Per Adam Schefter Adam Schefter @AdamSchefter Sean Payton suspended one year. Mickey Loomis 8 game and $500,000 fine. Saints fined $500,000 and a second round pick in 2012 and 2012.
Gregg Williams suspended indefinitely, Sean Payton 1 year, Joe Vitt 6 games and fined 100k, GM Mickey Loomis suspended 8 games and they lose their 2nd round picks in 2012 and 2013. Wow. Don't **** with The Rog.
Wow. I have to say I respect Goodell for backing up his words with some harsh discipline. A year for Payton, a half season for the GM, and an indefinite suspension for Williams sounds about right. My problem with David Stern is that actions often seem haphazard, but Goodell says something is forbidden and will lay the banhammer on those who cross the line.
i dont get what suspending the GM does? i guess he can't have access to his office in the building to work with agents, and make potential deals?
Something weird about such massive penalties for a bounty but slaps on the wrists for head-to-head hits. Strikes me as more NFL hypocrisy.
Imagine having Rick Smith suspended for the entire offseason and up to the trade deadline. Talk about screwing up your FA/draft plans. And throwing out HC and DC as well? Good grief, Goodell just absolutely neutered that team. Makes the Patriots penalties seem like child's play.
Gregg Williams isn't the DC anymore and it will probably be the first 8 games of the season for the GM, not the entire offseason.
Like everyone else, "Wow" I wonder if the Saints might now consider firing Payton. Going to lose him for a year, anyway - does it make sense to plug in an interim HC? What if they go 11-5 and have some postseaosn success? And how does this impact Brees' contract negotiations? I'm pretty floored. (And: the NFL bumped Tebow-to-the-Jets to page 2 - even better!)
Head to head hits are not always intentional and certainly not always malicious in nature. It's kind of natural football instinct to lower your head to go for a big hit. The bounties were set to deliberately trying to knock players out of the game.
I think it was all too much. I'd suspect there's going to be appeals all over the place...especially since there's been no sort of precedent for something like this.
Defensive Coordinator Gregg Williams implemented a "bounty" system in which players were given financial incentives if they knocked opponents out of the game. It appears that Sean Payton and Mickey Loomis knew about it all along and tried to cover it up.
