BountyGate ~ Saints take it in the.......

[Stoner4Life]

That's right, Commissioner Goodell handed out AMAZINGLY harsh penalties to the NO Saints coaching staff.

Sean Payton head coach ~
GONE for the 2012 season

Gregg Williams defensive coordinator ~
suspended indefinitely from coaching

Mickey Loomis general manger ~
eight game suspension

Joe Vitt assistant head coach ~
six game suspension

Saints will be fined 500K & lose their
2nd round draft picks in 2012 & 2013


FOX Sports ~ Alex Marvez:

The NFL on Wednesday levied one of the harshest penalties in league history in punishing the New Orleans Saints for running an illegal bounty system targeting opposing offense players.

The NFL disciplined multiple members of the Saints organization for their participation or connection with the bounty system that was run by former defensive coordinator Gregg Williams from 2009-11. Williams was suspended indefinitely. Saints head coach Sean Payton was suspended for the entire 2012 season. General manager Mickey Loomis is suspended for the first eight games and linebackers/assistant head coach Joe Vitt for the first six.

In addition, the Saints were fined $500,000 and stripped of second-round draft choices in the 2012 and 2013 drafts. The Saints already didn’t have a first-round pick in the draft this April because they dealt it to New England last year for the chance to select running back Mark Ingram.

The Saints, as well as those suspended, can appeal the ruling to the NFL.

New Orleans quarterback Drew Brees said he was "speechless" about the NFL's ruling and wants to know the reasoning behind it.

"I am speechless," Brees tweeted. "Sean Payton is a great man, coach, and mentor. The best there is. I need to hear an explanation for this punishment."

The NFL claims Payton and Loomis had knowledge of the bounty system run by Williams but failed to take steps to stop them.

FOXSports.com NFL insider Jay Glazer said the Saints initially planned to name Vitt as their interim head coach in case of a Payton suspension. That plan will now be reassessed in light of the Vitt suspension.

The penalties are the most severe and wide-ranging against a team since NFL commissioner Roger Goodell disciplined the New England Patriots for the “Spygate” scandal of 2007.

In early March, the NFL announced findings of a lengthy investigation that revealed activities strictly barred by the league. Saints players and others within the franchise including Williams contributed to a bounty pool that reached as much as $50,000.

Players were rewarded $1,500 for what were described as “knockout” hits and $1,000 for “cart-offs” (i.e. an injured opponent being taken off the field on a medical cart). The payoff amounts were doubled or tripled during the postseason.

Sports Illustrated first reported that Saints linebacker Jon Vilma offered a $10,000 reward to any teammate who could drive Minnesota quarterback Brett Favre out of the NFC championship game in January 2010. Favre played the entire game but was the victim of numerous borderline hits, including a high-low shot by defensive linemen Bobby McCray and Remi Ayodele that caused a serious ankle injury. Defensive end Anthony Hargrove also was flagged and fined by the NFL for a late hit on Favre.

The bounty system flies in the face of the player safety initiatives Goodell has instituted during his six-year tenure as NFL commissioner.

“It is our responsibility to protect player safety and the integrity of our game,” Goodell said in a statement released earlier this month. “This type of conduct will not be tolerated. We have made significant progress in changing the culture with respect to player safety and we are not going to relent. We have more work to do and we will do it.”

The NFL initially began investigating the Saints in the fall of 2010 when allegations were made that New Orleans players were targeting Arizona quarterback Kurt Warner during an early season matchup. Initially unable to prove a bounty system existed, the NFL reopened its inquiry after new information surfaced during the 2011 season. The final report measured 50,000 pages with internal Saints emails part of the 18,000 documents submitted.

When news of the scandal surfaced, players on other teams coached by Williams admitted that similar bounty programs existed to varying degrees. Williams left the Saints at the end of the 2011 season to become defensive coordinator in St. Louis. The Rams have taken no official action against Williams while awaiting the NFL’s announcement of sanctions.

An NFL coach since 1990 at levels ranging from defensive assistant to Buffalo Bills head coach (2001-03), Williams was not forthcoming when NFL investigators questioned him about the existence of the bounty program.


Yahoo Shutdown Corner
Chris Chase ~

Roger Goodell laid down the law once again. The NFL commissioner issued a harsh one-year suspension to New Orleans Saints coach Sean Payton for his role in the team's bounty system that rewarded defensive players for laying injurious hits on opposing players.

