Comments on: Goodell “disappointed” Tagliabue did not hold Saints accountable

By: airboss37

airboss37 — Thu, 27 Dec 2012 18:23:41 +0000

If I were Roger, I wouldn’t eat at any of those fantastic restaurants while in New Orleans for the Super Bowl!

By: vilma4commish

vilma4commish — Wed, 26 Dec 2012 21:12:34 +0000

One has to appreciate the “We didnt look for this..” quote.. The NFL only investigated, interrogated, went after the one man backed in a corner, Hargrove, and then blasted the Saints on every media outlet prior to having ALL the facts.. BUT, according to Goodell, they didnt look for this.. When will people wake up and see this guy is a FRAUD!!

By: pobreezy

pobreezy — Wed, 26 Dec 2012 00:41:26 +0000

@cwwgk
I think you need to look further into this yourself.
Tagliabue was not doing a from the ground up re-investigation. He was taking the findings that the investigators found in the original investigation and brought in witnesses for the players case. Nothing else.
For him to say “i find they are guilty” is the same as me saying they are innocent. Neither of us did an investigation.
I find it also very curious that the first appeals hearing transcript was immediately released to the media because they thought it was a slam dunk, though it was far from it.
Now we get mysteriously leaked portions of the transcript that would suggests Vitt is guilty of knowing/continuing a “bounty” program without context or complete examination.
I have been having to suffer through this all season and for someone to still say they believe the saints are guilty of intentionally trying to injure should buy these beans I have. They’re magic.

By: mazblast

mazblast — Tue, 25 Dec 2012 02:15:27 +0000

This is getting so bad for Goodell that his masters, Mara and Kraft, may have to pull the plug on him. Goodell’s only hope may be to pull a David Stern and try to arrange a championship game between their respective franchises again.

By: booker1974

booker1974 — Mon, 24 Dec 2012 21:01:32 +0000

And I’m disappointed that Goodell basically trashed the Saints reputation and 2012 season over locker room trash talk before one game three years ago.

Yes, the Saints had a pay for performance system that rewarded good plays and penalized bad ones, and they also engaged in locker room hyperbole. However, from 2009-2011 the Saints were one of the least penalized teams in the league and caused the 2nd least amount of injuries to opposing players over that time. That alone is pretty strong exculpatory evidence.

Goodell’s failure, and the reason that Tagliabue didn’t feel there was justification for even fines, much less suspensions, was that the product on the field didn’t match what Goodell accused the team of.

By: wolfmagic2012

wolfmagic2012 — Mon, 24 Dec 2012 19:17:53 +0000

Goodell is a disaster. Dump him and go with a real football pro with no political affiliations.

By: repojam

repojam — Mon, 24 Dec 2012 18:16:01 +0000

kattykathy says: Dec 24, 2012 12:05 PM

@cwwgk

By a ratio of near 3-1. People soundly disagree with you and think you are a puppet

—-

I am guessing by a ratio of 3-1, people haven’t actually read the decision and what Tagliabue actually says in it.

Just because everyone think Tagliabue said “Yeah, there was no bounty” doesn’t mean that he said that. In fact, his decision says otherwise.

By: tommytd

tommytd — Mon, 24 Dec 2012 17:53:13 +0000

…and I’m disappointed in Roger Goodell. I think he’s been the worst commissioner in the history of the NFL. He’s bad for the game and he should be dumped by the owners.

By: shallweride

shallweride — Mon, 24 Dec 2012 17:52:36 +0000

Goodell can go fall off a cliff. Keep destroying the game buddy.. Well all be here

By: darkneptune73

darkneptune73 — Mon, 24 Dec 2012 17:34:41 +0000

Tagliabue > Goodevil

By: blutbaddenbill

blutbaddenbill — Mon, 24 Dec 2012 17:27:24 +0000

Goodell wants to blame somebody,he should blame the man in the mirror! he screwed this up,nobody else did!

By: wayupsouth

wayupsouth — Mon, 24 Dec 2012 17:27:09 +0000

Let’s assess the situation to this point. We got a league that sold snot-bubbling, bell-ringing, bone-crunching, helmet-in-the-air violence for DECADES. Players complied with gusto; in fact, Reggie White had a bounty program with the Packers in ’96 when they won the Super Bowl. What’s different now? One word: LAWYERS. The league saw that they’re getting besieged with lawsuits from guys who willfully bought into a mentality of – wait for it – HURTING ONE ANOTHER and now can’t function normally as a result. Goodell overreacted egregiously. Blew up an entire franchise for a year, maybe longer. Tags understands the mentality of players better than Goodell ever will. It’s like training a pit bull to attack, and then putting it to sleep when it attacks. Not what a reasonable person would consider a viable business model.

By: lilrob10201

lilrob10201 — Mon, 24 Dec 2012 17:17:03 +0000

All NFL fans should riot to get this idiot Goodell gone.

By: dexterismyhero

dexterismyhero — Mon, 24 Dec 2012 17:14:32 +0000

@kattykathy says:Dec 24, 2012 12:05 PM

@cwwgk

By a ratio of near 3-1. People soundly disagree with you and think you are a puppet
==================================

By a ratio of Saints fans maybe you idiot. The only puppets on this site are the Saints fans.

Merry Christmas

By: thesmedman

thesmedman — Mon, 24 Dec 2012 17:12:44 +0000

Tagliabue was kinda like Dennis Green: the Saints were who they thought they were, but they let ‘em off the hook…

Lol

By: kattykathy

kattykathy — Mon, 24 Dec 2012 17:05:36 +0000

@cwwgk

By a ratio of near 3-1. People soundly disagree with you and think you are a puppet

By: 6thsense79

6thsense79 — Mon, 24 Dec 2012 16:58:46 +0000

Anyone that thinks Tags ruling for Goodell was dome without bias haven’t been following this case. Tags is counsel to the same law firm representing Goodell against Vilma’s deformation lawsuit. Short of Goodell planting evidence himself Tags was not going to rule against him. But I say actions speak louder than words and the lifting of all suspensions even the year long suspension for Vilma says a lot more about how Tags actually felt.

