandwagon and let all that pent up frustration just fly away
waynester
July 15th, 2010
3:58 pm
B4
First off, despite your penchant for name-calling and juvenile chest-pounding, I actually respect your loyalty and belief in the face of mounting evidence. I would expect no less from a true fan of his/her team. At some point , however, the rose-colored glasses have to come off and the facts faced.
I never asserted that Loomis the Commish and ESPN all sat down on a conference call and planned this out. What I do recognize is an identical alignment of interests. The NFL has spent millions over the last 5 years trying to rehab the image of the Saints as their “feel-good” franchise. Everyone loves an underdog and “feel-good” stories rope in the viewers for ESPN. Loomis and co. are the beneficiaries of this largesse. No one wants the boat rocked, even when obvious felonies are involved(ala Rothlisberger). This isn’t a one-team league, however, and yes there is a domino effect that disadvantages all 31 other teams. Even a die-hard fan like you must recognize the virtual impossibility of the Saints enjoying identical success last season with your key leadership either under suspension or in prison. Possible, yes–probable, no way. Yet you and other fans continue to parrot the Saint’s official position that Santini is merely a disgruntled ex-empolyee out for revenge when, in fact, before all this Santini and Loomis were good buddies–up to the point when Loomis tried to involve Santini in a felony cover-up. The team could have opted for arbitration immediately, but chose to use the time attempting a character assasination on a 31 yr FBI vet. Only when they became aware that Santini had his own copies of the incriminating tapes and was about to release them to the press did Loomis’ lawyers demand arbitration, cutting off any public discussion of the case. Now they are trying to drag out the proceedings, putting as much time as possible between the Superbowl celebrations and the public revealing of the facts. Santini’s attornies have repeatedly stated that they are ONLY seeking lost wages, court costs and public vindication of their client–hardly the gold-digging you accuse him of. I’m too cynical to expect justice in this or any other case involving the wealthy or famous in our society, but I hold out hope that our nation won’t continue to put these “stars” above the law….
waynester
July 15th, 2010
4:03 pm
Ledbetter doesn’t censor honest discussion so I assume it’s a technical issue not a subtle editorial gesture by our blog-meister. Ya’ll keep on attempting to make this personal and I’ll keep on stating facts….
Birdword
July 15th, 2010
4:07 pm
That was heckuva decent thing for Mughelli to do. Makes you proud to be a Falcon fan.
hiramsaint
July 15th, 2010
4:10 pm
smitty was guilty, as seen by millions. r-berger was guilty asseen by hundreds. no-one has seen or been able to prove anything against the saints except you waynster. how can that be ? do the laws of judicial prudence become non-existant at your place of being.? has GOD , himself, given you the gift of discernment and omniprescence in all things nfl and judicial? perhaps the commisioner could use your inside information since you and only you know of the felonious actvities of the saints orginization. but please show me your PROOF !
hiramsaint
July 15th, 2010
4:11 pm
whats up bird word – havin’ agood day so far?
waynester
July 15th, 2010
4:23 pm
Again with the personal attacks. No I haven’t been given omniscience, but the gift of discernment is given to all who truly seek it. In all humility, I suggest you actually attempt to find the truth about your GM and coaches instead of blindly following the party line. You act as if no information on this case is available when you obviously don’t want to know enough to simply do a modicum of research. I’ve already cited numerous sources which you dismiss or ignore, but try as you might , personal attacks don’t faze me in the least….
truth
July 15th, 2010
4:31 pm
PROOF!
truth
July 15th, 2010
4:31 pm
YOU CAN’T HANDLE THE PROOF!!
truth
July 15th, 2010
4:36 pm
You should be worried about your QB in that game Hiram. The Vikings D will have a big chip on their shoulders. WHO DAT, WHO DAT, WHO DAT GONNA GET HIT HARD BY DA MADDEN CURSE?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?
hiramsaint
July 15th, 2010
4:37 pm
how you doin’ today truth?
hiramsaint
July 15th, 2010
4:38 pm
well it ain’t gonna be ryan any time in his life!
hiramsaint
July 15th, 2010
4:39 pm
i take that back –his controller could jam up on him while he’s pretending to be a hof qb
truth
July 15th, 2010
4:47 pm
We will see how well your team does without the magic pills that pimp daddy payton won’t have to give out this year. Maybe he has a secret stash somewhere, because after that game Brees and the old men on the aints D will need them.
