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This is total bullshit, and i'll tell you why.
If this was "really all PR for good ole Goodell", then why did he try to quietly sweep it under the rug two years ago? It only became a huge story because the Saints lied to him and tried to cover it up. Goodell did not want this out. It all came out because not only is the Saints organization full of creeps, but they participated in a two year cover up and basically spat in Goodell's face.
The Saints are the reason this became a story, not Goodell.Comment
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And this....• “Jon Vilma was just about the same exact situation as D.J. Williams. [He] was in my house a number of times. I gave him cash, paid bounties to him for hurt quarterbacks – Chris Rix, in particular, from Florida State. And there’s one play specifically [in 2002] where you can see Rix diving for the first down and Vilma pounded him and got thrown a 15-yard penalty for getting in his face. That was part of my [bounty] discussion with him.”
Vilma was "best buddies" with Miami slimeball Nevin Shapiro, took bounty money at Miami, and mysteriously had two international criminals murdered in his home.On March 31, 2009 two Liberian men were killed in a Long Island condominium owned by Vilma. Police believe that the victims may have been part of a black money scam, where the perpetrators claim that cash smuggled from overseas—stained black to avoid detection—can be purchased at a discount; in reality, what they offer is a trunk full of worthless paper. Vilma is not considered a suspect.
Vilma has a long history of being involved in shady shit, including bounties, so there is no gigantic leap required here to think he was putting up bounty money.Comment
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You have the right to request private, internal information from a privately owned and operated organization? What obligation are they under to provide that information in a timely-manner? I'm not American, but that seems... odd. If the NFL was a government organization, it would be different. But citizens having the right to go to any company, foundation, or association, and say "show me this" seems... unlikely....
As for "no evidence", I did find this interesting:
Unless that info is fabrciated, it seems likely the NFL has something to back up the bans.From SI's Peter King
Little did I know that he would enlist one of the most noted attorneys in recent American history to help provide one final check on the evidence the league has on the Saints. Former U.S. attorney Mary Jo White, who successfully prosecuted noted mob boss John Gotti for murder and racketeering in 1992, was brought in by the league to pore over all the evidence. White reviewed the findings of the league's internal investigations (one in early 2010, and a renewed investigation early this year) and reportedly told the league its case is solid.Comment
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The idea that there is no evidence is absurd. Besides the fact that several involved parties have already come clean, the idea that the NFL would intentionally drum up an exaggerated story of what went on lacks any sort of logic.
If anything, the NFL is withholding the report so they can downplay what went on. The report probably contains things that Goodell does not want the media to get its hands on. Same reason Goodell downplayed and swept Spygate under the rug. You don't want this stuff out there, it's his job to protect the shield.Comment
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And the conspiracy theories are a flying. The last thing the NFL would want to do is taint the image of the Saints. They market them and the city of New Orleans' comeback very heavily.
If the Saints had some dignity they would clean house like others have said. Show that this stuff isn't tolerated. Instead they tried covering it up like the scumbag organization they are.
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Yes, it is their right to do so. If it becomes a criminal matter, the info can be subpoenaed.
I did know that US citizens have the right to REQUEST anything. It's freedom of speech. I can request that you give me all your $, that doesn't require you to comply.I bet you didn't know that you as a US citizen have the right to request just about any file that you want and the NFLPA requested them to release the report and yet they are still withholding it.
This is your uninformed, guesstimated opinion based on effectively ZERO factual evidence? Sweet.What I believe is that the whole situation is being overblown to something bigger than it actually was. That is something that can possibly be found in the report.
The players and coaches that gave written statements don't count? You don't know what evidence they do or don't have...because they haven't released it, remember?This is really all for PR for good ole Goodell. That is why he has kept it relevant for so long. Let's just say that there is no evidence since no one can find it on the field.Comment
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While I agree with you about Vilma don't you think it is a bit of a stretch to connect two Liberian men being killed in Vilma's condominium with Vilma having suspect character? A condominium doesn't equal a home.http://sports.yahoo.com/investigatio...ma_allegations
And this....
Vilma was "best buddies" with Miami slimeball Nevin Shapiro, took bounty money at Miami, and mysteriously had two international criminals murdered in his home.Comment
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NEW YORK -- A former U.S. attorney hired by the NFL to evaluate its investigation of the New Orleans Saints' bounty program said Thursday the evidence shows players received payments for hits on targeted opponents.
