By - Shayne Carnahan
It seems like Roger Goodell has had it in for the Saints organization this entire offseason.
The Super Dome is hosting the Super Bowl this season, and the Saints had hoped to be the first team to have home-field advantage for the big game.
They can all but forget that now.
Supposedly, and I say supposedly because the NFL has yet to show hard evidence of the issue -- the Saints players and coaching staff had a bounty system in place for the last several years.
The NFL is moving completely off of supposed eye-witness accounts of these happenings taking place. But to me, they never proved anything, nor provided the names of these "witnesses," so no one knows how true these allegations really are.
It seems like Roger Goodell has had it in for the Saints organization this entire offseason.
The Super Dome is hosting the Super Bowl this season, and the Saints had hoped to be the first team to have home-field advantage for the big game.
They can all but forget that now.
Supposedly, and I say supposedly because the NFL has yet to show hard evidence of the issue -- the Saints players and coaching staff had a bounty system in place for the last several years.
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| Photo by: Getty Images |
Now, I'm not a Saints fan. Nor do I think what they did was right, if they in fact did anything at all. However, the punishment these guys received was entirely too much.
Coach Sean Payton was suspended for the ENTIRE season, from the opening snap till the final whistle blows at the end of the Super Bowl. Payton can't even come to the facility, see the players, or talk to anyone within the league itself.
That's insane.
Joe Vitt, who was named interim head coach, was suspended for 6 games. What's crazy about that is, Vitt wasn't even talked about until he was named interim head coach.
Seems pretty odd to me.
Gregg Williams, the Saints defensive coordinator from 2009-2011, is now with the St. Louis Rams. Williams was signed by the Rams before all this came about. He's now suspended indefinitely, meaning it is up to Goodell when Williams can be back on the sidelines again. So now Goodell is not only hurting the Saints chances in 2012, but other teams as well.
Saints linebacker Jonathan Vilma has been suspended for the entire season. Vilma was the alleged "ring leader" of the whole operation. But once again, the NFL has no real proof of this. Other players suspended were Saints defensive end Will Smith for 4 games, Packers defensive tackle Anthony Hargrove for 6 games, and Browns linebacker Scott Fujita for 3 games.
The Saints organization was fined $500,000, and had their second round draft pick in this year's and next year's draft taken away.
It seems to me that Goodell has failed to realize that the NFL is how all these guys make their living. He is taking away everything they have worked so hard to attain.
And the saddest part is, he doesn't seem to care.
Seriously, what are you talking about? The NFL is moving completely off of supposed eye witness accounts? Gregg Williams ADMITTED to all of it. Plus they had him on tap from the 49ers playoff game. The organization is CLEARLY guilty and deserved everything they got.
ReplyDeleteI agree slightly with both James and Shayne. I think the reason Goodell came down so hard on the Saints was to protect the NFL's butt against lawsuits, so when he goes in front of a judge or congress, Goodell can be like look we are taking player safety seriously. I have to agree with Stephen A. Smith about Jonathan Vilma. If you were really that innocent then why wait till Goodell suspends you do you finally say you're innocent. Everybody knew Goodell was going to suspend Vilma and he had to know it is as well. If I was innocent I would be taking to social media and proclaiming my innocence before Goodell even issued the punishment. Shayne you're also forgetting about the Pain Pills scandal from a few years ago in which Payton lied about. The Commissioner HATES getting lied to and thus I think he showed with Payton nobody will lie to him ever again or face the worst. This will work to eliminate bad behavior, so I think it's a good thing.
ReplyDeleteSupposedly? It's a fact that it happened!! You could say you think Goodell was too hard on them, but to imply it's possible they did nothing is insane. I've read several of your posts in the past and I've come to the conclusion that you have little to no knowledge of any of the subjects you cover. The gap between you and the next person writing on here is wide enough to drive a truck through.
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