The Shield Reissues BountyGate Suspensions

The NFL has re-issued the suspensions to the four players involved in the New Orleans Saints Bounty Gate investigation.

To wit:

Jonathan Vilma will be suspended a full season again,
Scott Fujita will be suspended three games again but it was reduced to one,
Will Smith will be suspended four games again and,
Anthony Hargrove will be suspended eight games again, but it was reduced to seven.

Those suspensions were overturned over a month ago by an arbitor who claimed that NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell went down the wrong path in trying to investigate and suspend the four along with Saints coaches Sean Payton, Gregg Williams, and Joe Vitt. If Goodell were to follow proper protocol, the suspensions would have stuck and the arbitor intimated as much in his ruling.

Goodell resubmitted and, voila!

Here's the release from the league that was shared with Vilma:

“At our meeting, you confirmed that cart-offs and knockouts were part of a broader program in place among the Saints’ defensive players. You confirmed that these terms referred to plays in which an opposing player has to leave the game for one or more plays. You confirmed that, as Coach Vitt testified, an opposing player’s need for smelling salts under a trainer’s care was a consequence of the kind that the program sought to achieve and for which players were offered cash rewards from the incentive pool.

“I also find that you engaged in conduct detrimental by offering a substantial financial incentive to any member of the defensive unit who knocked Brett Favre out of the Saints’ 2009 NFC playoff game against the Vikings. (There is also credible evidence that you made a similar pledge regarding Kurt Warner in the immediately preceding playoff game against the Cardinals, but whether you made multiple pledges of that kind does not matter for purposes of the discipline that I have decided to impose.)"

The NFLPA, which probably, will appeal rather quickly (again) came back with this:

"For more than six months, the NFL has ignored the facts, abused the process outlined in our collective bargaining agreement and failed to produce evidence that the players intended to injure anyone, ever. The only evidence that exists is the League’s gross violation of fair due process, transparency and impartiality during this process. Truth and fairness have been the casualties of the league’s refusal to admit that it might have made a mistake."

The NFLPA has 72 hours to file their appeal and the players still, presumably, can participate in team activities until a final verdict is reached...

Ed Werder has more with FOSG Mike Hill and Michael Kim... and Werder's in your head...
((HT: ESPN))

Vilma Meets Goodell, More Evidence Presented...???

((HT: ESPN))

And now it's Round Two...

The HQ is under the impression that the BountyGate Four will get suspended again... it'll just take a little more time...

And the first step for that to happen again was the meeting (or re-meeting) of New Orleans Saints LB jonathan Vilma and the Jolly Roger his own self.

According to sources (and we all enjoy the idea of unnamed sources) The Shield gave Vilma an affidavit from Gregg Williams that Vilma offered $10,000 to any teammate who knocked Brett Favre out of the 2010 NFC Championship Game. In that same affidavit, Williams confirmed a pay-for-performance pool funded by the Saints players,

The HQ will always maintain that, as long as there is no money trail, all of this paperwork is pretty frivolous. But that's just us...

The three others suspended in the scandal, Scott Fujita, Anthony Hargrove, and Will Smith are set to meet Commissioner Goodell Tuesday.

Ed Werder has more...


Here is the link to the Williams affidavit... if you want to read that kind of stuff...

"Bountygate" Suspensions Overturned

((HT: Fox8Live.com))

The suspensions of Jonathan Vilma, Scott Fujita, Anthony Hargrove, and Will Smith have been wiped off the books for now, thanks to a three-person appeals panel.

Leave it to Vilma to quote "Family Guy" on his Twitter feed:

"Victory is mine!!!! -stewie griffin"

The panel believes that NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell overstepped his authority in hearing the appeals.

"Whether the commissioner tries to readdress the situation or not is his call," said Peter Ginsberg, Vilma's attorney, in a statement. "We are certainly hoping the appeals board has made it clear the commissioner tried to grab jurisdiction and impose penalties over an area he does not have oversight. ... The factual record in the court makes it clear he has acted in a biased and inappropriate manner."

NFL legal counsel Jeff Pash came back with the idea that "nothing in today's decision contradicts any of the facts found in the investigation into this matter, or absolves any player of responsibility for conduct detrimental. Nor does the decision in any way suggest what discipline would be appropriate for conduct that lies within the authority of the Commissioner."

Evan Andersen has the understandable reaction...
New Orleans Local News, Weather, Sports, Investigations

Smith and Fujita could possibly play Sunday while Hargrove can now look for an employer and Vilma could play in the next few weeks as he's still recovering from off-season surgery.

This now brings the HQ the question of Sean Payton and Joe Vitt- since Gregg WIlliams, apparently, signed his life away for his suspension.

Jus' axin...

No Surprise: Saints players Bounty Suspensions upheld

Roger Goodell

No, don't make the "Oh My!" face, because this isn't a shock.

At all.

