NFL: Saints Bounty Thread

[AsylumGuido]

(12-13-2012 02:22 PM)RnB Wrote:  It is unfortunate that the Saints were made an example of. There is no taking it back now, especially in the world of public opinion or sports media. No outcome will ever completely absolve the Saints. The main issue I have always had with this thing is that they were told to cease and desist, in an official manner, and failed to do so. If ANY franchise is told that their locker room betting/pools are becoming a problem (for whatever reason), and they say "Fuck you, they aren't a problem", the NFL has every right to take action against them. Period.

At that point, no matter how prevelant locker room pools are across the league, the Saints organization fucked up. In my estimation, they got what they deserved for defying the league office. Its dirty as hell that the FO and coaching staff of the Saints put themselves in that position, dragging all their players along with them, but the fact remains that it DID happen. There DO need to be punishments levied and no amount of legal nonsense in the world will change that.

Whether the players need to be punished is up for debate, as Tag's ruling noted. I do not think Goodell stepped over his bounds or levied harsher punishments than were deserved. I think he was doing his job, which is to protect the NFL on behalf of the Owners.

They were asked if they were placing bounties on opposing players and they told Goodell that they weren't. Goodell told them if you are you must stop. They weren't so there was nothing to stop. They had a performance pool, but that is not at all the same as putting bounties on players for intentional injury.

Two years later an ex-employee fabricates stories about the Saints intentionally targeting players for injury and goes to the league with it. Goodell gets all bent out of shape and feels he was lied to. He wasn't. There was never any bounties. He screwed up.

Yes, the Saints should have stopped the harmless pool, but it did not warrant a full year suspension of a head coach when no head coach in the history of the game had ever even been suspended a single game. Goodell screwed up big time. He has done more harm to the NFL than any little performance pool could have achieved.