So let’s get this straight…
Saints coach Sean Payton gets suspended for a year for being an alleged enabler of a bounty program, while Patriots coach Bill Bellicheat gets docked a fine ($250K) for cheating (Spygate).
Something is very wrong with this picture (forgive the poor grammar).
So in NFL Commissioner/Warden/Playa-Hater Roger Goodell’s eyes, hurting players is more important than cheating. So I suppose the moral of the story is if you play football the way it’s meant to be played, your ass is going to get popped. Meanwhile, cheat your ass all the way to the bank – as long as you do not get caught.
Before you call me barbaric, let me remind you that football is a violent sport. Defensive players are paid to lay the wood on ball carriers. Defensive players look to send a message to ball-carriers and receivers who dare to go across the middle – whether they catch the ball or not. And this just in: defensive players HATE opposing – sometimes their own – quarterbacks.
Look, I understand the whole player safety thing. Hell, even I would agree that there should be no bounties in the NFL. No one should intentionally hurt another player.
I just think that bounties and intentional injuries are not mutual exclusive. I bet every team has a pool that includes rewards for big hits on marquee players in every game. After all, there are legal “kill shots” that knock out players out of every NFL game.
Again I must say, between this suspension and the NFL slapping the wrist of Bellicheat for his role in Spygate, I have a bigger problem with the lack of consistency in the punishment levied by Goodell. Cheating is not as egregious as nailing the hell out of the opposition.
I’ve said it once, and I will say it again: Goodell sucks.
Categories: NFL, sports story
I smell a lawsuit coming out of this! Any good coach, unless it’s written into an iron-bound contract, isn’t going to let his money just go away. How many more years does Peyton think he’ll coach? He’s young so I suppose he could coach another 10 years no problem, but by not challenging the NFL in court, he allows the NFL oligarchy the power to continue slapping coaches and players around. It’s time for the NFL coaches to start a union and defy this total lack of reasoning. Goodell has an agenda and it’s to get rid of football and create a new sport that players almost play soccer and get red cards and yellow cards and kickers get paid as much as qbs cause that’s COOL..no Goodell soccer isn’t cool…it’s boring at it’s core! Boring sports belong on late night TV like bowling(not trick bowling which is actually pretty cool) and polo and aquestrian. Todays quarterbacks couldn’t play football when football was created..small guys like Romo and Brees couldn’t make it…how long before most NFL qbs are 6′ nothing speedsters like Michael Vick? Real NFL quarterbacks should be big strong like Aikman, Rothlisberger, Marino, Bledsoe, and McNabb. Here’s something Goodell doesn’t like…Teams should lose games because their crappy scouting department couldn’t find decent offensive linemen in the draft that could protect their ‘star’ qb. Does anyone miss the day when backup quarterback meant FREE WIN? I know I sure as hell do!
Amen, amen, … and AMEN my brother…
First things first: It’s not the crime, it’s the coverup that always gets people in trouble. Ask Martha Stewart. Ask Michael Vick. Second, it’s not like the Saints didn’t know that they were to stop the bounty program. They were told to stop it. They were given fair warning, and it continued. Then, evidence came out that they kept it going, and that they tried to cover it up.
Finally, isn’t deliberating trying to hurt somebody and having them carted off the field considered cheating? I think so. So the rules say that you have to hit a certain way, but if you break those rules by hitting a guy high and low, that is cheating. Cheating means circumventing the rules.
The “cover-up” thing is very true. You are right. However, if Goodell cares sooooo much for player safety (as he kept using as a reason for the suspension in the first place), then why does he still love the idea of an 18-game season? Anyone? Bueller?
Goodell is such a damn fraud it’s pathetic.
I have been quiet on this because everything I want to say is profanity-laced. But the facts are we did the crime–we tried to hid–we got caught. Now does the punishment fit the crime??? NO. The NFL is full of cheats and cheating–how it is punished depends on who it is and when it happens (IF it gets punished at all). This is all about covering their butt in the case they get sued. It is NOT about player safety–otherwise ALL hits to the head no matter what position is involved or the situation would be subject to fine or suspension (Kyle Williams, Pierre Thomas anyone???).
It was easy to drop the atomic bomb on the Saints to make the statement–they are a small market team with mostly regional supporters who attract attention because they are fun to watch at times. What if the team was the Cowboys or the Steelers or the Giants? I doubt seriously that the punishment would be the same. You are not going to seriously impact their ability to compete for years to come. What about the fact that even the sanctimonous NFL analysts glorify the big hits on a weekly basis (Jacked UP)? PLEASE–player safety??? Yeah right.
The NFL is irrelevant to me right now–as long as this rigged set-up continues they won’t see a DIME from me.
You’re right. Football is a violent sport and you agree to certain risks when you sign up, same as a fireman, policeman, coal miner, construction worker or soldier. However, you don’t give up all rights and should be protected from unecessary or unjustifiable violence. A police officer getting hurt in the line of duty is one thing. Having a fellow officer accidentally hit you with a nightstick on a bet is something else entirely.
Bounties have been going on for years, as you’ve pointed out. I really don’t have a problem with players pooling their money and awarding prizes for LEGAL hits, tackles, etc. That’s not much different than getting a buckeye leaf on your helmet in college.
But paying someone to intentionally injure another person is not football. It’s a crime.
The commish is playing CYA. He’s throwing the book at the Saints in a political move to avoid a lawsuit.
What you and TMill said are true – the fact that this was the NFL’s way of avoiding a lawsuit from former players. That’s why I think the suspensions were utter bullshit.
