Scott Fujita lashed out at NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell on Wednesday, saying that Goodell’s actions in the Saints bounty case have been detrimental to the league. Now Saints quarterback Drew Brees has weighed in, saying he feels the same way.
“I agree with everything Scott Fujita said in his statement,” Brees said on NFL Network’s NFL AM. “I thought it was a strong statement, but certainly very true.”
Although Goodell reduced Fujita’s suspension from three games to one, reduced Anthony Hargrove’s suspension from eight games to seven and allowed Jonathan Vilma to collect his pay for the first six weeks of the 17-week season, Brees suggested that Goodell didn’t go far enough, and that the suspended players should keep fighting.
“This could go on for a while, because, certainly, our players are not satisfied with some of the things that Commissioner Goodell has claimed or said,” Brees said. “It seems like so much of his suspensions have been based upon speculation and rhetoric and maybe the testimony of some pretty unreliable sources. So that’s the unfortunate thing. It seems like his decision changes quite a bit, or at least the reasoning behind what his decision is. So that’s the disappointing part of it for all of us. Now that we’re in the middle of the season, we just want to play football, we want to focus on winning games. It’s been a tough road, but we’re really just trying to compartmentalize this, block it out so we can focus on the season.”
Brees is making the media rounds this morning, and he also said on ESPN’s Mike and Mike in the Morning that he’s angry about the suspensions handed out to Saints head coach Sean Payton and assistant Joe Vitt.
“This whole bounty thing, for the most part, is just a big sham,” Brees said. “The fact that our coaches are suspended for part of the year or the entire year is pretty ridiculous.”
Brees has always been cautious and measured in his public comments, and he’s always been a well respected player. That he’s attacking Goodell shows just how much good will Goodell has lost among NFL players.