NFL: Vilma Suspended 1 year

[ATLBound]

(05-03-2012 10:42 AM)AsylumGuido Wrote:  You apparently believe everything you read.

And you apparently believe everything you read or hear from Saints players, personnel, or sources. How about posting Goodell's response to the players denial?

Or how about Vilma not denying anything until he was punished? Why couldn't Vilma say anything prior to this? He was THE most mentioned player involved the whole time. It all stinks and I've learned from Vick that no matter how sincere the words sound or seem, then I can't absolve anybody.

The last group of people I will believe when it comes to players are the NFLPA so don't give me any quotes from them.

What Saints fans are forgetting in all this is that Goodell will only be hurting himself if he lies. Why don't y'all see this? If you can tell me his "lies" won't affect him and explain how, then I will concede.

Everybody is saying and I agree that y'all got off easy and it was probably because of all the damn whining Saints fans have done since this started. Only 2 of the 4 players suspended are still on the team and one tge worst one yall have already gotten a replacement for. Take it for what it is.

[swanlee]

The coaches already admitted this was going on, you obviously can't have a program like this without player involvement. The crime has been confessed to their is no evidence and nothing more to prove to anyone.

The Fact breesus and all saints fans are still in some sort of denial\shield phase of this is retarded. The evidence is the mountain of documents the league has and obviously the confessions of the Saints coaching staff.

Their done, and there should have been more suspensions.

[RFlagg]

(05-03-2012 10:32 AM)AsylumGuido Wrote:  More players were not suspended because you and I have already seen all of the "evidence" Goodell has and you can expect three of the four players who were suspended to fight it with everything they have.

And "everyone" most surely has not admitted to having a bounty/pay to injure system. Almost everyone has vehemently denied that.

Vilma's official statement:

“I am shocked and extremely disappointed by the NFL’s decision to suspend me for the 2012 season. Commissioner Roger Goodell has refused to share any of the supposed evidence he claims supports this unprecedented punishment. The reason is clear: I never paid, or intended to pay, $10,000, or any amount of money, to any player for knocking Kurt Warner, Brett Favre or any other player out of the 2009 Divisional playoff game, 2010 NFC Championship Game or any other game.

“I never set out to intentionally hurt any player and never enticed any teammate to intentionally hurt another player. I also never put any money into a bounty pool or helped to create a bounty pool intended to pay out money for injuring other players. I have always conducted myself in a professional and proud manner.

“I intend to fight this injustice, to defend my reputation, to stand up for my team and my profession, and to send a clear signal to the commissioner that the process has failed, to the detriment of me, my teammates, the New Orleans Saints and the game.”

Smith's official statement:

“I am disappointed the NFL has punished me with a four-game suspension. I have never in my career, nor as a captain asked others, to intentionally target and hurt specific opposing players. I was in no way involved in establishing or assisting Gregg Williams with implementing a bounty program. The accusations made against me are completely and 100 percent false, and I plan to appeal the decision along with the help of the NFL Players Association. Through this entire process, the NFL never notified me of what I was being accused of, nor presented me with any evidence or reasoning for this decision. I am interested in discovering who is making these specific and false accusations, and as well as why a decision was made without speaking with me and giving me the opportunity to review the facts. I am going to work with my union to clear my name and returning to the game I love and respect. Thank you to our fans for the continued support.’’

Don't forget that Goodell invited the NFLPA to New York so he could share all of his "evidence". As of today the NFLPA, still has not seen any proof of any pay to injure scheme.

De Smith Statement:

The NFL Players Association said Wednesday that it still hasn't seen any evidence from the league office of involvement by the four suspended players in what it called "an alleged pay-to-injure program."

"We have made it clear that punishment without evidence is not fair," NFLPA executive director DeMaurice Smith said in a statement. "We have spoken with our players and their representatives, and we will vigorously protect and pursue all options on their behalf."

And this comes out, a former federal prosecutor says the penalties were warranted.

Quote:A former federal prosecutor hired by the NFL to review its investigation of the New Orleans Saints bounty scandal said the evidence was substantive, detailed and strong enough to warrant NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell's suspensions of players Jonathan Vilma, Will Smith, Anthony Hargrove and Scott Fujita.

Mary Jo White, who worked in cases against former mob boss John Gotti and other high profile trials, said her independent review showed Goodell was well within his right to come down as hard as he did on the four defensive players.

"There's no doubt how solid the evidence is," White said in an interview with NFL Network and NFL.com on Thursday. "In my life as a prosecutor I've had a lot less evidence for conviction."

Vilma was suspended for the 2012 season. Smith was suspended for four games, Hargrove, now with the Green Bay Packers for eight games and Fujita, who plays for the Cleveland Browns, for three games. All but Vilma can take part in all team activities through the preseason. Vilma's suspension took effect Wednesday when the punishment was announced. All players plan to appeal to Goodell.

Vilma, as well as several players and the NFL Players Association, have argued that the NFL has not shown any evidence tying any players to a "bounty" program. White said the evidence not only shows a program was in place -- Hargrove gave written testimony to the fact, which White said was corroborated by other sources -- but that there is a money trail of sorts.

"No question," White said. "This was a pay-for-performance bounty program, which is clearly prohibited. It did involve funding that pool and payouts of money for plays that included legitimate defensive plays but also plays that plainly involve injuries to other players. This program provided rewards for these kinds of things."

