Sean Payton asks Bill Parcells to be the Saints interim Head Coach

[pherein]

any team that even poses a hint of a threat to Goodell's NY based cabal will become an "example"...especially as the countdown to NY Super Bowl 2014 looms...Giants/Jets Super Bowl...Goodell's crowning achievement and the legacy he lusts after every working day..

Imagine having a piece of the billions in ancillary revenue streams flowing from the NY Metro area sea....

Thats so not cool. We dealt with things that were bad, and got worse, and worse, and worse as one thing hit us one after another. Saints are a symbol for us. They mean something to us. We are not effected by the media or blurbs, we have been made fun of for a very long time. But they mean something to us.
A lot of times they are all we had.
Its not right, we want the truth. and we will never get it.

 

[MoLewisrocks]

The league has sent the NFLPA the same summary reports it sent the teams. On March 2 they asked the NFLPA for input and also offered to show them all of the material and allow them to speak to the actual investigators at league offices - which by the way are in the same building. The NFLPA has never responded. They are just trying to fence sit and play both sides off the middle, same as with the drug testing they agreed to during CBA negotiations that they now can't seem to sign off on...

 

[pherein]

The league has sent the NFLPA the same summary reports it sent the teams. On March 2 they asked the NFLPA for input and also offered to show them all of the material and allow them to speak to the actual investigators at league offices - which by the way are in the same building. The NFLPA has never responded. They are just trying to fence sit and play both sides off the middle, same as with the drug testing they agreed to during CBA negotiations that they now can't seem to sign off on...

Id like to see that link, That they have recieved all of the 50,000 legendary report , because thats not whats being reported by the NFLPA. Are you saying they are lying? and they are just making this up ?

 

[MoLewisrocks]

Id like to see that link, That they have recieved all of the 50,000 legendary report , because thats not whats being reported by the NFLPA. Are you saying they are lying? and they are just making this up ?

Nobody ever faxes out 50,000 page reports... They've been given the summary evidence reports and offered (since March 2) the opportunity to see all of it and even talk to the actual investigators who collected it and interviewed all the parties involved - provided they walk across the building... The NFLPA is a lot like NO fans, they don't really want to see it, they want to figure out a way around it because they aren't prepared to deal with the consequences. But in the end NO fans and the NFLPA are strange bedfellows because what the union wants is to absolve players by shifting the blame entirely to your organization by contending players there had no choice but to go along with coaches...

 

[PatsWickedPissah]

The league has sent the NFLPA the same summary reports it sent the teams. On March 2 they asked the NFLPA for input and also offered to show them all of the material and allow them to speak to the actual investigators at league offices - which by the way are in the same building. The NFLPA has never responded. They are just trying to fence sit and play both sides off the middle, same as with the drug testing they agreed to during CBA negotiations that they now can't seem to sign off on...

This hypocrisy gets me wicked pissed. The NFLPA does not care about the health or well being of retired players who made the league the money maker it is today. And they really don't care about current player safety deeply enough to take necessary difficult steps that might affect a few bad apples. This is always the way with unions. They use their association to protect the jobs and welfare of the worst offenders.

 

[MoLewisrocks]

Goodell wasn't kidding about expedited. NO appeals will be heard Tuesday. Expect the ruling to be expedited, too. ABrandt says arguments will likely have less to do with evidence than severity of discipline (NO was said to be braced for 4 gamers from the outset). Given the way they've behaved since it was assessed, basically using the appeals process as a delay tactic while they attempt to end around it and not doing the full mea culpa at the owners meetings, I don't envision any reduction.

 

[MoLewisrocks]

Apparently the union has agreed to walk across the hall...

Per the report, the NFLPA still may not recommend specific discipline, even if the union finds “concrete evidence” of player involvement.

That’s the right move, in our view. It’s not for the union to advise the league on discipline, given that the union will later be representing the players during their appeals. Indeed, merely making a recommendation could amount to a violation of the duty of fair representation that every union has to its members.

Trotter explains that “[t]he union has great concerns about the disciplinary powers of the commissioner’s office over issues such as the bounty scandal” and that “it has never made sense for cases to be appealed to the same person who handed out the initial punishment,” it’s critical to remember that the NFLPA reaffirmed these procedures when agreeing to the new, 10-year CBA in August 2011.

