Saints violated bounty rule

[aphineday]

Holy shit. That's huge.

[runawayjimbo]

Just heard about that. That's some bullshit. Belichick gets a slap on the wrist for cheating and Sean Payton gets suspended for a season? Seems to me the integrity of the game (a violent game at that) is much more sullied by a team that breaks the rules to get an unfair advantage than one who encourages hard hits.

I can't stand Goodell.

[VDB]

Just heard about that. That's some bullshit. Belichick gets a slap on the wrist for cheating and Sean Payton gets suspended for a season? Seems to me the integrity of the game (a violent game at that) is much more sullied by a team that breaks the rules to get an unfair advantage than one who encourages hard hits.

This.

I can't stand Goodell.

And that.

[aphineday]

Just heard about that. That's some bullshit. Belichick gets a slap on the wrist for cheating and Sean Payton gets suspended for a season? Seems to me the integrity of the game (a violent game at that) is much more sullied by a team that breaks the rules to get an unfair advantage than one who encourages hard hits.

This.

I can't stand Goodell.

And that.

None of this.
If you think some bullshit cameras on the sidelines, and authorizing hits designed to injure players are even the same ball park...
Williams suspension was warranted, Payton's seems a little harsh, but I Goodell did what he had to do.

[antelope19]

Agree 100% with aphineday

[PIE-GUY]

I get the fines and the draft picks... But a year for Peyton seems extreme to me. We will still see player suspensions and fines, too.

[runawayjimbo]

Just heard about that. That's some bullshit. Belichick gets a slap on the wrist for cheating and Sean Payton gets suspended for a season? Seems to me the integrity of the game (a violent game at that) is much more sullied by a team that breaks the rules to get an unfair advantage than one who encourages hard hits.

This.

I can't stand Goodell.

And that.

None of this.
If you think some bullshit cameras on the sidelines, and authorizing hits designed to injure players are even the same ball park...
Williams suspension was warranted, Payton's seems a little harsh, but I Goodell did what he had to do.

How do you distinguish between a clean hard hit and one "designed to injure players"? When a WR comes across the middle, isn't it the safety's job to hit him so hard he drops the ball and never wants to do that again? With the exception the fact that money changed hands, I fail to see the difference between what the Saints did and what happens in 15 other games on any given weekend. Maybe there'd be less outrage if they were just doing this for stickers they could put on their helmets.

Fuck it, let's just start playing flag football. That'll be fun to watch.

[rowjimmy]

Williams just got Pete Rose'd.

He may as well get a job coaching at the local high school.

[aphineday]

Just heard about that. That's some bullshit. Belichick gets a slap on the wrist for cheating and Sean Payton gets suspended for a season? Seems to me the integrity of the game (a violent game at that) is much more sullied by a team that breaks the rules to get an unfair advantage than one who encourages hard hits.

This.

I can't stand Goodell.

And that.

None of this.
If you think some bullshit cameras on the sidelines, and authorizing hits designed to injure players are even the same ball park...
Williams suspension was warranted, Payton's seems a little harsh, but I Goodell did what he had to do.

How do you distinguish between a clean hard hit and one "designed to injure players"? When a WR comes across the middle, isn't it the safety's job to hit him so hard he drops the ball and never wants to do that again? With the exception the fact that money changed hands, I fail to see the difference between what the Saints did and what happens in 15 other games on any given weekend. Maybe there'd be less outrage if they were just doing this for stickers they could put on their helmets.

Fuck it, let's just start playing flag football. That'll be fun to watch.

You discriminate by not having a bounty set up for "cart-offs", and injuries! I love clean, hard hits; I don't love injuring players intentionally.
RJ is correct though, Williams is donezo.

[VDB]

I know we've already been down this road with clean vs. dirty hits, bounty vs. nature of the game, etc.; so I'll acknowledge that we don't all have the same opinion on this.

