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http://www.cbssports.com/nfl/blog/eye-on...ounty-case

There is plenty of evidence that Vilma did what he is accused of, but I'm just going to remove the penalties. WOW. This is a major victory for bullies of the world.

interesting..............................

Similar cases came up when Tagliabue was commissioner and he basically ignored them. Comes as no surprise to me that it was swept away again. This had years of legal maneuvering all over it. Better to be done with it now.

Just think, They all wanted him to recuse himself too.

The NFL and BCS should start playing a yearly Hypocrisy Bowl. Winner gets to shoot a baby seal.

(12-11-2012 03:40 PM)Blazer on the southside Wrote:  There is plenty of evidence that Vilma did what he is accused of, but I'm just going to remove the penalties. WOW. This is a major victory for bullies of the world.

I don't get it. I thought the length of some of the suspensions was a bit overkill, but nothing? I'm sure these will be the same guys suing the NFL in 20 years because the league didn't protect them.

By essentially declaring amnesty, the leadership was able to "contain" the scandal to one year - 2012 - and not have it hanging around for several more. The Saints were stung to the point of not making the playoffs where the real money is made beyond base pay for one year and the message was made clear enough that the league will do more if the same misuse of skills is detected. The NFL wants to get past this scandal as quickly as possible so that 2013 will be "back to normal" competition.

The CBA has guidelines for player suspensions, like for those due to performance enhancing drugs, illegal hits, etc. Goodell can't just ignore it and do whatever the hell he wants. If he wanted unlimited, unchecked power when it comes to player suspensions, he shouldn't have agreed to it. Tagliabue realized that the suspensions were outside the boundaries of the CBA and corrected it. Goodell already wrecked the Saints season anyways. It's not as if they are getting away scot-free.

A Win for bullies. They got some punishment but this like turning around and saying "I am sorry for grounding you, even though you did deserve it."

(12-11-2012 08:03 PM)BlazerFan11 Wrote:  The CBA has guidelines for player suspensions, like for those due to performance enhancing drugs, illegal hits, etc. Goodell can't just ignore it and do whatever the hell he wants. If he wanted unlimited, unchecked power when it comes to player suspensions, he shouldn't have agreed to it. Tagliabue realized that the suspensions were outside the boundaries of the CBA and corrected it. Goodell already wrecked the Saints season anyways. It's not as if they are getting away scot-free.

Goodell did not wreck the Saints season. They wrecked their own season. Goodell didn't make them give up the most yards in the league. Goodell didn't make them give up 29 points a game. Goodell didn't make them lose to Carolina and Kansas City. Everybody has to have somebody else to blame. The Saints suck this year because they can't play defense, and Brees can't throw the ball to the right jerseys at least once a game. The guys who were suspended never missed a game due to suspension.

And Goodell does have a lot of power when it comes to suspensions. How many guys have you seen him suspend for off the field stuff? Like I said before, the suspensions were out of line, but nothing is also out of line. Vilma literally offered $10k to knock somebody out of a game. In a league that is doing everything it can to protect players, you are sending a message that this is okay.

(12-12-2012 09:17 AM)blazers9911 Wrote:  Goodell did not wreck the Saints season. They wrecked their own season. Goodell didn't make them give up the most yards in the league. Goodell didn't make them give up 29 points a game. Goodell didn't make them lose to Carolina and Kansas City. Everybody has to have somebody else to blame. The Saints suck this year because they can't play defense, and Brees can't throw the ball to the right jerseys at least once a game. The guys who were suspended never missed a game due to suspension.

Yeah, I'm sure not having the head coach all season or assistant head coach for six games had nothing to do with it.

blazers9911 Wrote:And Goodell does have a lot of power when it comes to suspensions. How many guys have you seen him suspend for off the field stuff? Like I said before, the suspensions were out of line, but nothing is also out of line. Vilma literally offered $10k to knock somebody out of a game. In a league that is doing everything it can to protect players, you are sending a message that this is okay.

Like I said, the guidelines for suspensions are spelled out in the CBA. The players and league both agreed to suspension levels for player conduct and other things in the agreement. This did not fall within the guidelines.

The NFL is not "doing everything it can to protect players." Goodell decided to come down extra hard on the Saints because the league neglected player safety for decades and was facing dozens of injury related lawsuits. The punishment clearly didn't fit the crime (which has been going on for many years, across many different franchises), and at least Tagliabue had enough sense to realize that. You can't just punish the one offender you caught to make up for years of ignoring the issue.

You are talking about a head coach known for offense, and Joe Vitt, a linebackers coach. The Saints players aren't stopping anybody. That is not Goodell's fault, no matter how much you want it to be. I haven't really seen the offense struggling(outside of Brees interceptions), so your argument is quite invalid in my opinion. Coaching can help, but ultimately players have to do what they are paid to do. Ranking 30th in passing yards against and 32nd in rushing yards against is a sign of a crappy defense.(FWIW they are 3rd in total yards for and 6th in points scored)

The Patriots sure got punished for something that had been going on around the league for years. It's like the steroid issue in baseball, you can't go back and retroactively hand out punishments, but you can moving forward. The league is moving forward and trying to do what it can to protect players. I don't know how much more they can do at this point without allowing contact. To me, Vilma deserved a game or two. The rest, maybe some fines. The coaches deserved harsher punishments however, because they repeatedly ignored the issue. I think those suspensions were overkill as well, but Goodell was trying to get his point across.

The concept behind any punishment is to cause "pain" of some quality to the guilty party. Whether it's "time out" for an otherwise active child, a monetary fine for a automobile's driver, or the incarceration of a felon, the idea is to cause a loss of some value to the guilty. It can always be argued that a prescribed punishment does not "fit the crime", but that is nothing new. Our society is still torn over capital punishment for any crime. "Putting out a contract" to encourage significant injury to any opposing player certainly should be punished by the NFL.

Reminds me of when UAT was caught cheating in Memphis. They just turned around and sued everyone. Yea we are guilty but how dare you to punish us for cheating. Cry me a river.

I love it how the NFLPA appeals every thing. Hey I took the guy's head off and it's on video but I don't deserve to be punished. Oh I snorted 8lbs of cocaine last year but the devil made me do it. How dare you suspend me. Oh I didn't mean to screw that hooker and beat the hell out of her. I don't deserve to be punished. Then a lawyer gets involved. They are the only Paul Finebaums that win in these things. I didn't know these drugs I am taking are banned even though my head has grown 4 sizes in 12 months and I have to sit through a siminar (that I slept through) explaining what I can and can't take. How dare you suspend me, I was asleep!

Until the punishment hurts it all will continue. Letting folks off the hook is what is contributing to a crappy society today.

There was a reason I didn't act up too much as a child. I was scared to death of daddy's big leather belt. If I got in trouble in school I got it double when I got home.

Amen.