Aaron says:Jun 19, 2012 4:09 PM

Keep living in fantasy land, Vikings fan. None of those shots were cheap/egregious and any that were considered a little late by the refs, got flagged. All the Saints did was score more points and make less mistakes. But by all means, keep the tears coming, for they are delicious. And if it’s an apology you want, fine: Sorry for playing tackle football.
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I guess you forgot about the play when two guys went high-low on Favre, his ankle was mangled, and he threw an interception. That was a late hit that should have been a penalty with the interception overturned. The NFL admitted the officials made a mistake by not calling the penalty. You think 15 yards, a first down, and a quarterback who can walk instead of an interception and a devastating injury wouldn’t have made a difference in that game? I may be whining but I’m not delusional.
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Oh, you mean that hit where the Vikings defender was pushing McCray down as he was getting to Favre and Ayodele simply ran into him? The one where Favre said the ref apologized and then the ref denied it. Nope, I didn’t forget about it. Nothing dirty about it. You might want to watch the whole play. Just saying. Ayodele could have put #4 in a body bag if he wanted to, but he didn’t. And neither hit was late. But if you want to shift your whining to the refs now, by all means, be my guest. That is, after all, the mating call of sore losers.

Oh, and if you’re going to try to predict what would have happened if that had been flagged, the only QB you would have had that would have been able to walk would have been the backup. I mean, if you’re going to live in fantasy land, at least do it right.

Keep living in fantasy land, Vikings fan. None of those shots were cheap/egregious and any that were considered a little late by the refs, got flagged. All the Saints did was score more points and make less mistakes. But by all means, keep the tears coming, for they are delicious. And if it’s an apology you want, fine: Sorry for playing tackle football.
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I guess you forgot about the play when two guys went high-low on Favre, his ankle was mangled, and he threw an interception. That was a late hit that should have been a penalty with the interception overturned. The NFL admitted the officials made a mistake by not calling the penalty. You think 15 yards, a first down, and a quarterback who can walk instead of an interception and a devastating injury wouldn’t have made a difference in that game? I may be whining but I’m not delusional.

Aaron misses that the Vikings outplayed the Saints – what ultimately did them in was Brett Favre.

The broader point that the NFL is lying in asserting Vilma etc. had a bounty to injure opposing players remains the truth.
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I’m not missing anything. The Vikings outgained the Saints, sure. But the Saints executed (on offense and defense) when they had to and the Vikings didn’t. And I’ll take winning on the scoreboard over winning on the stat sheet any day. We clutched up. We got the Lombardi. And we polish it with the tears of people still whining about losing a game that happened two years ago.

The broader point that the NFL is lying in asserting Vilma etc. had a bounty to injure opposing players remains the truth.

Aaron says:Jun 19, 2012 2:25 PM

thankheavenfornumberseven says: Jun 19, 2012 1:57 PM

If not for the cheap shots they took on Favre, the Vikings win that game and probably the Super Bowl. If you don’t believe that, you didn’t see the game or you’re blinded by your loyalty to the Saints.

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The Vikings lost because they couldn’t block, hold onto the ball, or count to twelve. Of course, the best part was watching #4 throw late, across his body and over the middle, which was just…beautiful. And predictable. If you want to blame someone, look at the guys in purple. And if you don’t believe that, you didn’t see the game or you’re blinded by your loyalty to the Vikings.
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All that is true, but if not for the cheap shots one of those interceptions never happens and the one at the end doesn’t happen because the Vikings are so far ahead they don’t have to throw the ball. The 12th man penalty also doesn’t matter.

Your problem is you love cheaters. Are you Aaron Rodgers?
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Keep living in fantasy land, Vikings fan. None of those shots were cheap/egregious and any that were considered a little late by the refs, got flagged. All the Saints did was score more points and make less mistakes. But by all means, keep the tears coming, for they are delicious. And if it’s an apology you want, fine: Sorry for playing tackle football.

And if I were Aaron Rodgers, I would be busy making room in my trophy case for another NFC North title and penciling in two victories against the Vikings next season, not posting on a PFT article.

What this article brings to light is that Pro football players and coaches really AREN’T that smart as they are made out to be. MOST are just touched by God.

Even if the Saints did have a bounty system as extensive as the NFL claims, they are by no means the only team to have ever had one. Even last week, when asked about bounties, Jim Brown himself laughed because he said they have been part of the game since the very start and he actually felt bad for the Saints. And the documentary guy who outed Williams audio even said the Saints didn’t do anything different in last year’s Niners game than in 15 other games with other teams he watched.

So, please get over your righteous hypocrisy. You’re an idiot if you think the Saints are true villains in this story and everyone else plays by the rules, doesn’t try to hurt other players, doesn’t take money for inflicting injuries. How about an asterick to every Niners SB win because they coached their offensive linemen to injure defensive players knees? How about astericks on the Giants first 2 SB wins where they clearly went out to hurt Montana?

And, yet another sour grapes stab by Vikings fans. Again, if the Vikings had won just as the Saints did, how many Viking fans would be willing to give up the SB trophy? How many other fans if your team won like the Saints did?

The stupidity of many fans is really beyond belief.

There are only 2 scenarios in this case. If it was as bad as the NFL says, then the NFL needs to turn over all hard evidence to the NFLPA, and the authorities …
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What “authorities”? The IRS? This isn’t a trial. The Commissioner of the NFL has made a ruling and meted out the punishment. The CBA grants him the authority to do this. The only reason this issue is in the forefront is because certain scribes want it to be. If Vilma persists, Goodell will release more information which will further illustrate what a lying a$$ clown Vilma really is. Goodell is just trying to protect the informants and that has always been his primary concern regardless of what certain scribes are calling for.

thankheavenfornumberseven says: Jun 19, 2012 1:57 PM

If not for the cheap shots they took on Favre, the Vikings win that game and probably the Super Bowl. If you don’t believe that, you didn’t see the game or you’re blinded by your loyalty to the Saints.