Having read the NFL's statement and its allegations, it's pretty clear that Williams knew he was up to no good and both Payton and Loomis didn't do all they could to put a stop to the program (and I think Payton, at least, willfully sought to stay enough on the outside to give himself a little plausible deniability). I think a full year's suspension for Payton is extreme* and this is the league saying the buck stops with the head coach (but then, Loomis is Payton's boss and he got a lesser sentence).

Mostly, I think it feels like the NFL is trying to make examples of the (ex)Saints in order to a) have a chilling effect on any similar programs wherever else they may exist, and b) send a PR message that the league is "safe" and that the safety of its players is its "highest priority." And with regards to this last part, I think the NFL is trying to overemphasize this message because they've had bad publicity with injured ex-players, concussions, etc., not to mention future exposure to lawsuits etc. And I think that hitting people with an excessive penalty even if partly to serve PR interests doesn't seem too fair.


* Hell, in baseball -- where steroid/PED use is arguably one of the biggest clouds that continues to loom over the sport -- you only sit out less than 2/3 of your season when popped for a second violation.


But hey, whatever. It's just a sport; it's entertainment. I like to argue and discuss these things but I don't sweat it too much at the end of the day.

[runawayjimbo]

Just heard about that. That's some bullshit. Belichick gets a slap on the wrist for cheating and Sean Payton gets suspended for a season? Seems to me the integrity of the game (a violent game at that) is much more sullied by a team that breaks the rules to get an unfair advantage than one who encourages hard hits.

This.

I can't stand Goodell.

And that.

None of this.
If you think some bullshit cameras on the sidelines, and authorizing hits designed to injure players are even the same ball park...
Williams suspension was warranted, Payton's seems a little harsh, but I Goodell did what he had to do.

How do you distinguish between a clean hard hit and one "designed to injure players"? When a WR comes across the middle, isn't it the safety's job to hit him so hard he drops the ball and never wants to do that again? With the exception the fact that money changed hands, I fail to see the difference between what the Saints did and what happens in 15 other games on any given weekend. Maybe there'd be less outrage if they were just doing this for stickers they could put on their helmets.

Fuck it, let's just start playing flag football. That'll be fun to watch.

You discriminate by not having a bounty set up for "cart-offs", and injuries! I love clean, hard hits; I don't love injuring players intentionally.
RJ is correct though, Williams is donezo.

So if there was no bounty, you'd be ok with it? I honestly don't know how to injure a player intentionally vs. injure someone accidentally.

To be clear, I agree with you that people should be punished. There was a rule in place and, like the Patriots, they willingly broke that rule and should suffer the consequences. But I just don't understand how this is so much worse (as measured by the penalties) than a team that cheats. Suspending the coach for a season goes way over the line of what should be considered reasonable IMO (and I fucking hate Sean Payton). But that's in keeping with Goodell's heavy-handed punishment that he gets off on doling out. Some of the fines last year were ridiculous and there was one hit (I think it was the James Harrison hit on McCoy that got him suspended) that was a joke.

Like VDB said, this was the league overreacting in the name of player safety. I also have doubts whether the punishment would have been this severe for one of the marquee franchises like the Pats or the Giants.

[antelope19]

You don't know how to injure someone intentionally? You were never an athlete, we're you, jimbo?

[PIE-GUY]

You don't know how to injure someone intentionally? You were never an athlete, we're you, jimbo?

Just an athletic supporter.

[GBL]

Imo, the reason there were such harsh penalties was because the league sent out memos EVERY year outlining that these type of bounty programs were not going to be tolerated, and the Saints blatantly ignored them.

Goodell obviously doesn't like people thwarting or ignoring rules and regulations..

[runawayjimbo]

You don't know how to injure someone intentionally? You were never an athlete, we're you, jimbo?

What does that have to do with it? The point was making distinctions between intentional vs accidental hits is futile and subjective and thus unenforceable.

But to answer your question, yes, I was. A pretty good one.