NFL throws down the hammer on the Saints

[PalmettoSooner]

Sean Payton suspended for one year, they lost two second round picks ('12 and '13), GM suspended for 8 regualar season games, and fined 500,000.

http://espn.go.com/nfl/story/_/id/7718136/sean-payton-new-orleans-saints-banned-one-year-bounties

[Curly Bill]

Holy crap! Suspend a head coach for a full year?!?! That is some serious hammer dropage!

If college football would do this with its cheaters we might bring a stop to some of that.

[PalmettoSooner]

I'm really surprised that they didn't take 1st round picks from them. Also, I'm sure that they will suspend some players at some point.

[Flagstaffsooner]

Needed to be done.

[Curly Bill]

Needed to be done.

Agreed, and you knew the commish was gonna hammer em, but I can't get over suspending Payton for a full year. Not saying he didn't deserve it, but wow!

[PalmettoSooner]

Agreed, and you knew the commish was gonna hammer em, but I can't get over suspending Payton for a full year. Not saying he didn't deserve it, but wow!

This is the biggest punishment I have ever seen in the NFL. When this story broke, I thought Payton might get a few games but never expected a full year. On top of that, Payton's suspension is without pay (of course he is not hurting for money). Its safe to say that the commish is not afraid to drop the hammer on any team or coach.

[Pardner]

I can't get to the article from work. Is Payton suspended with or without pay?

[PalmettoSooner]

I can't get to the article from work. Is Payton suspended with or without pay?

without pay

[jk the sooner fan]

wow - very harsh...to say the very least

[olevetonahill]

Not as harsh as the Saints possibly permanently injuring an opposing player

[Curly Bill]

Not as harsh as the Saints possibly permanently injuring an opposing player

That's prolly what the commish told them!

[jk the sooner fan]

from the commish


"We are all accountable and responsible for player health and safety and the integrity of the game," Goodell said in a statement announcing the punishments. "We will not tolerate conduct or a culture that undermines those priorities. No one is above the game or the rules that govern it. Respect for the game and the people who participate in it will not be compromised.

[soonerhubs]

I remember that game against the Vikes in the playoffs. They were blatantly dirty, and so many Saints homers were saying I was wrong to call them out (you know... on facebook and here.).

Turns out I was right on this one. (It's a rare thing, so I'll take it.) ;)

[OULenexaman]

spek for hubs...

[OULenexaman]

so.....whose gonna run their draft.....make roster moves for the next 8 months....even coach the team??

[olevetonahill]

Heard they gonna try and trade fer Teblow, Ya know to guide em thru the wilderness.

[Curly Bill]

Heard they gonna try and trade fer Teblow, Ya know to guide em thru the wilderness.

Tebow could be head coach, general manager, and all-around layer on of hands!

[olevetonahill]

Tebow could be head coach, general manager, and all-around layer on of hands!

What Im talkin about,:unconscious:

[Curly Bill]

He could heal the damage done by Katrina while he's there.

[8timechamps]

No question that the NFL sent a message. A surprisingly harsh one, but I'm sure anyone thinking of imploring that strategy will think twice before doing it.

[ouleaf]

Think Payton is due $7MM this year...Huge impact, which is exactly what Goodell wanted to do.

[prrriiide]

Tebow could be head coach, general manager, and all-around layer on of hands!

And he can heal the players already hurt by the cheap shots. Combine that with turning water into wine, and he's a natural fit in Nawlins.

[OULenexaman]

time to dust off those old "Aints" head bags....

[OULenexaman]

Think Payton is due $7MM this year...Huge impact, which is exactly what Goodell wanted to do.

7.5....plus incentives up in flames.

[olevetonahill]

He could heal the damage done by Katrina while he's there.
Heh

[dwarthog]

7.5....plus incentives up in flames.

Back to beans and franks for a while.

[soonertravis]

Haven't seen, but has has Williams been suspended yet? We can expect at least a year and maybe more since he appears to be the ring leader.

[jk the sooner fan]

Haven't seen, but has has Williams been suspended yet? We can expect at least a year and maybe more since he appears to be the ring leader.

suspended indefinitely

back to the college coaching ranks for him! :D

[soonertravis]

suspended indefinitely

back to the college coaching ranks for him! :D

Thanks. Have the Rams hired a new DC?

[Eielson]

Thanks. Have the Rams hired a new DC?

Dave McGinnis has been speculated as the one who will take over during Williams' suspension for a few weeks now. At least by the fans.

[Eielson]

I feel bad for the Saints. The NFL is just trying to make an example out of them. This bounty thing has been happening for years. What about the time the Ravens ended Mendenhall's season? If I'm not mistaken, no punishment was given.

http://www.fannation.com/si_blogs/nfl_tracker/posts/17001-ex-ravens-coach-billick-confirms-existence-of-bounties

Everybody has bounty programs, and only the Saints get punished? Illegal hits should be punished, and quite severely if it results in an injury, but that should happen regardless of whether or not there is a bounty. I'm fine with the coaches being suspended, and I'm fine with the players who unnecessarily injured other players being suspended, but I don't like the loss of picks.

[LRoss]

I've never heard of a GM being suspended, much less for a number of games. I understand how a player can be suspended from a game. I understand how a coach can be suspended from a game. How does a GM get suspended for 8 games?

[TUSooner]

Yeah, I think a 1 year suspension is too harsh, partly because of its effect on players and fans who did not do anything wrong. And those "What about everybody else who did it?" arguments probably have some merit. BUT, the Saints knew exactly what not to do, and they deliberately did it anyway, and they lied about it, and Sean Payton and Gregg Williams both reek of the stench of hubris. What they did was arrogantly stupid and astonishingly so. So I can't shed a tear for them. Williams should be stood up against a wall and shot with great fanfare in a public square in either St Louis or New Orleans.