……………………………………………………………………………….

The Vikings lost because they couldn’t block, hold onto the ball, or count to twelve. Of course, the best part was watching #4 throw late, across his body and over the middle, which was just…beautiful. And predictable. If you want to blame someone, look at the guys in purple. And if you don’t believe that, you didn’t see the game or you’re blinded by your loyalty to the Vikings.
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All that is true, but if not for the cheap shots one of those interceptions never happens and the one at the end doesn’t happen because the Vikings are so far ahead they don’t have to throw the ball. The 12th man penalty also doesn’t matter.

Your problem is you love cheaters. Are you Aaron Rodgers?

The lesson to learn here for all defensive players and coaches is talk nice, be nice, don’t try to hurt your opponent, offer them gifts and sweets, maybe a foot massage?
Tell them your love for them is like a gazelle, or a young stag.
Tell them that love is patient, love is kind, it does not boast, it is not proud.
Love one another. Politely ask the quarterback to have a seat to avoid having to tackle him.
Never talk of horse play or rough housing.

It is better to be caught drunk driving, smoking marijuana, launching at an opponent and leading with your helmet, hitting an opponent after the whistle, stomping on an opponent on the ground, throwing a helmet, punching an opponent, cursing on camera or any number of other offenses than to be caught red handed talking about doing bad things.

Because we all know that words speak louder than actions.

Instead of owning up to it, these players are looking for any sort of technicality and loophole they can find. What ever happened to doing the right thing for doing the right thing’s sake?

Lets go through the facts…

Goodell had gotten word of a potential bounty/ pay for performance program going on for years in NO. He warned them up to 3 times to knock it off, but apparently they didnt. Someone from within the organization likely comes forward and gives him all the details, many of which he’s able to reasonably verify through various pieces of evidence (Williams audio tapes, players admitting to it and also saying coaches told them to continue to deny, audio of hargrove asking for his money when he thought he knocked favre out of a game, incriminating emails as well as powerpoint slides with pictures of Dog the bounty hunter with text saying “go hunting!”, as well as handwritten notes on contributions as well as payouts).

After gathering evidence, he invites the accused to come in and speak with him in regards to his findings to see what they have to say. While some declined, others did talk and cooberated the evidence admitting the program as well as the attempted cover up. Now those that declined to talk w/ the commish try to claim they dont know why they are suspended…. Well, you would have known and had an opportunity to defend yourself if you showed up to your meeting in your attempt to plead the 5th. Just because you decided not to talk to the commish and he wasnt given the opportunity to present you with his proof, doesnt mean there wasnt any. You had a chance to defend yourself, bit instead took the advice of the NFLPA and chose not to.

If it were me and I was falsely accused of something like, Id be knocking down the commish’s door asking for proof, instead you chose to hide behind semantics and act like it was a blind witch hunt.

Sorry, bit the evidence was there and you chose not to defend yourself. He had to act, and he did. Kudos to him for doing so. Now cant this story just go away??

If it wasn’t for ALLLLL those CHEAP shots, Favre would’ve NEVER stuck Tracy Porter in the chest…and the Vikes turn the ball over 4-5 times or whatever it was.

As sick as bounties are, it’s almost as sickening listening to the Viking fans cry about it. Yes, it sucks when you’re a brutally awful franchise looking for championship #1 in your 50th year, but c’mon!!!!

Vilma was heard to say earlier today “Aw man, they know I was just kidding around”.

I wonder how his “tainted” reputation is now? Who is to blame Vilma?

Yourself.

Go play in the CFL or chase Favre around in a Wrangler commercial in the mud.

Seems reasonable.

These event are not being held in any level of a court setting.

Guess it builds up hits for the site tho and that makes money for PFT!

I wish people would stop saying, “This isn’t a court of law.” Due process and fundamental fairness apply regardless of the tribunal; it’s just a sliding scale as to the amount of process that is due. I think when you’re talking about taking a year out of someone’s finite athletic career and income, there’s a LOT more process due than “This is what these people told our investigators.”
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Except when you negotiate a CBA that gives the NFL the power to suspend you and your fellow players for just about any reason, you lose most of that right to “due process.”

Ben Roethlisberger never wound up being charged with the rapes he was accused of. I’m sure many of us probably think he did it, but it’s not like we ever got to see the real evidence against him. Yet he was suspended for tarnishing the image of the league, despite not even being charged, let alone convicted. The same (or similar) thing has happened to many other players who get suspended after arrests, even though they hadn’t been convicted of anything (yet.)

You may not want to hear it, but “This is not a court of law” is extremely relevant. The players negotiate with the league to craft a CBA, and the CBAs always give the league the power to suspend players for just about any reason. The players’ lawyers crying about “due process” are just posturing for the PR battle. Their “due process” rights haven’t been violated, because they negotiated them away in the CBA.

I will say that IF they do indeed publicly validate these claims, then Vilma has done a grave disservice to himself, his team, and the fans of the Saints.

However, if they instead publicly deny these claims, and / or deny them in a court of law in the course of a lawsuit arrising from this, then Goodell will have done a grave disservice to everyone who is affiliated with, supports, or watches the NFL.

Either way, this is going to end extremely badly for someone.