The system's creator, defensive coordinator Gregg Williams who is now with the St. Louis Rams, was suspended indefinitely by the league. Saints general manager Mickey Loomis was suspended for eight games. Assistant head coach Joe Vitt will serve a six-game suspension.

All suspensions are without pay. Payton won't earn any of his $7.5 million salary during the ban, which begins April 1.

It's the most severe sanction for a head coach in the history of the NFL.

Payton was reportedly "stunned" by the news. "No, I'm not OK," he told Fox Sports' Jay Glazer on Wednesday afternoon.

The franchise will also have to pay a $500,00 fine and will relinquish its second-round picks in 2012 and 2013.

"Beyond the clear and continuing violations of league rules, and lying to investigators, the bounty program is squarely contrary to the league's most important initiatives — enhancing player health and safety and protecting the integrity of the game," NFL commissioner Roger Goodell said in a statement. "Let me be clear. There is no place in the NFL for deliberately seeking to injure another player, let alone offering a reward for doing so. Any form of bounty is incompatible with our commitment to create a culture of sportsmanship, fairness, and safety."

Goodell didn't need to add the "let me be clear" line. His discipline leaves little room for doubt.

It was believed that Payton would receive a small suspension for his role in the so-called Bountygate. According to the league investigation, he wasn't accused of handing out payments or playing an active role in the bounties, but his lack of action served as a tacit endorsement nonetheless. Goodell was right to hand down the Draconian punishment. The league can't afford to be hypocritical at such a pivotal time in the move to make the game safer for players. Payton is in charge and allowed the bounty system to happen. He can't expect to get credit for the team's success and not be responsible for its failures.

Goodell couldn't resist mentioning how he was "lied to" by the Saints, an unnecessary addition to his statement that makes his reasonable punishment seem spiteful. Personal emotions should play no role in a decision like this. By giving off the perception that they do, Goodell opens himself to criticism. He did the same thing with Michael Vick.

A league investigation found that bounties were placed on four quarterbacks -- Brett Favre, Kurt Warner, Aaron Rodgers and Cam Newton.



Players suspensions will be forthcoming after Roger Goodell hears recommendations from the Players Association after their own investigation, likely just a formality as Goodell makes his own decisions.


* ~ imo the Saints 2010 Super Bowl victory gets an asterisk.

 

[Stoner4Life]

Guess who won't be goin' to Dat Super Bowl in New Orleans in 2013???

The Saints were gonna be favorites for going to the Bowl in their own home stadium and now it's a guarantee they'll be warming the cushions of some sofas @ home instead of sitting field side for the action.

that's right it won't be the Aints, they're minus a huge chunk of their coaching staff/management already through the first 8 games (& then some!) and we haven't even heard of the player suspensions yet which will be even worse I think. Commissioner Goodell was rough on Vick for all the lies and laying pain on dogs, let's see what he does for fucking with NFL players health. imo Goodell is going to decimate the defensive line on purpose for the lies and runaround his office was given, again, just check with Vick.......

Goodell has OK'd the installation of a new
interim head coach known only as Kilroy.

 

[Stoner4Life]

looks like the Saints are replacing key players already, this is going to affect more teams than just the Saints of course as offending players will be bumped for X number of games no matter where they're playing now.......


-- While Goodell now considers suspensions and other possible punishments for the 22 to 27 players involved in the bounty system, the Saints did get a bit richer at the linebacker position by signing former Atlanta Falcons defender Curtis Lofton to a five-year contract. Terms of the deal are not yet available. The Falcons' second-round pick in 2008 out of Oklahoma, Lofton has since started 63 of 64 possible games, 492 tackles in the past four seasons. He posted a career high of 147 in 2011.

"Curtis is a versatile, hard-working player that has displayed a knack for being around the football, and more importantly, making plays on the ball," Saints soon-to-be-suspended general manager Mickey Loomis said in a statement released by the team. "He has the ability to play all three linebacker positions and we feel that he's just entering the prime of his career. We think he can come to New Orleans and fit in well and provide us with a significant contribution to our defense."

The team insists that the Lofton signing does not automatically mean that veteran Jonathan Vilma will be released, though the NFL could have a hand in that. Vilma is one of the highest-profile suspects in the bounty investigations.

 

[Grass Lands]

anyone who participated should be banned from the sport...period.

 

[Stoner4Life]

anyone who participated should be banned from the sport...period.

as torqued as I am about this I think that only coaching staff should suffer lifetime bans, the players should be bumped for one to three seasons ending some of their careers like they were trying to do to players on the field.......