The current challenge for the NFLPA continues to be walking the tightrope between protecting the players who funded or received payments from the bounty fund and protecting those who were targeted by the bounty system. For now, the prudent move will be to explore whether there’s a way to pin the full blame on the coaches, but only if the evidence supports the argument that the players who participated were coerced into doing so by their coaches — and if the players will be able to testify truthfully and persuasively that the locker-room personality cult overcame their free will.

NFLPA accepts invitation to obtain more bounty information | ProFootballTalk

 

[Triumph]

At first I thought that Parcells would take the job, but not so much now.

Key Saints players are facing suspensions and fines. John Clayton is talking about possible legal action against some of the players. This thing seems like its not going away and will be a distraction all season long.

 

[BTTA]

any team that even poses a hint of a threat to Goodell's NY based cabal will become an "example"...especially as the countdown to NY Super Bowl 2014 looms...Giants/Jets Super Bowl...Goodell's crowning achievement and the legacy he lusts after every working day...

Justice will be served when the Pats and Saints meet in that game.

 

[BTTA]

The current challenge for the NFLPA continues to be walking the tightrope between protecting the players who funded or received payments from the bounty fund and protecting those who were targeted by the bounty system. For now, the prudent move will be to explore whether there’s a way to pin the full blame on the coaches, but only if the evidence supports the argument that the players who participated were coerced into doing so by their coaches — and if the players will be able to testify truthfully and persuasively that the locker-room personality cult overcame their free will.

The Union, and/or a few key defensive players, needs to come out and declare that:
• this is a widespread practice
• the Saints are no more at fault for this than any other team
• that it was a mistake for the players to allow the coaches and teams to take advantage of their competitive instincts in this way
• that it undoubtedly contributed to the injury rate in the league including concussions
• that all players should tell coaches that they won't participate in it anymore.

In other words, stop picking on the Saints and start regulating yourselves.

 

[PatsWickedPissah]

Keep waiting for pigs to fly

 

[MoLewisrocks]

The Union, and/or a few key defensive players, needs to come out and declare that:
• this isn't a widespread practice like player run pay for play, it's a pathetic perversion of one which is why both practices have to stop
• the Saints are more at fault for this than any other team because their DC ran it and their HC and Asst. HC were aware of it and they and their GM lied to the commissioner repeatedly and allowed it to continue for 3 years after assuring the league they would not
• that it was a mistake for veteran players, coaches and this team to take advantage of impressionable young or fringe teamates competitive instincts in this way
• that it undoubtedly contributed to the injury rate in the league including concussions that retirees are now increasingly suing the league over claiming it was not proactive enough in defending against
• that all players should tell their teamates and coaches that they won't participate in it anymore and will report and refuse to support anyone who does

And while they're at it the NFLPA should sign off on HgH testing as well as clarify their disingenuous position on health and safety and quit enabling a small percentage of their membership to continue to scoff at it at everyone's eventual expense.

In other words, quit being hypocritical tools and start acting like grown ass men with college educations and accept responsibility for the culture you helped perpetuate and become accountable for your illegal actions so the league doesn't have to keep policing you like a glorified god damned parole officer.

 

[MoLewisrocks]

After wearing his **** stirring lawyers hat all last week, Florio seems to have removed it in favor of his voice of reason hat this AM...

Before any Saints fans go over the top in their anger toward Goodell, two important facts need to be remembered. First, the league office (with Goodell serving as No. 2 to former Commissioner Paul Tagliabue) promptly stepped in and slammed the door on any possibility of owner Tom Benson using the devastation of Katrina as a pretext to move the Saints out of town.

Goodell addressed the potential frustrations of Saints fans at the league meetings last week. "I worked very closely as we were getting the Saints reestablished after the hurricane, so I saw firsthand the Saints passion and their fans’ passion. I clearly understand that frustration, but everyone has to understand that there are 32 teams, and everybody is going to have to operate by the same rules. If we don’t do that, the integrity of the game, and what fans love about the game, will be impacted negatively. And that is my responsibility.”

That leads to the second point. Saints fans need to realize that the stewards of the franchise were on notice in 2010 that the league was aware of bounty allegations. The persons interviewed by NFL Security lied about it at the time. To close the book on the situation, the organization needed only to abandon the bounty program. Instead, the league later determined that bounties continued for two full seasons, in direct defiance of the league office.

