NFL: Vilma Suspended 1 year

[RFlagg]

(05-03-2012 02:06 PM)AsylumGuido Wrote:  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.

EDIT:
Also

[RockHoward]

The player suspensions are a fait accompli at this point. The only question remaining is whether these players will be reinstated after they have served their suspensions. I wouldn't be surprised to see the suspensions go in indefinitely for players who continue to resist getting right with Goodell.

Another interesting point concerns the length of Vilma's suspension. It is entirely possible that the league office had settled on a shorter suspension for Vilma but when the Saints restructured his deal in an to attempt to lessen the hit on Vilma, the league office felt compelled to lengthen the suspension accordingly so that the punishment would still fit the alleged crime.

[Templar]

I wonder what color the sky is in this fantasy world guido lives in.

[Drathdon]

Hargrove Signed a Letter Stating He Did It, and Admitted Program

Quote:The league said Hargrove "actively obstructed the league's 2010 investigation into the program by being untruthful to investigators." He also "actively participated in the program while a member of the Saints," the league said, adding that he eventually "submitted a signed declaration to the league that established not only the existence of the program at the Saints, but also that he knew about and participated in it."

Guido... How can you still be blind when one of "your own" even comes right out and signs his name to a letter saying he, and the others, did it? You are really being obtuse.

[pauliwood]

(05-03-2012 03:19 PM)Templar Wrote:  I wonder what color the sky is in this fantasy world guido lives in.

Gold and black I would imagine.

[ATLBound]

It's really getting getting disgusting. Through all of the "info" Guido has, he ironically chose to ignore the post by Rflagg that quotes the former federal prosecutor named Mary Jo White that was hired by the NFL.

What is your response to that Guido? What is your rebuttal? AND why do you keep saying the Saints coaches have not admitted to this bounty?

- Sean Payton admitted an email was related to a bount on Aaron Rodgers
- Gregg admitted to the bounty

What coaches are you referring to...Joe Vitt? He looks like the most clueless one of them. He looks like he just follows orders.

Payton to Joe: "Hey Joe, when you give this speech, then let's make sure it's believable and let's feed into the New Orleans rowdiness and false idea that they are being bullied"

[ATLBound]

Here you go Guido...just in case you "missed" it.


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."

[AsylumGuido]

(05-03-2012 04:21 PM)Drathdon Wrote:  Hargrove Signed a Letter Stating He Did It, and Admitted Program


Guido... How can you still be blind when one of "your own" even comes right out and signs his name to a letter saying he, and the others, did it? You are really being obtuse.

He supposedly signed a letter saying he participated in a pay for performance program. Fujita admitted the same thing, but adamantly denies anything approaching bounties to target players for injury.

I absolutely believe whatever did go on was in no way as egregious as Goodell has made it out to be and no shred of evidence he has shared proves any different. You chose to believe what you want to believe. You do not require proof. I understand that. But the players who have been suspended and have had their names dragged through the mud deserve proof, especially when they know that no real proof can exist.

[JDaveG]

(05-03-2012 06:00 PM)AsylumGuido Wrote:  He supposedly signed a letter saying he participated in a pay for performance program. Fujita admitted the same thing, but adamantly denies anything approaching bounties to target players for injury.

I absolutely believe whatever did go on was in no way as egregious as Goodell has made it out to be and no shred of evidence he has shared proves any different. You chose to believe what you want to believe. You do not require proof. I understand that. But the players who have been suspended and have had their names dragged through the mud deserve proof, especially when they know that no real proof can exist.

You are seriously a buffoon. This is actually sad to watch.

"You do not require proof." "No real proof can exist." Etc. We heard the damn tape, Guido. The pay for performance ADMITTEDLY involved "cart offs," etc. You're the one who will not have any degree of proof. In your mind, this much is right -- "no real proof can exist." That's the bottom line -- you won't accept proof for what it is.

[Radical]

Why do you continue to deny that Saints coaches, players, and other people inside and outside the organization put money up for injuries to other players?