Vilma was cited for offering $10,000 to any player that injured former Arizona Cardinals quarterback and current NFL Network analyst Kurt Warner in a playoff game in 2009 as well as offering the same reward for then-Minnesota Vikings quarterback Brett Favre the following week. Vilma vehemently denied that charge.

"I never paid or intended to pay $10,000 or any amount of money to any player for knocking Kurt Warner, Brett Favre or any other player out of the 2009 divisional playoff game, 2010 NFC championship game or any other game," Vilma, a defensive captain, said in a statement Wednesday. "I also never put any money into a bounty pool or helped create a bounty pool intended to pay out money for injuring other players."

The brunt of the player punishment seems to stem from actions that took place during the Saints' playoff run en route to the Super Bowl following the 2009 regular season. The NFL initially opened an investigation into a "bounty" program with the Saints then but that was ended things when their inquiries were blunted, which the NFL said now, was because it was lied to.

White said the Saints' infractions "escalated" around the 2009 playoffs but the punishments were for a bounty program that existed through last season -- and the playoffs. White also re-iterated that players declined to be interviewed by the NFL and missed out on the chance to rebut any of the accusations but added that the evidence was so strong against the players, she's not sure how much of a difference their testimony would have made.

White also said that the punishment, based on the evidence, was appropriate.

"In my opinion they certainly were," she said. "It was a decision by the Commissioner but given the nature of what's involved here, it directly threatens player safety and integrity of the game. In my view (the punishments) certainly were appropriate, they should have been strong and they were."

[ATLBound]

Damn....I'm impatiently waiting for the response.

[swanlee]

Yep this part here blows away anything Guido can say, if the players aren't even going to bother to defend them self and the coaches have already confessed to guilt added to the mountain of evidence Goodell has I do not want to hear another word about needing more evidence or an explanation for the punishment.


"White also re-iterated that players declined to be interviewed by the NFL and missed out on the chance to rebut any of the accusations but added that the evidence was so strong against the players, she's not sure how much of a difference their testimony would have made."

[JDaveG]

(05-03-2012 10:49 AM)AsylumGuido Wrote:  My statement that there were "no excuses necessary" referred to my expectations on the success of the Saints this season. I have repeatedly said that any punishment would by no means cripple the Saints and, as unjust as I feel the punishment was, it will not cripple the Saints at all. No excuses will be needed.

In other words, you're making excuses, like I said you would. Thanks for clarifying.

[AsylumGuido]

(05-03-2012 11:20 AM)ATLBound Wrote:  And you apparently believe everything you read or hear from Saints players, personnel, or sources. How about posting Goodell's response to the players denial?

Or how about Vilma not denying anything until he was punished? Why couldn't Vilma say anything prior to this? He was THE most mentioned player involved the whole time. It all stinks and I've learned from Vick that no matter how sincere the words sound or seem, then I can't absolve anybody.

The last group of people I will believe when it comes to players are the NFLPA so don't give me any quotes from them.

What Saints fans are forgetting in all this is that Goodell will only be hurting himself if he lies. Why don't y'all see this? If you can tell me his "lies" won't affect him and explain how, then I will concede.

Everybody is saying and I agree that y'all got off easy and it was probably because of all the damn whining Saints fans have done since this started. Only 2 of the 4 players suspended are still on the team and one tge worst one yall have already gotten a replacement for. Take it for what it is.

Goodell's lies will hurt him. Or the lies that he choose to believe. As for Vilma, he has been denying the claim that he put up money or was anyway involved the whole time. He didn't just now deny it. Go look up his twitter timeline and you'll see his official statement simply reiterated what he has been declaring all along.

[AsylumGuido]

(05-03-2012 01:39 PM)swanlee Wrote:  Yep this part here blows away anything Guido can say, if the players aren't even going to bother to defend them self and the coaches have already confessed to guilt added to the mountain of evidence Goodell has I do not want to hear another word about needing more evidence or an explanation for the punishment.


"White also re-iterated that players declined to be interviewed by the NFL and missed out on the chance to rebut any of the accusations but added that the evidence was so strong against the players, she's not sure how much of a difference their testimony would have made."

The Saints coaches have not admitted that there was any bounty system or pay to injure going on. They did take blame for the pay for performance thing going on under their watch.

As for the players, they were clearly instructed by the NFLPA lawyers to wait for evidence or charges to be explained before responding. This is going to get real messy for the league, especially if/when it turns out that there source or sources may be tainted.

[phocis850]

(05-03-2012 01:59 PM)AsylumGuido Wrote:  Goodell's lies will hurt him. Or the lies that he choose to believe. As for Vilma, he has been denying the claim that he put up money or was anyway involved the whole time. He didn't just now deny it. Go look up his twitter timeline and you'll see his official statement simply reiterated what he has been declaring all along.

Sorry, the evidence is there, just not in the matter you want. All you can do is just say, "OK, whats done is done."

It's just laughable to me that a bounty system was proven to be going on my Williams yet none of the players were involved, least that's what they claim anyway. lol.

[juraitwaluzka]

He has already been punished, he has nothing to gain by starting to tell the truth now. Lied from the start, still lying. That is far more plausible than some sort of Goodell vendetta conspiracy.