Bayou backlash is building | ProFootballTalk

 

[TruthSeeker]

The Union, and/or a few key defensive players, needs to come out and declare that:
• this is a widespread practice
...

In other words, stop picking on the Saints and start regulating yourselves.

Yes, this worked real well with Spygate.

 

[MoLewisrocks]

Why does this response not surprise me...

Liz Mullen‏@SBJLizMullen

SBJ: NFLPA Prez Domonique Foxworth on Bounty inquiry "I am not sure how we can recommend or accept any punishment that cannot be justified.”

from the same clowns who represent guys who do this when bagged by the cops for the second time in a month...

Chris McCosky‏@cmccosky

Chief of Police Gary Ruhl on Leshoure: "He was cooperative. We told him to spit (the weed) out so he wouldn't get sick and he did."

not to mention engineered a lockout to avoid this

“Worst deal in the history of sports” suddenly looks pretty good | ProFootballTalk

 

[PatsWickedPissah]

It does not surprise me that the NFLPA "borrowed" from future caps to make the 2011, 2012 and 3013 caps higher. The "I want it NOW!" mentality at the expense of the future has replaced reason throughout so many aspects of current society.

 

[pherein]

• the Saints are more at fault for this than any other team because their DC ran it and their HC and Asst. HC were aware of it and they and their GM lied to the commissioner repeatedly and allowed it to continue for 3 years after assuring the league they would not

I agree with you, but to say the Saints are the only team doing this, or that they were the worst offender in the history of the NFL is really pushing it. Im sure Pitt in 1970's 80's , Raiders history would completely destroy that argument.
Yes what they did was wrong, but lets keep it in perspective.

 

[supafly]

I agree with you, but to say the Saints are the only team doing this, or that they were the worst offender in the history of the NFL is really pushing it. Im sure Pitt in 1970's 80's , Raiders history would completely destroy that argument.
Yes what they did was wrong, but lets keep it in perspective.

Unfortunately, it always seems as though there is a team or player who gets the brunt of the blame for a widespread practice, and the Saints situation is likely the result of this too.

Just like Spygate, and just like some other negative sports stories that we've witnessed.

I hardly believe that the N.O. Saints were the only team to ever reward big hits and knocking out certain players. Unfortunately for them, they got caught.

I'm sure that you have a fair viewpoint, that if they did wrong, they should be punished--just like many of us with Spygate. I do believe that these stories tend to get overblown though.

In a very negative situation, the hiring of Bill Parcells probably should be considered a god-send to you and your team's fans though. It really shouldn't have that much negative effect on your chances of going to the playoffs etc, so that's the good thing in all of this.

It certainly could've been a lot worse. With a vet QB like Brees, and a lot of weapons on offense, there shouldn't be too much of a downfall compared to last year in my opinion. They will still need to prove themselves on the road, and they have the potential of playing at home in the SB if they can gain a #1 or #2 seed.

I honestly believe that your season is just fine.

 

[MoLewisrocks]

I agree with you, but to say the Saints are the only team doing this, or that they were the worst offender in the history of the NFL is really pushing it. Im sure Pitt in 1970's 80's , Raiders history would completely destroy that argument.
Yes what they did was wrong, but lets keep it in perspective.

Fair enough, but I never said they were the only team doing this or they were the worst offender in the history of the NFL. What you need to add to your perspective is the reality that the 70's and 80's were then (and very different times) and this is now (when retirees are suing the league for traumatic head injury effects post career based on the league not doing enough to warn them and possibly even keeping evidence from them about the potential consequences).

I hear more people claiming the everyone did it defense, and it's simply not true in this case. What everyone else did, which will stop as a result of the severity of this penalty, is something the league could not hope to police - player run pay for performance pools. Which while in violation of the rule were not nearly as potentially destructive as a bounty system run by team coaches who also contributed to it and allowed outsiders including a convicted felon to contribute to it and allowed to continue to run for two more years by upper management even after they lied about it's existence and swore they would never allow such a thing to exist.

And the issue I have with NO is that unlike NE they are attempting to deflect criticism and dodge responsibility/accountability. As are Dallas and Washington (where guess what, a bounty gate system also likely existed in the time a certain DC was on their payroll). And that is something Bill and Robert did not do and would not do because as competitive as they are they remain accountable and team players who grasp that while you always prefer to do what is best for your team you have a responsibility to go along with the concensus of what is for the greater good of the league.