I think a great punitive punishment would be excluding any/all Saints from competing in the Pro Bowl. Can't be proven but I don't think a single player on that fucking team was unaware of the bounty system in place, Brees had nothing to do with it but should have reported it to the league.

yeah, nobody likes a rat but the flipside of the situation is that someone could have been killed or paralyzed by Saints taking cheap ass shots as they so often did.

 

[Bababooey]

I think the NFL, in whacking Payton for a year, is sending a message to all HC's in the NFL that it is their responsibility to police their squads and make sure no bounty or incentive programs exist.
In the future, I expect a HC to be suspended for multiple games if it's found out their team did have a bounty program, whether he knew about it or not. If he knew about it and lied to cover it up, well then he's going to lose a year like Payton, maybe more since he should have known better.
These suspensions squarely put the responsibility to enforce the no-bounty rules directly on the coaching staff and management.

 

[Stoner4Life]

Actually Bababooey commissioner Goodell is now requiring ALL teams to certify that they're not involved in any 'pay for performance' programs outside of approved NFL guidelines which includes player bounties of course.

I imagine that with the certification comes the risk that if a team ignores these new directives that Goodell will start with game forfeitures along with suspensions, penalties and fines. I don't see that the use or requirement of 'certification' means any less than the potential for forfeitures, after all it seems that Goodell was able to have his evil ways right here w/out certification, he wouldn't need it in the future if he was already able to do all this to a single team. What hurts more than just losing personnel? Losing games by forfeit.

I imagine that forfeited games would be home games only or you'd be penalizing the wrong team and fans and would likely be division games which hurts terribly, I could be wrong but I see no other need for certification as the rules of play clearly prohibit bounty hunting already.

Goodell started by giving Sean Payton a full year suspension, the next head coach that allows this to happen with or without the coaches knowledge will be banned for multiple seasons or very possibly life. Goodell can really be a world class prick, I can't stand him, my sister graduated high school with him.

btw, Goodell will allow Payton to coach the team (or what's left of it) during the appeal process, very generous considering the offense and the fact that he was lied to constantly while investigating.

NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell said Monday that the league has not stopped investigating allegations that the Washington Redskins and other teams besides the New Orleans Saints had bounty programs when Gregg Williams coached for them.

“We haven’t closed an investigation,” Goodell said at a news conference on the first day of the annual league meeting. “We have not stopped investigating. If we get information, we follow up on it. . . . We have not met with people that we will meet with as soon as these meetings are over. So we will continue. We have not said that everybody has got a free pass here.”

if Williams is found to have brought the Bounty system to any other teams I would expect his indefinite suspension to become a permanent one.

 

[schwilly]

I think a great punitive punishment would be excluding any/all Saints from competing in the Pro Bowl.

oh my, you are too cruel..

that will really hit them where it hurts

 

[Grass Lands]

someone could have been killed or paralyzed by Saints taking cheap ass shots as they so often did.

This was my point bro...they were trying to take out folks...the players not the coaches.

the crushing blow to Warner could have snapped his neck like a twig and all the player got was a fine that made the hit. and if nothing was ever outed about the bounty it would have been oh well it was just a fucking kick ass hit and a fine...

My take on this is...if the GM was aware, that pretty much says all the staff from coaches to player to trainers knew about the bounties...hell I would go as far to say the owner had wind of it...and did nothing about it.

 

[Stoner4Life]

oh my, you are too cruel..

that will really hit them where it hurts

my thoughts are that would be in addition to all other fines, suspensions etc, personally I don't care one way or the other in regards to the Saints or their fans, it'd make me giggle if Goodell barred them ALL from play for a few years.

and yeah, ZERO players/staff in the Pro Bowl would be a blow to any and all of 'em.......

 

[schwilly]

i was just making a joke regarding how irrelevant the pro bowl is these days and how most coaches would be happy not to see their star players risk injury in the off season

 

[Bababooey]

Whoa, when was the last time an NFL team had to forfeit games? There's too much money to not play them. I imagine suspending a bunch of starters (if they were involved in a bounty scandal) would have the same effect as a forfeit...
And this isn't the NCAA, who like to take away victories for playing ineligible players. No one's going to take away the Saints victories, or their championship. Despite all the scandal, they were a good team. Still might be, if Brees can keep the offense going and whoever is going to be the HC (Parcell's?) can make the defense above average.

