All I have to say is we were warned by NE fans what would happen if we ever became a good team. They said we would be put under a microscope by the media. We are really not surprised NE was right.
And way better than that.
The scrutiny that befalls a winner may be harsher than that of a loser, but it doesn't mitigate the fact that your team made a mistake. Just like ours did. But the one yours made had the potential to facilitate career altering or ending injuries. Those happen in this game at times regardless because of the nature of it. But it is never supposed to be the even the unspoken intent of an opponent to set out to injure, let alone the spoken intent to reward what is essentially illegal behavior.
We all get that player performance pools exist. It is to some extent the nature of the beast. They are in violation of the rules, just like speeding and dui and dog fighting. Yet some people will continue to engage in them. There is an old saying, just because you got away with something doesn't make it right. Everyone will never get caught, so when a high profile individual does authorities usually make an example of them in hopes it will create a deterrant.
The Saints are up, and it would appear deservedly so because this violation goes well beyond players incentivizing exceptional play amongst themselves. This is about management encouraging them to and participating in the process and then perverting it into something a lot more dangerous for everyone that undermines the integrity of the game.
Our HC violated a rule for which we were severely punished. In that case the argument could be made that it was a new rule and there was some ambiguity as to it's actual meaning. In fact we were punished as much for what we could have done with that video as what we actually did do with it, because others were apparently continuing to violate the rule as well and possibly making use of video in game. But they didn't get caught, we did. The punishment therefore didn't appear to fit the crime, but we were made an example of.
The same thing is going to happen to you, only it would appear based on longstanding and unambiguous rules and Mr. Williams persistent involvement and that of other coaches and uper management's knowledge of the violation and refusal to take action for at least a year after being instructed to by the league and the team owner, the punishment will likely fit the crime this time.
I wouldn't be surprised to see Payton gone in the forseeable future, too. He's always had an ego and it may be his undoing. This comes on the heels of the whole drug scandal he was also knee deep in, and while Benson likely has a NO sensibility about certain levels of misbehavior, he's got to be pretty disappointed in the guys he trusted to run his franchise better than that.
This may also cost him at the negotiation table as he will need a clean face of the franchise as much as he ever did now. Although I'm sure that face was also well aware of what was going on and I wouldn't be surprised if his agent wasn't involved in pushing the league to reopen the investigation for leverage purposes...