[sooneredaco]

Who dat?

[TUSooner]

time to dust off those old "Aints" head bags....
OW!! you're a mean bast*rd! :D

[TUSooner]

Who dat?

uhhh. Roger Goodell, maybe?

[texaspokieokie]

i think the penalties are too harsh. JMHO

[cccasooner2]

Yeah, I think a 1 year suspension is too harsh, partly because of its effect on players and fans who did not do anything wrong. ..........

Ahhh, the USC, tOSU defense.

[soonerhubs]

If they hadn't been warned and then lied about eliminating it, I would say the penalty is too harsh. They reaped what they sowed.

[Breadburner]

Tibido and Budrow just **** down their respective legs....!!

[PalmettoSooner]

Punishment for the players involved will be determined later on.

"The NFL said the scheme involved 22 to 27 defensive players; targeted opponents included quarterbacks Aaron Rodgers, Cam Newton, Brett Favre and Kurt Warner. "Knockouts" were worth $1,500 and "cart-offs" $1,000, with payments doubled or tripled for the playoffs".

"According to the league, Saints defensive captain Jonathan Vilma offered $10,000 to any player who knocked then-Vikings QB Favre out of the 2010 NFC championship game. The Saints were flagged for roughing Favre twice in that game, and the league later said they should have received another penalty for a brutal high-low hit from Remi Ayodele and Bobby McCray that hurt Favre's ankle. He was able to finish the game, but the Saints won in overtime en route to the franchise's only Super Bowl appearance".

"All payouts for specific performances in a game, including interceptions or causing fumbles, are against NFL rules. The NFL warns teams against such practices before each season, although in the aftermath of the revelations about the Saints, current and former players from various teams talked about that sort of thing happening frequently -- although not on the same scale as was found in New Orleans".

[PalmettoSooner]

If they hadn't been warned and then lied about eliminating it, I would say the penalty is too harsh. They reaped what they sowed.


According to the league, Payton ignored instructions from the NFL and Saints ownership to make sure bounties weren't being paid. The league also chastised him for choosing to "falsely deny that the program existed," and for trying to "encourage the false denials by instructing assistants to 'make sure our ducks are in a row.' "

[Eielson]

$1000 for a cartoff? I don't know if that's even a high enough to be considered "pocket change." I would've thought they offered much more.

[TUSooner]

If they hadn't been warned and then lied about eliminating it, I would say the penalty is too harsh. They reaped what they sowed.
This is quite true.

[TUSooner]

Tibido and Budrow just **** down their respective legs....!! At least learn to spell before you try to make lame Cajun jokes! :)

[TUSooner]

According to the league, Payton ignored instructions from the NFL and Saints ownership to make sure bounties weren't being paid. The league also chastised him for choosing to "falsely deny that the program existed," and for trying to "encourage the false denials by instructing assistants to 'make sure our ducks are in a row.' "

This is really the killer, but it does not surprise me because Payton is one arrogant SOB. This New Orleans writer gets it:

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

[Bourbon St Sooner]

The last 2 off seasons Gregg Williams came and spoke to our Men's Club at my church. He didn't talk about offering bounties but it was pretty obvious that his whole philosophy was to hit the quarterback and hit him hard. It really doesn't surprise me that he ran this program or that he gave the NFL the finger when they told him to stop it. The dude has his way of doing things and doesn't give a **** what anybody else thinks. I can see why his players like playing for him.

[Bourbon St Sooner]

Oh and GW cusses like a sailor too. I mean we're not exactly the old lady's rosary society, but the dude spoke for 2 hours with the priest in the audience also and there wasn't a sentence without an f'in this and f'in that.

[TUSooner]

The last 2 off seasons Gregg Williams came and spoke to our Men's Club at my church. He didn't talk about offering bounties but it was pretty obvious that his whole philosophy was to hit the quarterback and hit him hard. It really doesn't surprise me that he ran this program or that he gave the NFL the finger when they told him to stop it. The dude has his way of doing things and doesn't give a **** what anybody else thinks. I can see why his players like playing for him.

I think he gives a **** now! :D

[85sooners]

I remember that game against the Vikes in the playoffs. They were blatantly dirty, and so many Saints homers were saying I was wrong to call them out (you know... on facebook and here.).

Turns out I was right on this one. (It's a rare thing, so I'll take it.) ;)im still pissed at the refs in that game for letting it go on!!

[Bourbon St Sooner]

I think he gives a **** now! :D

He only cares because he got caught and it cost him his job.

Hey, what about GW and Mike Stoops as co-Def Coord at OU. That would rock!

[TUSooner]

I remember that game against the Vikes in the playoffs. They were blatantly dirty, and so many Saints homers were saying I was wrong to call them out (you know... on facebook and here.).

Turns out I was right on this one. (It's a rare thing, so I'll take it.) ;)

I doubt if I called you out on here, but I certainly was loath to believe that there was anything dirty going on or that the Saints had an unusual number of roughness/late hit plays over the years, but the Commish specifically found otherwise, and that the Saints generally ranked pretty high in plays that could be called dirty. So I must stand corrected. I feel like I did when the fecal material hit the air blower in Switzer's last days at OU -- hate the deeds, but can't stop loving the team. Bad times for Saints fans. :(

[OU_Sooners75]

I'm really surprised that they didn't take 1st round picks from them. Also, I'm sure that they will suspend some players at some point.

my understanding is they don't have a first round pick in 2012, and may not in 2013.

[Blue]

Oh and GW cusses like a sailor too. I mean we're not exactly the old lady's rosary society, but the dude spoke for 2 hours with the priest in the audience also and there wasn't a sentence without an f'in this and f'in that.
He sounds like a swell guy...