The Kurt Warner hit i didnt feel was that dirty; on an interception return, the QB is a tackler and can be blocked, in fact d-lineman specifically look for the qb on an interception return. Free shot at the QB, at least in the old days.
The Manning hit, by the Redskins when G. Williams was the coordinator there, was a worse hit. Quite possibly the start of his neck nerve problems, two defenders went high-low on him and bent his head at an unnatural angle before his helmet ripped off.
That hit led to Neck-gate, Manning sitting out the whole season, moving to the Broncos, Luck going to the last-place Colts, and Tebow going to the Jets.
In effect, Bounty-gate may be responsible for most of the big stories in the NFL this year. Although i don't think Saints fans will take much solace in that...

 

[Stoner4Life]

Whoa, when was the last time an NFL team had to forfeit games? There's too much money to not play them. I imagine suspending a bunch of starters (if they were involved in a bounty scandal) would have the same effect as a forfeit...
And this isn't the NCAA, who like to take away victories for playing ineligible players. No one's going to take away the Saints victories, or their championship. Despite all the scandal, they were a good team. Still might be, if Brees can keep the offense going and whoever is going to be the HC (Parcell's?) can make the defense above average.

I hear you Booey, forfeit would cost even the NFL money but what other reason could there be to 'certify' a team as being clean of such infractions? Just to make sure everyone's read the rules?

There's some double secret probation shit going on in Goodells mind and in no way am I referencing that the Saints are prevalent in his thought process, every team will need to certify they're playing by the book. But imo ALL of that was spelled out quite clearly in advance of all of this, he has an ulterior motive.

also I never intended to imply that anything be taken away from the Saints, Brees was a brilliant team leader for the season but I also see it as being part of their bounty system and perhaps deserving of as much of an asterisk next to their accomplishment as Barry Bonds, A-Rod and others do.

 

[Bababooey]

The certification just places the onus on the HC and GM to make sure no bounty programs exist on their team. Later, if one is found, then the League/Goodell can say, YOU filed this certification saying this didn't exist, YOU dropped the ball, prepare to get whacked.
I don't know if there's some double secret probation thing going on with this certification, for all we know teams have to certify other things, like they're in compliance with the CBA (fewer padded practices, fewer OTA's in the offseason, etc).

The '09 champion Saints had an incredible run. Their offense was typically brilliant, with Payton and Brees directing a talented WR group and an efficient running game. Their defense, particularly in getting TO's, was opportunistic if not quite dominant (they gave up quite a few points).
They won the title fair and square, my only issue being some of those hits on Favre in the NFC championship game, a few of those hits should have been flagged at least, and nowadays might even draw a suspension.
The McCray high-low hit, where he went low and dived for Favre's ankles from behind, was illegal in 2009, when Brady missed the '08 season after Bernard Pollard hit him below the knees.
Then again, maybe that's what you get with a 40 year old at QB - a statuesque figure that's ripe for pounding...

 

[Storm Shadow]

http://www.nola.com/saints/index.ssf/2012/03/warren_sapp_on_twitter_jeremy.html

Warren Sapp on Twitter: Jeremy Shockey is the snitch

 

[Stoner4Life]

http://www.nola.com/saints/index.ssf/2012/03/warren_sapp_on_twitter_jeremy.html

Warren Sapp on Twitter: Jeremy Shockey is the snitch

Warren Sapp, a bloated piece of crap for calling anyone a snitch.

personally I don't consider it snitching when you've VERY likely saved a player from being paralyzed or killed by dirty play, that screwball Williams was spreading his disease throughout the league.

Let's try to remember that they were ALL about taking the cheap shot trying to have opposing players carted off the field, wtf, why not bring box cutters on the field to cut achilles tendons.

and the dumb shits on that nola.com site can off themselves for all I care, not a single one of them acknowledged any wrongdoing by their team, they're just looking to blame Shockey (an offensive player) for their filthy defense, and btw he'd never have anything to do with playing like that.

time to break out the bags again.


Payton has the option to appeal the suspension, which could buy him some time to settle on a 2012 replacement. A source in the league office told ESPN's Rachel Nichols that if Payton appeals, the hearing and ruling would come in "days, not weeks," and that any notion Payton could extend his working status through the draft in late April is inaccurate.

"the ruling will come within days, not weeks", sounds like someone already has his mind made up.......