The NFL announced Tuesday afternoon that after further review (wink, wink) they've decided to uphold the suspensions on Scott Fujita, Anthony Hargrove, Will Smith and Jonathan Vilma for taking part in the much discussed bounty program alleged to have taken place while they all were players on the New Orleans Saints.

You can read the Press Release from the NFL RIGHT HERE

The commish (Jolly Roger himself) said; “Throughout this entire process, including your appeals, and despite repeated invitations andencouragement to do so, none of you has offered any evidence that would warrant reconsideration of your suspensions. Instead, you elected not to participate meaningfully in the appeal process…”

Goodell added; “Although you claimed to have been ‘wrongfully accused with insufficient evidence,’ your lawyers elected not to ask a single question of the principal investigators, both of whom were present at the hearing (as your lawyers had requested); you elected not to testify or to make any substantive statement, written or oral, in support of your appeal; you elected not to call a
single witness to support your appeal; and you elected not to introduce a single exhibit
addressing the merits of your appeal. Instead, your lawyers raised a series of jurisdictional and
procedural objections that generally ignore the CBA, in particular its provisions governing
‘conduct detrimental’ determinations…”

So there!

Essentially the commish is calling them all out, including Vilma, who is currently suing him in Lousiana Federal Court and saying "Prove to me I'm wrong". Fujita (now with the Browns) is supposed to sit 3 games, Hargrove (Packers) is docked 8 games, Smith (Saints) four games and Vilma is benched for 2012.

We know Fujita has said "I had nothing to do with it" and Hargrove is now denying that his voice is the one heard agreeing to be paid for his participation.

Goodell is putting the players, who have been on a PR offensive on the defensive here. Let's see how they respond.

Here's the NFLPA's response in the interest of equal quotation...

Vilma Leaves NFL Meeting Early

((HT: ESPN))

The four NFL players associated with the so-called "Bountygate" had their day with Commissioner Roger Goodell- and one left really early...

Jonathan Vilma only hung around for an hour before stating his case in front of a bunch of microphones...



The other three players, Anthony Hargrove, Scott Fujita, and Will Smith all arrived at the NFL offices with their lawyers as, apparently, Vilma came separately with his attorney. The NFLPA put out a statement on behalf of their players in this case:

"Shame on the National Football League and Commissioner Goodell for being more concerned about 'convicting' us publicly than being honorable and fair to men who have dedicated their professional lives to playing this game with honor."

Yes, the HQ is aware that the Jolly Roger is judge, jury, and executioner in all of this. Some evidence would be nice, but it's his sandbox...

Pamphilon: Fujita Claims He "Used To Be" Gregg Williams

((HT: SeanPamphilon.com))

In light of the knowledge of evidence of a ledger that allegedly told New Orleans Saints players how much they would get for "whacks" and "cart-offs," but deducted for "mental errors" filmmaker Sean Pamphilon has posted a recap of his eyewitness accounts during the shooting of the Steve Gleason documentary where the Gregg Williams audio tape came to light...

Here's an excerpt from a moment Scott Fujita, Gleason, and Pamphilon experienced back on January 12, 2012

15 minutes after the meeting ended, I was sitting at a table in a room where players and coaches were sampling from a buffet. Scott Fujita and Gregg Williams exchanged pleasantries, as his former coach passed by with a plate of food.

Fujita looked at me and said under his breath, “I can’t believe I used to be that guy,” referring to once being part of the scene we had just witnessed.

Pamphilon goes on to publish a series of texts between himself and Fujita expressing concern as to whether or not the audio should make light- and they're long... also, though, they're worth reading... and recaps how what he wanted to do as a project seems to have gone completely out of control...

Fujita seems to have a sense of remorse in seeing the sport he played drift to where it is inside the Saints locker room...

Jason Cole for Yahoo!Sports also follows the ledger story and says that the Jonathan Vilma case may come down to semantics... just because there is a ledger doesn't mean anyone followed through on the idea of the payoffs...

Here's Fujita discussing what went down on the first day of OTA's...
((HT: Ohio.com))

BREAKING: Jolly Roger Drops The Hammer, Players Plan Appeal

Here's the early deal...

Jonathan Vilma gets a full year's suspension... on two occasions, Vilma allegedly had $10,000 bounties on both Kurt Warner and Brett Favre in the playoffs and the Enn-Eff-Cee title game, respectively...

Like here...
((HT: ktowntigerv3/youtube/NFL on FOX))


Anthony Hargrove, now with the Packers, gets 8 games for participating in the program and obstructing investigators...

Will Smith gets four games for allegedly assisting payoffs in the "knockout" pool...

Scott Fujita, now with the Browns, gets three games... he allegedly pledged money to the "knockout" pools...

Here's the official release from the league, thanks to our friends at WWL-TV

More when we know more...

1240 UPDATE: We know more...

The four players are planning an appeal and a subsequent legal battle... they had three days to make that decision...

According to Michael David Smith at PFT, the four have already started the process and, according to the four-letter's Adam Schefter:

“Get ready for a massive legal battle on many fronts,” Schefter quoted a source as saying.