By: chi01town

chi01town — Mon, 24 Dec 2012 16:51:45 +0000

Tagliabue did what he should have done.. Preserve some respect in the NFL and pull the plug on that mess Goodell made.
Goodell’s gotta go NOW!! before he start another big mess

By: ilifadeili

ilifadeili — Mon, 24 Dec 2012 16:38:07 +0000

I guess it was too much to ask for Goodell to actually learn something from such a public humilation…

By: daknight93

daknight93 — Mon, 24 Dec 2012 16:18:23 +0000

Godell is blind as a bat! Stevie Wonder can see this entire bounty drama was a scam, Saints had in place a pay for performance which is a salary cap violation and not a bounty system..a huge fine was all that was warranted, The patriots in spygate just received a fine, but no suspensions..Godell lost and Tags cleaned up his mess and made the correct call, Goodell needs to shut up and move on.

By: sdisme

sdisme — Mon, 24 Dec 2012 16:04:00 +0000

Goodell and Donald Trump have a lot in common. The whole world can tell them they are wrong, but ego won’t allow either to admit mistakes.

By: mstent2012

mstent2012 — Mon, 24 Dec 2012 15:54:35 +0000

This clown still doesn’t get it. He’s unfit for the position. There was no bounty. It was cash instead of helmet stickers for big plays, including big hits. It was exactly what was going on in every NFL locker room. The Saints were caught and a stiff fine would have done the trick. Goodell damaged a franchise and I would argue the league.

By: jimthebuilder27

jimthebuilder27 — Mon, 24 Dec 2012 15:46:56 +0000

Come back as NFL Commissioner Tagliabue! You’ll be welcomed back with open arms!

By: ncfloyd

ncfloyd — Mon, 24 Dec 2012 15:44:01 +0000

So Tags agreed there was a bounty program and did not uphold any punishment for the players. I’m shocked after all this is the same man who let an accomplice to murder continue to play.

By: ilovefoolsball

ilovefoolsball — Mon, 24 Dec 2012 15:36:26 +0000

Goodell is power hungry.

The “findings” are very self serving to the NFL and anyone who thinks otherwise is an incompetent fool who should be stripped of their driver’s license so they don’t hurt anyone.

Also don’t operate heavy machinery or use anything with a sharp object if you agree with Goodell or if you do, just don’t do it around anyone else so at least natural selection can take it’s course.

By: clu1perceiver

clu1perceiver — Mon, 24 Dec 2012 15:36:05 +0000

If you have a rule for decades that has been disregarded for decades and you suddenly decide to enforce that rule with over the top penalties, there’s going to be resistance. If you are seen to be reacting to the threat of law suites rather than the health and safety of players, there’s cynicism. When the violators are called to account for their Crimes Against Football and the evidence is shaky, there’s outrage. R. Goodell should remember,” Only the Lord should wield a terrible swift sword”.

By: cwwgk

cwwgk — Mon, 24 Dec 2012 15:23:18 +0000

It defies logic that people can purport to have read Tagliabue’s opinion (or at least summaries of it) and then claim it served to rebuke Goodell’s original findings and allegations. It did not. To the absolute contrary, Tagliabue received substantial evidence from all parties and ruled the evidence supported ALL of Goodell’s claims.

In regards to three of the four players, the ONLY difference between Tagliabue and Goodell was who should have been punished. Both agreed that the organization and its coaches operated the bounty program and participated in an “unprecedented” cover up. Both agreed the organization and coaches deserved severe repercussions for their actions. Goodell believed the involved players should also be punished for their participation. Tagliabue apparently felt that Vilma, Smith and Hargrove didn’t have the capabilities to stand up to their coaches so they were spared his wrath.

The whole point to this article is that, in light of Tagliabue agreeing that the Saints operated a bounty program, Goodell is surprised Tagliabue chose to vacate the punishment of the three players. That’s it.

And for those commenters (see KathyKathy) who can “think for themselves” and believe Judge Berrigan is going to teach Goodell a lesson, you may want to actually read about the laws governing the tort of defamation of character. Based on your comments, you haven’t the slightest clue about the issues involved or the fact that Vilma’s case has utterly no merit.

By: veetan

veetan — Mon, 24 Dec 2012 15:20:27 +0000

What doesn’t this commissioner get about reality. THERE WAS NO BOUNTY program – EVER! His own predecessor couldn’t find credible proof of such a thing.

Now lets see what he does to the Raiders (suspension of coaches & players, removal of draft pics, levying of huge fines, etc.) for their open admission that they were targeting Cam Newton for injury in order to, “take him out”.

The man’s gotta go.

By: melikefootball

melikefootball — Mon, 24 Dec 2012 15:18:14 +0000

So is a lot of fans of playes the leaguee has suspended and fined over and over. The darlings of the South got caught, they knew it and the league blew it how the addressed the bounty.

By: bluebongzilla

bluebongzilla — Mon, 24 Dec 2012 15:16:21 +0000

Should have known better than to get Tagliabue involved. Worst commissioner ever. Jerry Jones had to drag him and most of the rest of the NFL kicking and screaming on board with modern marketing strategies. Retroactively voiding Deion Sanders’ original Cowboys contract after a hush-hush backdoor deal with Gene Upshaw reminds one of the current sham of the Cowboys and Redskins being officially sanctioned for not unofficially and illegally colluding with the rest of the NFL to limit the earning ability of NFL players.