 

[Bababooey]

Football's a rough sport, the most violent outside of boxing/mma. People have gotten paralyzed, even killed during games, and that was before Bountygate.
Did Shockey snitch after he moved to the Panthers and had to play against his old defense? Maybe. Other teams, notably the Vikings, have complained about the Saint's defense, and not just in 2009.
But sometimes teams complain about other teams, how chippy they are, how they play to the echo of the whistle. It's not just the Saints. It's football.

And you're right, very unlikely the Payton will get his suspension reduced. His best bet would be to audition for tv gigs now...

 

[Stoner4Life]

BTW, that bloated bag o' crap Sapp?

BTW, that bloated bag o' crap Sapp?


could be in hot water himself and even at the end of a lawsuit he'd certainly lose.......

Jeremy Shockey was the whistle-blower in the NFL’s investigation into the New Orleans Saints' pay-for-performance system that resulted in a slew of sanctions Wednesday, according to former NFL defensive lineman Warren Sapp.

TATTLETALE
OK, so Vikings punter Chris Kluwe wasn't so tame in his description of Warren Sapp for ratting out alleged Saints whistle-blower.

Sapp wrote on Twitter he “just heard who the snitch was,” and when a follower asked if it was Shockey, Sapp responded: “BINGO!”

The allegations — which might have violated federal labor laws — drew a swift rebuke from Shockey on his Twitter account.

“My ass!!” Shockey wrote. “I don’t even play defense.”

Sapp responded: “That’s not the issue.”

Shockey said the next thing he will be blamed for is the unsolved disappearance of union boss Jimmy Hoffa — who vanished five years before Shockey was born — and the recent scandal at the University of Miami, where players at Shockey’s alma mater allegedly received impermissible benefits.

“(Expletive) them,” Shockey wrote. “Sapp ... (knows) where to find me.”

Shockey, a tight end, played for the Saints from 2008 to '10. In announcing its punishments, the NFL said the Saints, under former defensive coordinator Gregg Williams, had an active bounty program from 2009 to '11. The determination led to a one-year suspension of Saints head coach Sean Payton, a suspension of indefinite length against Williams, who was recently hired by the St. Louis Rams, and other suspensions and loss of draft picks.

Here's where it really gets interesting!

The league didn’t release what sparked the investigation.

Federal labor law protects employees against retribution as result of complaining about unsafe work environments. The fact that Sapp, an analyst for the NFL Network, might have outed a whistle-blower could pose a problem for Sapp and the league, Los Angeles-based employment lawyer Arthur Whang told FOXSports.com.

“Sapp is technically a league employee,” said Whang, the principal of the Whang Law Firm. “If Shockey is the whistle-blower, he is protected. So, by outing him, Sapp may have opened Shockey up to retaliation, such as someone not signing him.”

The 1970 Occupational Safety and Health Act specifically addresses whistle-blower retaliation:

“No person shall discharge or in any manner discriminate against any employee because such employee has filed any complaint or instituted or caused to be instituted any proceeding under or related to this act or has testified or is about to testify in any such proceeding or because of the exercise by such employee on behalf of himself or others of any right afforded by this act.”

Shockey, who played last season in Carolina, is an unrestricted free agent.

“Shockey might be able to claim in a retaliation lawsuit that he was a protected employee and he blew the whistle, but then the league retaliated against him by releasing his identity to the world," Whang said. "That, in turn, opened him up to all kinds of damages, like ridicule and his ability to sign with a new team."

Whang added that if Sapp’s actions could also have a chilling effect on future NFL employees coming forward to expose wrongdoing for fear of retribution.

NFL Network spokesman Dan Masonson said Sapp was unavailable for comment. Masonson also declined to comment on the possible labor law violations.

 

[Bababooey]

That's an interesting spin on Warren outing Shockey.
I think Shockey has another year or two left in him but will he get a contract this upcoming season? If he doesn't, maybe part of it will be because his rep as a snitch. Might be hard to prove though, he had some good moments last year with the Panthers but he's obviously on the downside of his career.

 

[Stoner4Life]

yeah but what he wouldn't have to prove is the fact that Sapp opened his trap outing him, that's already a fact and in direct violation of the whistle blowers act, he only needs to blame the NFL for his contract woes, their deniability would be suspect at best.

and how simple minded was Sapp? If Shockey really was the insider then he was Goodells golden boy, Goodell still signs Sapps paychecks, or did he forget that? I'll bet that someone fed Sapp that info figuring he'd hang himself with it.......