Mary Jo White said in a conference call that evidence in the league's investigation of the three-year, pay-for-pain system provided "an unusually strong record" and came from people with "firsthand knowledge and corroborated by documentation."
When asked twice whether any players actually were paid for hits, White confirmed they were, without going into specifics. She added that most of the money in the bounty scheme was provided by the players.
"Without them, there wouldn't been a bounty program," she said.
White, the former U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York, was asked last December by the NFL to examine the evidence.
"The factual basis for the sanctions is quite strong in my opinion," she said. "You must safeguard the identity of people that provide information to you in order to protect them, and also to encourage others in the future to come forward with evidence of wrongdoing. This is certainly not a one-on-one, he-said, she-said record at all. This is multiple independent sources."
White saw no merit in complaints from the players' union that it had not received "detailed or specific evidence from the league of specific players' involvement in an alleged pay-to-injure program."
"The players sanctioned all activity and enthusiastically embraced this program," White said. "They always had the option to say no. They didn't say no.
"It is no defense that coaches were involved in it, this was an individual responsibility each player has and each coach has. Each player had the responsibility to say no to this program and they didn't do that. They obviously had the option to report this to the union and they didn't do that."
Richard Smith, outside counsel for the union, disputed White's evaluation of the evidence.
"I was at the meeting with the NFL's lead investigators in March. She was not there," Smith said. "Anyone, especially former prosecutors like both of us, know that what the league provided could never be called `substantial evidence' of player participation in a pay-to-injure program.
"Worse yet, Mary Jo provided nothing new or compelling today beyond another press briefing."
NFL Players Association executive director DeMaurice Smith and Domonique Foxworth, the recently elected union president, are in New Orleans talking with Saints players.
The four current and former New Orleans players suspended -- linebacker Jonathan Vilma for the 2012 season; defensive lineman Anthony Hargrove, now with Green Bay, for eight games; defensive end Will Smith, for four games; and linebacker Scott Fujita, now with Cleveland and a member of the union's executive board, for three games -- were given three days to appeal when commissioner Roger Goodell handed down the punishment Wednesday.
Vilma and Will Smith released statements Wednesday denying any involvement in a bounty program and pledging to fight their penalties.
The league said no player agreed to be interviewed in person, and the players also declined to send someone to argue on their behalf, league sources told ESPN NFL Insider Adam Schefter. As one NFL source said, "They took the Fifth Amendment."
The NFLPA did not share information from its own investigation, and league sources told Schefter that the union never recommended any discipline in the case.
A Saints source who testified during the league's investigation told ESPN's Ed Werder Wednesday that he believed the league's findings are exaggerated. The source said that while the report said the program existed for three seasons, it was limited to playoff games in the Superdome against Arizona and Minnesota in 2009.
The source told Werder that the program began when former Saints defensive coordinator Gregg Williams was concerned about creating a higher level of motivation for his defensive players as they prepared for the postseason.
Before a team meeting, Williams told Vilma that he had a plan, and that the coach provided Vilma with the $10,000 he offered to any teammate who knocked out quarterback Kurt Warner.
The source said Vilma returned the money to Williams following the meeting.
According to the source, Williams believed the financial reward created the proper defensive mindset. So Williams and Vilma repeated the scenario the next week before playing the Vikings and quarterback Brett Favre, who was the victim of several illegal hits and had to be helped from the field, but finished the game.
Union representatives did not say when appeals might be filed. The NFLPA said after the penalties were handed down that it would pursue all options on the Saints players' behalf.
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Not on it's own, but I mean jeez, this guy is always mixed up in really bad shit. I have no idea if he had anything to do with the murders of these shady dudes, but ffs, it was his property, and he was obviously at minimum mixed up with people who were mixed up with these Jason Statham movie international criminals.
The bottom line with Vilma, is smoke = fire. He's no model citizen, and to me, has zero credibility. None.Comment
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The 30 for 30 on all of this should be pretty interesting once it comes out in a few years.Comment
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What the fuck are you talking about?
The Saints turnaround from Katrina to Superbowl Champs was Roger Goddells and the NFL marketing departments wet dream. You seriously saying they wanted to torpedo all that so they could frame the Saints?
That's some next level stupidity, even for this forum.Don't Sit Down 'Cause I've Moved Your ChairComment
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