Comments on: March 21 suddenly looms large over bounty case

By: sh0rtraccoon

sh0rtraccoon — Sun, 19 Aug 2012 14:37:10 +0000

Oh come off it – Goodell didn’t avoid “telling the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth” – he flat out lied and defamed an entire team! Of course the courts won’t take you seriously once they catch you lying about things – who the heck should?

By: mexoplex

mexoplex — Fri, 17 Aug 2012 13:50:55 +0000

i wonder if this page is AINTS biased? just glancing at all the comments on here…. the ones that go against the AINTS have majority thumbs down, while anyone cursing Goddell gets majority thumbs up.

By: jedidev

jedidev — Thu, 16 Aug 2012 19:51:30 +0000

Hey Goodell – you didn’t build the NFL; someone else did that.

By: nomad57

nomad57 — Thu, 16 Aug 2012 18:16:21 +0000

kellij666 says: Aug 16, 2012 2:07 PM

just show us the proof already roger!!!!! that’s all we want to see. if they did it and the evidence bears that out then they deserve to be punished but if not………
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Well said! That’s all the fans want, the whole truth!

By: kellij666

kellij666 — Thu, 16 Aug 2012 18:07:42 +0000

just show us the proof already roger!!!!! that’s all we want to see. if they did it and the evidence bears that out then they deserve to be punished but if not………

By: mikebyrne1502

mikebyrne1502 — Thu, 16 Aug 2012 17:43:29 +0000

Whether he or they did it or not (saints) you can’t lie to a judge and if the NFL did she’s not ruling in favor of the players she doing her job and letting the NFL know no one can lie in federal court and get a way with it… That being said if they can’t find proof against the NFLPA, I wonder if the league just gets fined, or if someone is going to do jail time.

By: geauxjay

geauxjay — Thu, 16 Aug 2012 17:39:06 +0000

It’s ironic that the Hater Nation is whining about a judge allegedly trying to find a fact to support her supposedly pre-determined outcome.

Because that is EXACTLY what Roger Goodell did and continues to do, and you were okay with that.

By: tater2

tater2 — Thu, 16 Aug 2012 16:54:13 +0000

Whatever the NFLPA did with regards to an investigation, they did not expect the League to block and not allow any evidence to them. Pretty hard to investigate smoke and mirrors. What they did do, which the League did not, is speak to the players. That is why they have countered the NFL so strongly on this…..

By: mjkelly77

mjkelly77 — Thu, 16 Aug 2012 16:40:28 +0000

… Judge Helen G. Berrigan in a New Orleans federal court …
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That’s right. A homer judge in a homer court. If she rules against Commissioner Goodell I can see her ruling being overturned in Appellate Court.

By: thefirstsmilergrogan

thefirstsmilergrogan — Thu, 16 Aug 2012 16:38:17 +0000

its pretty amusing how many folks commented on this post without reading (or at least comprehending) any of it. When the league says Goodell had decided the punishment and was ready on March 24, and only delayed because of the NFLPA request, which had been denied by letter on March 14 or earlier.

Then Goodell goes on NFLN on April 24 and says this:

“I hope to reach those decisions very soon,” Goodell said. “We have been continuing our work. We have continued to talk to players and other people that can give us a perspective. Once we have got all the information and we feel that we are in a position to be able to issue the fairest and most thorough types of decisions, we will do that but I expect to do that soon because this is a big element to me.”

If this doesn’t appear to be the NFL lying, and it doesn’t make sense to you why they might, perhaps you need remedial reading assistance.

By: kellij666

kellij666 — Thu, 16 Aug 2012 16:36:01 +0000

amazing that you people don’t see what goodell has tried to do all along. he’s punishing players based on what he says is “50,000 pages of evidence” yet hasn’t produced it. why should he be able to do that? it’s not fair to the players or the fans for that matter. before you punish someone for something you have to be able to prove he did it. you can’t ruin a man’s livliehood based on belief. what about all these players who are getting arrested for dui, assault, domestic violence….etc. those are the players who should be disciplined but those players will get their day in court first which they are entitled to. the other players should be at the very least entitled to the same.

By: prplpuzzetrz

prplpuzzetrz — Thu, 16 Aug 2012 16:05:18 +0000

Anyone siding with Vilma is misinformed & does not understand what is really happening. Unreal the hatred toward Goodell, when he is the guy who has to do the dirty work! Like him or hate him, he has done a steller job making all the decisions in the best interest of the league, knowing , misinformed fools will look at him with scorn.
There is no way Goodell lied! Makes no sense

By: halen11

halen11 — Thu, 16 Aug 2012 15:52:35 +0000

I know everyone’s tired of the bounty case, but I think this is the best reporting that PFT has ever done. Seriously. It’s great to be able to come here and get a thoughtful legal analysis of Bounty Gate or whatever it’s called. I wish that PFT (or anyone) had been as thorough and proactive in providing an upfront statistical analysis of defensive penalties, injuries, etc during the years that bounty gate was in place. That might have stemmed some of the initial outrage about the whole situation… but Florio is now leading the way among all news outlets with regards to this story. Kudos.