Look for Goodell’s stupid ass to keep pushing for an 18-game season. But remember, he CARES SOOOOOOO much for player safety…
Lawsuits are things that the NFL CANNOT laugh off or dismiss so easily. I APPLAUD Commissioner Roger Goodell for having the courage to levy the penalties that he did. We need MORE sports Commissioners like him;it is likely that the NFL owners, who pay Goodell’s salary, told him about the lawsuits they are facing and that they wanted the “BOUNTY” program stopped in a very meaningful way.
Commissioner Roger Goodell had the courage to do something that has been long and way overdue:act in a decisive manner toward those who think it’s okay to enable a “Bounty” program in professional football. IT’S THE AMERICAN WAY TO BE UN-AMERICAN, especially if you’ve been given the job by your employers(in Goodell’s case, the NFL owners) to put a stop to a “BOUNTY” program that is injuriously counterproductive to the integrity of the game of professional football and to the safety of the people who are paid to play the game. It’s the Commissioner’s job to hold those underneath him-and employed by the various NFL teams-to a higher standard and come down hard on the rule violators.
You’re not a sports agent are you?
I DON’T THINK COMMISSIONER ROGER GOODELL’S SUSPENSION OF NEW ORLEANS SAINTS’ HEAD COACH FOR AN ENTIRE SEASON WITHOUT PAY FOR ENABLING A “BOUNTY” PROGRAM IN THE NFL IS STUPID AT ALL. He has yet to lift the scalps of the players who participated in the ‘bounty’ scandal but he is awaiting word from the players’ association as to how draconian the punishment should be. The lawsuits against the NFL SHOULD NEVER BE APPEALED! There should be a ton of NEGATIVE PRESS associated with the NFL’s handling of lawsuits brought by ex-football players that will hopefully BANKRUPT the NFL.
Here’s hoping that Goodell’s actions in punishing the New Orleans Saints will send a strong message that says the FOLLOWING:ENABLE A ‘BOUNTY’ PROGRAM IN THE NFL AND KEEP IT GOING PAST THE TIME IT SHOULD CEASE AND YOU’LL GET THE SAME PUNISHMENT THE SAINTS GOT AND THEN SOME! I am glad that Roger Goodell IS NOT AFRAID TO PUNISH GENERAL MANAGERS, DEFENSIVE AND OFFENSIVE COORDINATORS, AND HEAD COACHES WHEN THEIR SINS OF OMISSION ALLOW THE SINS OF THOSE UNDER THEM TO BE PERPETUATED.
LOL, you’re not still mad at the Saints, are you? Your points are well taken. Thanks for reading!
How would you feel if one of the guys on the New Orleans Saints was paid to put you out of commission with a concussion? I AM still mad at the New Orleans Saints for putting players up to maliciously injuring players on the playing field and I keep seeing myself on that field(in nightmares). Roger Goodell was ABSOLUTELY CORRECT In taking the action that he did and I hope that everybody else in the NFL and AFC is paying at-
tention. Goodell is trying to make football-already a violent sport-safer for the people who play the game and I applaud him for his efforts.
If I were one of the NFL team owners who pay Roger Goodell his salary to be Commissioner of Pro Football I’D WANT HIM TO MAKE THE GAME A LOT SAFER-BOTH FOR THE GUYS CURRENTLY PLAYING FOOTBALL FOR MONEY AND THOSE WHO FOLLOW THEM! As for turning the NFL into flag football so as to keep the body count to a minimum, I’d want him to do that too!Far too many football players are suffering from concussions. We need to make pro football SAFER for those who play the game, NOT MORE VIOLENT! I hope Commissioner Goodell is reading every one of the comments I’ve posted here.
Commissioner Goodell should Punish EVERY SINGLE TEAM OWNER WHO PANDERS TO IDIOT FANS WHO THINK THE COMMISSIONER OF FOOTBALL IS RUINING FOOTBALL BY GOING AFTER THE OWNERS WHO DESERVE TO BE PUNISHED FOR THE “BOUNTY SCHEME’ BY LOOKING THE OTHER WAY!I PREFER FLAG FOOTBALL TO BEING IN TRACTION IN A HOSPITAL OR WORSE BECAUSE SOME NFL TEAM OWNER WASN’T MONITORING THE ACTIONS OF HIS EMPLOYEES WHEN HE SHOULD HAVE BEEN!
Commissioner Roger Goodell was 100% CORRECT IN LEVYING THE PENALTIES AGAINST THE NEW ORLEANS SAINTS’ HEAD COACH, DEFENSIVE CO-ORDINATOR AND OTHERS IN THE “BOUNTYGATE” SCANDAL, WHICH GAVE THE SPORT AND BUSINESS OF PROFESSIONAL FOOTBALL A BLACK EYE! “FLAG FOOTBALL” IS PREFERABLE TO ENDING UP A VEGETABLE OR DEAD;IT IS PREFERABLE TO BEING IN TRACTION IN A HOSPITAL. AND LET US NOT FORGET THAT PEOPLE WHO GOT COPNCUSSIONS IN FOOTBALL ARE BRINGING LITIGATION AGAINST THE NFL!
Professional Football SHOULD NEVER BE “ANYTHING GOES”! Commissioner Roger Goodell sent a message and I HOPE EVERYBODY IN THE NFL AND THE AFC WAS LISTENING! Had Tom Benson, owner of the New Orleans Saints, been paying attention to what was going on within his organization Commissioner Goodell WOULD NOT HAVE HAD TO GO NUCLEAR ON THE SAINTS’ PERSONNEL THE WAY HE DID!
Wonderful blog! Do you have any tips and hints for aspiring
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Would you recommend starting with a free platform like WordPress or go for a paid option?
There are so many choices out there that I’m completely overwhelmed .. Any ideas? Appreciate it!