NFL: Saints Bounty Thread

[AsylumGuido]

(10-19-2012 11:54 AM)JDaveG Wrote:  The league has given the commissioner authority to determine these matters. Conveniently glossing past that won't change the fact.

There is no law on the books saying you cannot carry a gun in the non-terminal areas of an airport, either. But there is a regulation. Congress gave the administrative arm of the executive rulemaking authority to prohibit this.

Now, if you want to test that by strolling into an airport with an openly exposed sidearm, be my guest. I don't think your logic is going to sway the TSA, though.

But, there isn't even a regulation against pay for performance. Here is what the NFLPA says in filing this info with the Louisiana court:

Packers: NFL approved Super Bowl XXXI champs' bounty system, players union says

Quote:In the reports, an NFL spokesman is quoted as saying the incentive programs are permitted as long as players use their own money and the amounts players pledge are not exorbitant.

NFL spokesman Greg Aiello said Thursday night that the league would defer comment to its forthcoming arguments in court.

The NFLPA seized upon the NFL's 1996 stance particularly as it related to Fujita, who Goodell suspended this for one game this season even though he said he could not verify that Fujita participated in the bounty program the league says the Saints ran for three seasons from 2009 to 2011. Goodell said Fujita, now with Cleveland, was still guilty of violating NFL rules by offering his own incentives for big plays and also, as a team leader, by failing to try to stop to the cash-for-hits program overseen by then-Saints defensive coordinator Gregg Williams.

The union said that while the NFL's player safety goals may have evolved since 1996, it is unfair to punish players for behavior it previously permitted without formally spelling out that such behavior is no longer allowed.

"The fact that the NFL has a different agenda today than it did in 1996 cannot change the unequivocal language of the NFL Constitution & Bylaws, which has never prohibited this type of behavior," the union wrote in its legal briefs. "The Commissioner's attempt to nonetheless suspend and scapegoat Mr. Fujita for conduct - incentivizing undisputed, legitimate plays — never before punished or prohibited by the NFL not only violates the 'essence of the (collective bargaining) agreement' but further demonstrates the Commissioner's evident partiality."