(05-03-2012 06:00 PM)AsylumGuido Wrote:  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.

(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.

(05-03-2012 06:48 PM)Jayhawk-Falcon2012 Wrote:  He's seriously just trolling around here.

(05-03-2012 06:51 PM)Radical Wrote:  Considering the fact he posts the same stuff on the Saints board he calls home and everywhere else he goes to, I don't think he's trolling. He seriously believes what he posts. Delusional homer? I'd say so. Troll. No.

(05-03-2012 06:22 PM)Radical Wrote:  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?

(05-03-2012 06:00 PM)ATLBound Wrote:  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."