By: silentcount

silentcount — Thu, 16 Aug 2012 15:51:12 +0000

Bottomline — Based on the evidence, Goodell was not justified to make the harshest accusations and hand out the most severe punishments in the history of the NFL. It shows poor judgement on his part. So now, the judgement against him should be equally harsh. He brought this on himself, and those who are tired of the whole mess should blame him and not the Saints. They have every right to keep fighting for the truth to come out and change the negative public perception that Goodell intentionally fabricated.

By: ninefingers9

ninefingers9 — Thu, 16 Aug 2012 15:39:39 +0000

Man I hope Goodell is forced to resign! He seems to think that the NFL is HIS own personal creation…and he has made himself God!

By: realdealsteel

realdealsteel — Thu, 16 Aug 2012 15:30:42 +0000

Goodall is twisting in the wind because he’s being exposed as a liar. This whole bounty thing is a farce and if Goodall was any type of real man, he’d reach a settlement with Vilma and put this thing to bed.

By: norseyapper

norseyapper — Thu, 16 Aug 2012 14:37:57 +0000

In other words the judge is holding to her word to try her best, to dig like crazy, to somehow find a way, to rule in favor of labor/players/Vilma.

That she is going to do so, whether such a thing is the legally responsible thing to do or not, seems a foregone conclusion.

By: jpmelon

jpmelon — Thu, 16 Aug 2012 14:31:12 +0000

The Judge wants proof that the NFLPA asked for more time prior to March 21? Correct? You just mentioned that there is a letter dated March 14 where Goodell acknowledges the NFLPA asking for more time. If that is the case, then how is this not looking good for the NFL?

Since the proof that such a request was made is available. Now all Goodell has to do is say “yes, my mind was made up at the time and I decided to delay the announcement after I wrote the letter”.

This might not be the critical domino that Florio thinks it is. But it will be interesting to see how the NFLPA responds with proof/facts.

By: jjbadd385

jjbadd385 — Thu, 16 Aug 2012 14:26:18 +0000

I’m hoping Vilma wins in this matter, simply because I disagree with the method of how the decisions were made. Goodell has too much power & acts like a God or tyrant. His system is totally unfair and appeals are just formality, as he never reconsidered anything.

By: lightcleric

lightcleric — Thu, 16 Aug 2012 13:50:16 +0000

The unfortunate thing is that most people will never hear developments like this because it would require ESPN to follow up on a story.

By: slayer1224

slayer1224 — Thu, 16 Aug 2012 13:47:28 +0000

Goodell is a liar. The judge needs to nail him for perjury.

By: mellish225

mellish225 — Thu, 16 Aug 2012 13:47:19 +0000

My dislike for the NO “Saints” is like the power of microchips – it seems to double every week…

By: harryglyphics

harryglyphics — Thu, 16 Aug 2012 13:46:40 +0000

Everyone keeps missing the point of this whole thing: It’s not about bounties or injuring opposing players (why didn’t Farve’s line just block a little better?!) or whether players/coaches use money for incentives. It’s about where the money came from. And the missing link in all of this is that there was money put up by an outside source, in this particular case, Mike Ornstein.
And, since the NFL has no authority over him, there was no way to deal with him directly. Goodell told Payton et.al to severe ties with Ornstein and Payton and co. basically ignored him.
Goodell sees this as an outside force trying to influence the outcome of a game. But he is loathe to bring up “evidence” regarding anyone outside of his jurisdiction.
It seems the signs all point to the Commish having the goods on the coaches and the g.m. but the players can plausiby deny direct interaction (i.e. taking money from) Ornstein.

By: arcaero

arcaero — Thu, 16 Aug 2012 13:46:26 +0000

The NFL will just come up with some photoshopped, pencil-scribbled, memo converted to typed page stating the decisions had been made on March 21.

Kinda like BHO’s birth certificate.

By: floriosfuglykid

floriosfuglykid — Thu, 16 Aug 2012 13:46:01 +0000

Sometimes the guilty escape punishment … but let’s not confuse that with innocence.

By: grudenlikesme

grudenlikesme — Thu, 16 Aug 2012 13:44:52 +0000

Can we just move on from this already. This is like a male soap opera.

By: kingfish4242

kingfish4242 — Thu, 16 Aug 2012 13:42:02 +0000

I don’t have anything to add,but wanted to say Thank You Mike for keeping us abreast of what’s going on in this case from a legal perspective.

By: gnu2308

gnu2308 — Thu, 16 Aug 2012 13:41:43 +0000

Once again the courts are trying to save a low life punk from himself. Vilma is a dirty low life and deserves every bit of the punishment handed out. This dumb broad judge needs to go back to judging dog shows and leave the football to the men.