PROOF!
hiramsaint
July 15th, 2010
4:53 pm
actually our d is younger this year than last year. i’m sure with paytons connections , it won’t be a problem. you don’t get to the point where the nfl gives you a lombardi without havin’ some connections
hiramsaint
July 15th, 2010
4:54 pm
i was serious earlier truth… how ya’ doing today?
hiramsaint
July 15th, 2010
4:55 pm
waynster- still waiting on that PROOF!
truth
July 15th, 2010
4:56 pm
Very well, and yourself?
waynester
July 15th, 2010
5:00 pm
I’ve waited 24 hours for these “fans” to prove me wrong, yet I must conclude that they don’t give a hoot about the integrity of team management, could care less about the health of their head coach or the safety of their players,or whose lives are ruined in the process. The only thing that seems to matter to them is seeing that fleur-de-lis on ESPN and basking in the fleeting, reflected glory. True sportsmen, to be sure….
hiramsaint
July 15th, 2010
5:19 pm
truth- not to bad today but the humidity is pretty thick. waynster- you got it backwards we don’t have to prove anything but it’s you who must prove wrong doing if you allege that it actually happened. i care about the integrity , if you’ll note what i posted earlier. i totally agree if they are found guilty then they should be punished accordingly but thus far you’ve proved nothing but you have provided much heresay. gain i ask that you show your PROOF. CAN’T YOUR ALLEGATIONS BE SUBSTANTIATED? it’s o.k. waynster- we all know the answer to that and so do you
truth
July 15th, 2010
5:19 pm
Calm down Hiram…..are you still upset that your mom caught you “combing your hair” in the bathroom. And no we don’t want PROOF!!
truth
July 15th, 2010
5:20 pm
truth
July 15th, 2010
5:31 pm
Peace out!!! See you’ens around 9pm.
waynester
July 15th, 2010
5:38 pm
Actually TRUTH, I do care about proof. The type of proof the Saints fans are demanding, however, is the type found in court. Thanks to Saints management we will, unfortunately, be denied that standard of proof they demand. I must note that the standard of proof in a courtroom is not required in the court of public opinion where we are currently engaged. The only individual who has been willing to go on the record regarding this case is Mr. Santini, and they choose to disbelieve anything he has said, blindly following, hoping against all hope that it’s just not so. Where are the ringing endorsements of Mickey Loomis as a person of unassailable character? Where is the adamant insistence that coach Vitt would never steal drugs? Where are the assertions that Peyton would never lie about receiving stolen pain pills? Nowhere to be found–because they don’t even believe their own guys are coming clean. It’s easier for them to accuse the blameless of being motivated by money, when that’s the ONLY thing that matters to the franchise, the League and the sycophantic sports press.
Enjoy your fleeting fame–”nothing gold can stay”…..
hiramsaint
July 15th, 2010
6:06 pm
payton gave his statement but due to arbitration i believe niether side is allowed to discuss it publically so thats the reason for the silence. again – no proof on your part , only assumptions and you know what that makes of you. why your obsession with the saints? still waiting on your proof to prove their guilt and still not seeing it . just because you think or say it’s so doesn’t hold up to well for everyone else
SeenThisB4
July 15th, 2010
6:09 pm
Waynester: Didn’t I clearly state that I stand with the Saints? Why woulld you deem it necessary for there to be an individual endorsement of each of Santini’s vivtims? Unless of course it’s to make your
“lengthy” responses, longer.
The New Orleans Saints, THE NEW AMERICA’S TEAM!!!!
GEAUX SAINTS!!!
waynester
July 15th, 2010
6:12 pm
B4 they are the 3 accused of felony lawbreaking, not the other innocent members of the organization.
waynester
July 15th, 2010
6:19 pm
B4
just curious–was Gov Edwards innocent, too? He too was a “victim” of Santini’s prosecution….