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...

No ruling in Vilma vs. The NFL--For now

((ht: nola.com))

Roger Goodell on the left

The curious case of Saints linebacker Jonathan Vilma vs. Roger Goodell and the NFL will drag out just a bit longer.

That's because a Louisiana Federal Court Judge, despite telling Vilma's attorney she'd like to grant his request for a temporary restraining order, didn't do it.

Judge Ginger Berrigan held off making a decision today in a New Orleans courtroom that would have given Vilma the authority to return to his team, the Saints.

Read more from NOLA.com RIGHT HERE

You'll recall Vilma was suspended for the 2012 season by Goodell after he determined Vilma was a key cog in the alleged Saints Bounty Program.

Berringer decided to play it safe and wait until all of Vilma and his teammates appeals before an appeal board are heard and decided on.

Folks, specifically, those friendly to the Saints, need to just stand by. This about to become a major battle of lawyers and legalities and in the end, nobody will ever actually know if any of these allegations from either side are true.

And while Vilma certainly has nothing to lose here but a few bucks, the NFL, is probably getting REALLY nervous.

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))

Yahoo Sports: Anthony Hargrove admitted being told to deny

((ht: yahoosports/cole))

Why?

It just seems to be getting worse...and worse.

Just a week after Anthony Hargrove (now with the Packers), Jonathan Vilma and other Saints were suspended for their involvement with the New Orleans Bounty program, comes word today from Yahoo Sports that Hargrove signed a statement admitting being told to deny his involvement.

Yahoo's Jason Cole says that a declaration provided to the NFL by of all groups, the NFLPA quotes Hargrove as saying he was told in 2010 by coaches Gregg Williams and Joe Vitt that if were to be asked about any sort of "Bounty" system with the Saints, he should deny it.

The NFLPA says they provided the league the document to prove the players were acting under orders, but it what it does...is admit everyone's guilt.

Read more from YahooSports RIGHT HERE

OK.

This is getting stupid now.

We understand the NFLPA trying to stick up for their players, but they in fact are digging a deeper hole here. Yes, it sucks that Hargrove, Vilma and others are going to have to lose their livelihoods...albeit for a finite amount of time (they'll still make more than you and I ever will).

Really...while we get their attempt at trying to defend, this document admits their guilt. And everyone else involved. Just because they were allegedly pressured by coaches to deny participating doesn't make them any less guilty of doing it. Does it?

No, at this point everyone involved with this issue just needs to shut up. They just need to take their punishment like men, apologize and move on. The more they complain and try to prove their innocence, the deeper the hole gets.

Really guys.

Enough already.

We May Know Who The Saints Narc Is...

((HT: Fox8Live.com))

And it looks like Jeremy Shockey may have some more evidence against Warren Sapp...

Yes, it was a member of the Saints staff (allegedly), but it wasn't a player...

Lee Zurik did the handiwork...


Now, the larger questions...

Yes, the HQ gets that whoever went to John Barr had an axe to grind...
If this is the source, what can be taken from this...???
Isn't the statute of limitations gone...???
How much credence is there in the source, if any...???
And what can the Shield do about it since there may be no evidence left over...???

Jus' axin...

Congress interested in investigating NFL Bounties

Sen. Richard Durbin (D) Illinois

Really?

The government body that can barely agree on the time of day or if water is wet wants to investigate a problem in a professional sport?

Sorry, we generally don't like interjecting our political thoughts when it comes to sports, however, that appears to not be the case of Senator Dick Durbin of Illinois.

We say that there at least 1 or 2 more important things for the "Esteemed" body to spend their time with.

Durbin would like to convene the Senate's judiciary committee to find out more about the "Bounty" system the New Orleans Saints used to employ and got in a whole lot of trouble with. He wants to know if the other major sports do anything similar.

The short answer to that should be: "None of your damn business".

And that answer is not to belittle what the Saints did. It was wrong, they knew it was wrong and are now suffering because of it. We also aren't naive enough to think it might be something no other teams do.

That is why the leagues have discipline.

Once again, the Senate, Congress or any other political branch should keep their collective noses out of it. It quite honestly is not any of their business.

And even if it were, whichever side of the aisle (Durbin is a Democrat), is for it...the other would be completely against it, whether it was right or wrong. So anything they could potentially do, would never actually happen anyway. Heck, they can't agree on a budget, why would they agree on something like this?

And that folks, in a nutshell (or sentence), is why the country is stuck in first gear and why big businesses, such as the NFL can do whatever they see fit.