General Sports Water Cooler

Jonathan Vilma is not good.

I know players involved need to be punished hard, but this is a can of worms. There has to be some type of checks and balances for Goodell. Judge, jury, executioner and he decides on appeals of HIS decisions? That is not breaking news but it is what annoys me the most with this whole thing.

Don't the appeals go to an arbitrator? I honeslty don't know.

Could be wrong but I don't think so.

Yup. The coverup is always worse than the crime.

This, and also the owners can fire him whenever they want. Goodell's actions are, by extension, the owners' actions. And it's their league and they can do what they want.

That doesn't mean I agree with what he's been doing, just the truth of it.

As much as I hate Goodell with the heat of a gazillion supernovas, he's responsible for the integrity of the game and as commish should act accordingly. I think he's a raging hypocrite for pretending to care about player injuries while having pounded the poultry for an 18 game season, but that's another matter.

Vilma was considered the ringleader of the program, so he was going to get the most. Don't know how they came up with the number for the other guys.

some of you have probably already read this but here's the league's explanation per player as reported by espn:

Here is the explanation from the league on what each of the four players did to earn the punishment:
Vilma: “The investigation concluded that while a captain of the defensive unit Vilma assisted Coach Williams in establishing and funding the program. Multiple independent sources also confirmed that Vilma offered a specific bounty -- $10,000 in cash – to any player who knocked Arizona quarterback Kurt Warner out of the 2009 Divisional playoff game and later pledged the same amount to anyone who knocked Minnesota quarterback Brett Favre out of the 2009 NFC Championship Game the following week (played on Jan. 24, 2010). Vilma is eligible to be reinstated after the Super Bowl in 2013.’’

Smith: “Smith, a defensive end, assisted Saints defensive coordinator Gregg Williams in establishing and funding the program during a period in which he was a captain and leader of the defensive unit. Multiple independent sources also confirmed that Smith pledged significant sums to the program pool for 'cart-offs' and 'knockouts' of opposing players.”

Hargrove: “Actively participated in the program while a member of the Saints. Hargrove submitted a signed declaration to the league that established not only the existence of the program at the Saints, but also that he knew about and participated in it. The evidence showed that Hargrove told at least one player on another team that Vikings quarterback Brett Favre was a target of a large bounty during the NFC Championship Game in January of 2010. Hargrove also actively obstructed the league’s 2010 investigation into the program by being untruthful to investigators.’’

Fujita: “The record established that Fujita, a linebacker, pledged a significant amount of money to the prohibited pay-for-performance/bounty pool during the 2009 NFL playoffs when he played for the Saints. The pool to which he pledged paid large cash rewards for 'cart-offs' and 'knockouts,' plays during which an opposing player was injured.’’

The league went on to say that all the players are suspended without pay for “detrimental conduct."

“In assessing player discipline,” Goodell said, “I focused on players who were in leadership positions at the Saints; contributed a particularly large sum of money toward the program; specifically contributed to a bounty on an opposing player; demonstrated a clear intent to participate in a program that potentially injured opposing players; sought rewards for doing so; and/or obstructed the 2010 investigation.”

The players can appeal the suspensions, but Goodell already is indicating that a defense saying they were just following the orders of coaches will not fly.

“No bounty program can exist without active player participation,” Goodell said. “The evidence clearly showed that the players being held accountable today willingly and enthusiastically embraced the bounty program. Players put the vast majority of the money into this program and they share responsibility for playing by the rules and protecting each other within those rules.”

yeah, it's silly for the players to claim it didn't exist or that they had no part whatsoever, the evidence is there. They should have attempted to minimize their involvement.

It's like getting a speeding ticket. Do you argue in court that the radar gun lied or do you say you were just passing a car and that your driving record is good so the judge throws out the points and minimizes your fine?

@SI_JimTrotter: BREAKING: A 3-member appeals panel overturns player suspensions in #Saints bounty case. Details coming.

Looks like Vilma won his defamation suit. What about Payton?