Appeals panel has overturned Bountygate player suspensions

[Armchair Quarterback]

For someone with a self described low level of care you sure seem to have a strong opinion on Goodell.

I have an elevated level of interest in Roger Goodell and his performance as NFL Commissioner. He's a rather important figure in the game.

He is a tool.

 

[Joker]

wait a minute..I was PERSONALLY castigated, called all sorts of epithets,had my intelligence mocked, my education denigrated and made out to be a total whack job by certain Patsfans "experts" here, for even having the temerity to suggest that this case would go BEFORE the court...never mind a ruling against the imperious decisions of All Knowingdell...and look where we are today....spin doctor central...it was NEVER EVER going this far and I am the idiot for saying it would...well it HAS gone this far...how many courts,lawyers,juries,players and fans are going to be labeled "STUPID MORONS!!!" now?

Oh yeah, and by the way...anyone care to call me a moron when I suggest that only an IDIOT opens TWO fronts of acrimonious litigation that threaten the future health of this business enterprise known as the NFL...?...especially when a disastrous business stoppage was only narrowly averted by the 11th hour intercession of key franchise OWNERS? We'll see after this weekend's games how many owners approve of the Keystone Kops performances by these "refs". Just a few hours ago it was reported that one of the referees working this weekend was suspended and then fired, barred from reffing Division TWO college football games.

This is just so ridiculous and unnecessary...here we are...48 hours from opening kickoff Sunday and the game we all love and have loved our entire lives, a game that has been built up by OUR fanaticism and loyalty...and what is THE major story and WHO is the central figure inundating all media outlets....Roger "why do they call me Omissioner?" Goodell.

 

[pherein]

This is just so ridiculous and unnecessary...here we are...48 hours from opening kickoff Sunday and the game we all love and have loved our entire lives, a game that has been built up by OUR fanaticism and loyalty...and what is THE major story and WHO is the central figure inundating all media outlets....Roger "why do they call me Omissioner?" Goodell.

Because some things are simplistic in life. You look at his scope of work and the "Gates" that are created that no fan wanted to hear about, or good for the NFL, and there is an obvious pattern. He's incompetent.

 

[MoLewisrocks]

wait a minute..I was PERSONALLY castigated, called all sorts of epithets,had my intelligence mocked, my education denigrated and made out to be a total whack job by certain Patsfans "experts" here, for even having the temerity to suggest that this case would go BEFORE the court...never mind a ruling against the imperious decisions of All Knowingdell...and look where we are today....spin doctor central...it was NEVER EVER going this far and I am the idiot for saying it would...well it HAS gone this far...how many courts,lawyers,juries,players and fans are going to be labeled "STUPID MORONS!!!" now?

Oh yeah, and by the way...anyone care to call me a moron when I suggest that only an IDIOT opens TWO fronts of acrimonious litigation that threaten the future health of this business enterprise known as the NFL...?...especially when a disastrous business stoppage was only narrowly averted by the 11th hour intercession of key franchise OWNERS? We'll see after this weekend's games how many owners approve of the Keystone Kops performances by these "refs". Just a few hours ago it was reported that one of the referees working this weekend was suspended and then fired, barred from reffing Division TWO college football games.

This is just so ridiculous and unnecessary...here we are...48 hours from opening kickoff Sunday and the game we all love and have loved our entire lives, a game that has been built up by OUR fanaticism and loyalty...and what is THE major story and WHO is the central figure inundating all media outlets....Roger "why do they call me Omissioner?" Goodell.

This wasn't a court ruling and it didn't go for or against anyone. This was an appeal within the CBA of an arbitrator's ruling earlier that the case was subject to personal conduct discipline. The appeals panel decided it was BOTH a salary cap and personal conduct violation and the penalty must clearly differentiate between the two. In other words the players should be fined and suspended...

 

[Joker]

in other words...here we go again...and go and go and go...where does it end? I was told RIGHT HERE five months ago that it would end before ANY legal machinations could be undertaken. Why is it so hard, or so upsetting to say this man made some serious P.R. miscalculations when he made this huge media splash?....I'm not a Saints fan...work this crapfest out behind closed doors. Keep it and YOUR face out of the media and let the league you supposedly care so much about, shine in this post labor stoppage era. Instead we have Cliff Clavin downing bourbon sours in the Bull and Finch bragging about his upcoming referee stint in the next Pats game in Foxboro...

the last time I called a pass interference was when Norm made a move on my wife...

why are we even dealing with this crap...WE are the backbone of this league...the money engine that makes all these clowns rich...what is the WWE style crap going on here?

 

[ausbacker]

in other words...here we go again...and go and go and go...where does it end? I was told RIGHT HERE five months ago that it would end before ANY legal machinations could be undertaken. Why is it so hard, or so upsetting to say this man made some serious P.R. miscalculations when he made this huge media splash?....I'm not a Saints fan...work this crapfest out behind closed doors. Keep it and YOUR face out of the media and let the league you supposedly care so much about, shine in this post labor stoppage era. Instead we have Cliff Clavin downing bourbon sours in the Bull and Finch bragging about his upcoming referee stint in the next Pats game in Foxboro...

the last time I called a pass interference was when Norm made a move on my wife...

why are we even dealing with this crap...WE are the backbone of this league...the money engine that makes all these clowns rich...what is the WWE style crap going on here?

