The New Orleans Saints played a more extensive role than previously known in local church leaders’ damage control during a crisis brought on by clergy engaged in an alleged systemic campaign of sexual abuse,

A trove of emails shows the team’s leadership using its influence in New Orleans to aid the archdiocese, including writing talking points for media interviews.

For years the New Orleans Saints have worked to suppress information about its extraordinary relationship with the Catholic Church, and now everything is spilling out on the week the city is hosting the Super Bowl.