Four NFL players suspended in Saints bounty case

[sinkingfeeling]

http://news.blogs.cnn.com/2012/05/02/four-nfl-players-suspended-in-saints-bounty-case/?hpt=hp_t3

Four NFL players have been suspended for varying amounts of time - including the New Orleans Saints' Jonathan Vilma for a whole season - for their roles in a program under which some Saints were paid for trying to injure opposing players, the National Football League said Wednesday.

The suspended players - all current or former Saints - are Vilma, Scott Fujita, Anthony Hargrove and Will Smith. The league said all four had leadership roles in the pay-for-injury program, for which the NFL earlier this year suspended three coaches and the Saints' general manager.

The following are the players' suspensions:

– Vilma, a Saints linebacker, is suspended without pay for the 2012 NFL season.

– Hargrove, a defensive lineman now with the Green Bay Packers, is suspended without pay for the first eight games of the season.

– Smith, a Saints defensive end, is suspended without pay for the first four games of the season.

– Fujita, a linebacker now with the Cleveland Browns, is suspended without pay for the first three games of the season.

[hifiguy]

1. Wow. And Brees still isn't re-signed.

The Saints ain't gonna be marching in to the playoffs this season.

And the suspensions are well-deserved.

[soc7]

2. Unreal.... This is football, right?

Next thing you know, they will have all of the players take sensitivity classes so that they don't hurt each other's feelings.

[Initech]

5. What the Saints did was completely wrong and very very illegal - it's all well deserved.

[Johonny]

6. desreved but still surprising

Many NFL insiders thought the management would take the heat for running the policy and the players would not. There is so much contact in an NFL game it was thought the NFL would not be able to make a case for player suspensions. However it appears the NFL felt these 4 players had leadership roles that could not be disputed. The whole thing is too bad for the Saint fans, but frankly the franchise has no excuse they were warned and continued doing this. Given the concussion law suits the NFL simply can not allow play that includes bounty hunting. It is amazing given the current NFL environment a coaching staff would so openly advocate this policy.

[cpwm17]

3. If anyone was actually injured due to this there should be prison time for all involved.

This was criminal.

[hifiguy]

4. The Saints/Vikings NFC title game in January 2010

was a prime example of the Saints' headhunting. Brett Favre took so many late and low hits in that game it wasn't even debatable that the Saints were trying to deliberately take him out.