We're dealing with this crap because the NFLPA is a joke of an organisation and Saints players are trying to get away with having their hand caught in the cookie jar. This isn't the NFL administration's doing Joker, something you would be wise to remember.

 

[UK_Pat37]

So players sign to allow Goodell to be chief judge and executioner in the new CBA...and, when he exercises his right, they go and do this. Sounds like the players gaining too much control and influence once again.

There is proof they had bounties to knock players out of games but the panel felt that wasn't enough to argue 'intent to injure'? Okay then

They agreed to all this and I think Goodell was spot on with his penalties. If you make your bed, lay in it. The NFLPA is a p*ss take.

 

[RhodyPatriot]

Good to see Goodell get his hand slapped for once. The dictator hias been somewhat overbearing in recent years.

 

[Lansdowne]

The Ginger Hammer is terrible.

 

[MoLewisrocks]

The Ginger Hammer is terrible.

The Ginger Hammer stayed out of it which proved to be a wise move. In fact while she appeared to want to find for the players out of the gate, albeit while acknowledging all along she might not have the legal authority to, her last action before Friday was to demand Kessler prove to her he didn't have a blatent conflict of interest that was making it impossible for the sides to even consider some kind of settlement in the interim.

They can go back to her once the league imposes a new penalty for the personal conduct portion of the offense. And she can ignore the league's contention that it is a collectively bargained matter. But an actual appeals court likely won't. The two retired judges and a law professor that ruled and penalties had to be clearly delineated as cap or conduct violations didn't seem to have any issue with the fact that whatever way you sliced it something punishable did happen in each area and Goodell clearly has the authority to punish for the part of it that falls under his jurisdiction. While the system arbitrator, Burbank, has the authority to punish via fines for any part of it that falls under his.

 

[MoLewisrocks]

So players sign to allow Goodell to be chief judge and executioner in the new CBA...and, when he exercises his right, they go and do this. Sounds like the players gaining too much control and influence once again.

There is proof they had bounties to knock players out of games but the panel felt that wasn't enough to argue 'intent to injure'? Okay then

They agreed to all this and I think Goodell was spot on with his penalties. If you make your bed, lay in it. The NFLPA is a p*ss take.

The panel never said that. In fact they appear to have said the opposite. This wasn't about evidence, it was about jurisdiction. They indicated that conduct occured that both violated the cap and violated the personal conduct rules. They just said Goodell can't lump the punishment together...if that is what he did. Said he has to revisit the issue and indicate his penalties are only for violation of conduct rules. Burbank should handle any penalties for cap rules violations because players can only be fined for those.

 

[PatsFanSince74]

Im not celebrating at all. I just love seeing Roger finally get a slap in the face he had a long time coming for how he handled NE and other teams.:rocker: He's incompetent in my view.

So, should we get our Draft Pick back and Hoodie get his half a buck back? :singing:

 

[Gwedd]

So, should we get our Draft Pick back and Hoodie get his half a buck back? :singing:

Yes. Yes we should.

 

[PatsFanSince74]

Maybe I'm the only one who needed this clarification, but in case there are others out there who weren't clear on exactly what was found by the Panel yesterday, here is the clearest summary I have found (Bold emphases are mine):

"The narrow issue before the panel was whether this was an issue of conduct detrimental to the league, which would fall under Goodell’s jurisdiction, or, as the players’ union contended, whether the offering of money to players constituted an improper payment, which would be a salary-cap violation, the penalties for which would be decided by an arbitrator.

"The appeals panel concluded that the bounty system the league said was in place was a bit of both and said the commissioner had only the power to discipline players for the part of it that involved an intent to injure opponents. The panel, saying that the seriousness of the matter merited caution because it was not clear what Goodell had in mind when he issued the discipline, instructed Goodell to adjust his discipline accordingly if any part of it was because he intended to punish the players for salary-cap violations."


To me, this is very, very embarrassing for Goodell; the issues, as explained by the panel, are so clear cut from a legal point of view that one wonders whether Jeffrey Pash (HLS, 1980) is still up to the job of General Counsel of the NFL.

As I recall, the league established during its proceedings that the Bounty Program was indeed in place but, beyond the lockerroom tape, never really tries to establish that individual players had an "intent to injure."

That suggests to me that there was an almost unforgivable lack of clarity of thinking on the part of the league.

To someone who deals with the importance of distinction and nuance at the C-Suite level nearly every day, this would rise to the level of malpractice when you consider the scope and size of the enterprise known as The National Football League.

Or had he confused the two separate issues so badly that he didn't understand what he had to prove?

If Goodell were a CEO of a major corporation and had a tough Board to which he had to answer, this would be a firing offense.

You can read the whole article at:
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/09/08/s...saints-in-bounty-scandal.html?_r=1&ref=sports

 

[MoLewisrocks]

NFL not required to prove “intent to injure” when suspension process re-starts | ProFootballTalk

 

[MoLewisrocks]

Per Jason LaCanfora on CBS pre game show the league is poised to reimpose suspensions as early as next week and possibly at the same level.

And the news gets worse for NO as the DEA has been investigating their little Vicodin scandal from 2010 and is now preparing to move on the matter possibly with six figure fines and other penalties.