For now, he is the guy fans are cheering as he sticks the knife in pro football.

Nobody was ever told “even on audio” to go “at the head”. They were told to ‘affect the head’ which is vastly different than what you’re attempting to describe. Of course, with your limited resources I’m not shocked that you’ve come up with any of this….

“I’ll whip up a fake audio of Hargrove coming to the sideline in the 2009 NFC Championship game saying “Pay me my money!” when he thought he knocked Favre out of the game…”

Nobody (except apparently Peter King) ever heard this on any recordings of the game. Who knows for what reason he made this up…

” I’ll even falsify confession documents by coaches and players!”

There is not one, single ‘confession’ document describing a ‘pay for injury’ program by any players or coaches.

The rest of it is just too dumb to try to re-read…

This is this guys career. If you were suspended from your job for a year without pay I’m sure you’d want to see evidence and have your say too.

There is a thing called due process and It should apply here, although I am unfamiliar with American employment laws and regulations I’m sure there must be some governing standard that would have to be met.
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Honestly, it usually depends on your company’s fear of lawsuits when you are a big company. I was involved as a witness in a situation with my employer where my good friend got fired…and I was NEVER called as a witness even though I was the only other person in the meeting with the complainant and my friend. I wasn’t even allowed to VOLUNTEER my experience for the record. Why? Because my company was more afraid of this litigious jerk who had sued before to sue them..and he would have done so under EEOC laws which protected him even though it had 0 to do with the complaint.

It’s sad but true…something like this probably applies to the NFL as well. They’re a big company and there is about a 1% likelihood that there’s no unfairness involved with running it.

“Since they are calling for the league to reveal their evidence/proof, how about you start calling for them to put their cards on the table and tell them to provide their proof of innocence??? ”

You Sir – are an idiot.

Just how do you prove that you didn’t do something?

Am I the only person here who feels like we should be saying “OoooooK, just what in the heck is going on here?”

I’m a little disappointed as many PFT readers are getting sucked into this. At this point I hope Goodell releases the evidence (protecting the identity of any whistleblowers) and exposes Vilma for the lying coward he is. If he does that I hope he gives a new suspension for Vilma’s false denial that has come down now that the suspension was made.

For the record, Vilma has a long history playing for bounties that dates back to his days at the U.

To all of you who say we should trust Goodell: this man blatantly lies to your face when he says “the fans want an 18-game season.” I’ve heard him say that 3 times publicly. If he’s willing to lie to you on that, why do you blindly accept his word on the alleged Saints bounty system?

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How exactly is he lying about fans wanting a 18 game season?

I know I would have liked to see a 18 game season and I am a fan. I also know a lot of season ticket holders would rather pay to see a real game then have to pony up the same money for a lousy preseason game.

So he was not lying about fans wanting a 18 game season. He may have embellished the amount of fans that want it, which is what happens during the negotiation process, but there are plenty of fans that would be happy to see it.

However, I do believe that Goodell has slanted and embellished the story and implemented harsh penalties to help his legal battle relating to player safety. They will use this to claim that the NFL has rules in place to promote player safety, but players voluntarily on their own accord, violated those rules to harm, maim, and injure other players; therefore, the NFL is not culpable in these lawsuits.

As to his motivation, Goodell is facing concussions lawsuits and is pushing an 18-game season. Going after the Saints bolsters his position on both fronts. He can maintain that nothing is more important to the NFL than player safety, see what I did to the Saints.

Aren’t you curious as to why Goodell won’t release the evidence, feels compelled to hire an outside attorney to review the evidence and hold a press conference with the NFL media to convince them there is evidence, but still won’t release the evidence. In addition, the lead investigator has resigned, and Goodell and his hired attorney misrepresented the Hargrove declaration. The NFL also altered Greg Williams’ statement.

All this makes me believe that Goodell ain’t releasing the evidence, because he ain’t got no evidence.

How can you deprive a man of his livelihood and stain his reputation forever with no evidence? Not only is that unfair, it’s un-American.

There is a thing called due process and It should apply here, although I am unfamiliar with American employment laws and regulations I’m sure there must be some governing standard that would have to be met.

The guy is fighting for Vilma’s right to due process. His right to work has been compromised … But more to the point: you should be thankful that are country has such people.
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You mean we should be thankful for greedy leeches who represent clients who they know are guilty? Wonder how much money this weasel ambulance chaser is making? If this counselor is so altruistic, let him work pro bono publico.

Bring up Vilma’s protection by the US Constitution all you want. He’s not being prosecuted by the US Government so that argument is dumb. The US Government is not forcing him to shut up, nor are they denying his right to an attorney or an appeal. Neither the city, state or country aren’t charging him with anything. Go read the Constitution then show me where ANY government entity is denying Vilma ANY rights based on what you’ve read.

The NFL is doing what it is allowed to do by its own rules and regulations as a private corporation. We may not like it but it’s legal. They’re called deregulation & capitalism. If you don’t like it, move to Canada and root for the CFL.

Another ambulance chaser who won’t accept the fact that all decisions made are predicated on contractual agreements, both the CBA and Vilma’s individual contract.

Playing in the NFL is a gift not a god given or even constitutionally given right!

Of course, the claim now is that the Saints were lying about something they never did. Guilty. Even more guilty every day.

As all but the most clueless fans know, signal stealing has been the well documented norm in the NFL since the 1950s and NFL rules allowed and continue to allow filming of signal calls from certain locations. The Patriots only violation was of a 2006 memo stating sideline taping was no longer allowed.

When “Spygate” broke the public, most fans, AND Goodell himself acted like signal stealing was new and aberrant behavior (apparently none of them questioned why coordinators cover their mouths when calling in plays – and in fact still do today.)

Instead of being upfront that signal filming is allowed under the rules, Goodell allowed public perception to become reality – and even today many clueless NFL fans don’t seem to be aware that signal filming is allowed under NFL rules.

That’s not a wise way to conduct business – and I don’t mind one bit if Vilma’s lawyer calls out Goodell for deciding rules and punishments based on public opinion.

Perception should not equal reality in the law or in the NFL.

The fact of the matter is that this is not a court of law. No one will be locked up in prison as a result of this. This is, in fact, no different than what happens every day (employers look at the evidence and make decisions about employees. No courts involved provided policy was followed and no laws were broken (i.e. discrimination)).

The commish followed the CBA. If these players do not like it, they can and should vote for new leadership and address that concern during the next CBA negotiations.

Soo…silver lining?