One of the best running backs in the NFL will miss the first three games of the 2023 season. On Friday, the NFL announced Alvin Kamara of the New Orleans Saints is suspended for three games for his role in a 2022 fight in Las Vegas. Indianapolis Colts cornerback Chris Lammons was also handed a three-time suspension by the league for his role in the fight. Both players can play in preseason games and can return to the team on Monday, Sept. 25.
“Anytime you’re going to lose one of your better players for any period of time, it’s disappointing,” Saints head coach Dennis Allen said Saturday, per ESPN. “But I think a three-game suspension is a pretty good outcome for us. We’ll adjust accordingly and kind of move forward. It’s really not going to change a lot with our plan for what we’re doing right now. 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.”
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“Poor judgment on my end, definitely a bad decision, but I’m a man,” Kamara said on Friday before the suspension was announced. “Anything I’ve ever done in my life, I’ve stood on and I can take accountability for. I can say when I’m wrong, and I was completely wrong. I embarrassed the Saints, I embarrassed my family and my mother, I embarrassed myself, I embarrassed this city and the shield, obviously, I embarrassed the NFL.”
Before the suspension, Karama met with NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell to tell his side of the story. He apologized for his role in the fight, which left one man injured on the night before the Pro Bowl in Las Vegas. Kamara faced a felony charge but accepted a plea deal that reduced his charge to a misdemeanor.
Kamara, 28, has been with the Saints since being drafted by the team in the third round in 2017. In his six seasons with the Saints, Kamara has been named to the Pro Bowl five times and the All-Pro Second Team twice. Last year, Kamara rushed for 897 yards and two touchdowns while catching 57 passes for 490 yards and two touchdowns.
