No way. A team that knowingly greenlit headhunting? I don't think enough people get how incredibly bad this was. I do expect to see the penalties reduced like Goodell has done several times (Roethlisberger). But Williams is going to be gone for double the time Payton will be...and I wouldn't be stunned if Goodell decided to blackball him for good, seeing as he did it in Washington too.
He must have found out their put a bounty on one of is FAVORED players or Teams i.e. The Astericks .. er. . the Patriots and Brady Rocket River
The NFL is already facing its toughest challenge with former players and concussion lawsuits threatening to change the game forever, this kind of a scandal had to be addressed this way, Goodell really had no choice but to unload with both barrels on the Saints due to the current state of the NFL and the growing perception that this game is too violent to be played.
Love it. No place in the NFL for that crap. I think the coverup by Payton and the GM really compounded things.
Payton's is effective April 1st and he forfeits his 7 Million dollar salary for the season. Loomis is only suspended for the first 8 games of the season, meaning he'll be able to handle all his duties up until the regular season starts.
No doubt. They were supposedly shown email evidence that Payton and Vitt were basically going around picking up Williams' **** to try and cover everything up.
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They lied and tried to cover crap up. Unprecedented penalties, right? I don't recall ever reading or hearing about any penalites this extensive before.
Like they say, the cover up can be worse than the crime. Man, what a come down by Goodell. I honestly respect that because he sticks to his guns, does not fold under pressure for $$. You dont mess with the Rog. Also, specifically targeted QB's were Aaron Rogers, Cam Newton, Brett Favre and Kurt Warner
Arrian Foster is on the SVP show right now and they were just talking about this. He made a great point. He said the "what if" in regards to the bounty program is what makes it wrong. What if they targeted someone like, for example, Arrian last season when he wasn't making life changing money and injured him...ending his career. Now, Arrian is an extremely intelligent person and would probably still be able to make a good life for himself and his family. But many of the guys in the NFL aren't like Arrian and not having that career could be devastating...all for a $500 or $1000 or whatever it was bonus to a defender. The NFL did the right thing on these penalties. EDIT: Funny comment from the Yahoo story on the penalties... [rquoter]Teams paid thier players a bounty not to hit Mark Sanchez too hard and keep him in the game[/rquoter]
And James Harrison thinks the Commissioner just hates him... I can't believe he threw the hammer down like this. Good for him sending a strong message.
Thought yall would enjoy this piece from the Times Picayune today. Saints fans are all pissed off at the local columnist for telling it like it is: http://www.nola.com/saints/index.ssf/2012/03/duncan_take_on_bountygate.html
The Saints were two #1 draft picks away from being given the NFL equivalent of the Death Penalty. Who dat!
