Suspending any coach or player that had anything to do with this indefinitely is completely appropriate if you ask me. What this team did is the worst possible offense in sports: specifically trying to injure other players.
The NFL has enough image and injury problems without these people in it, and I wish they were disallowed from ever entering the NFL again.
I am aware that this is not just a Saint's issue, but we only have evidence that they engaged in this kind of program. Anyone caught doing the same should face an identical punishment. Banned forever.
What about the officials? During the 2009 Saints/Vikings playoff game, the officials several times failed to penalize late hits and unnecessary roughness inflicted by the Saints. The bounty program is inexcusable, but I think the Saints felt like they had the green light from the officials to injure Brett Favre.
@4: Most football penalties are highly subjective, so it could just be that your personal analysis of a late hit and unnecessary roughness was not the same as the official's.
Or they honestly just did not see it. The difference is, failure to see a penalty or making a wrong call is a mistake, not the demonstrable aim of the officials.
Now if you could prove the officials did not make those calls in order to support certain players getting injured, then you would have an equivalancy.
The Saint's coaching staff purposefully sent their players out to injure other players. Huge difference.
@3 That's just horrible news. Seau was a major public figure in San Diego. Hard to stay classy in the face of such a shock.
The year-long suspension for Vilma is pretty severe, but I'm still waiting on the IRS opinion of these off-the-books payments. They have a track record of taking exception to that kind of thing.
The NFL has enough image and injury problems without these people in it, and I wish they were disallowed from ever entering the NFL again.
I am aware that this is not just a Saint's issue, but we only have evidence that they engaged in this kind of program. Anyone caught doing the same should face an identical punishment. Banned forever.
http://www.tmz.com/2012/05/02/junior-sea…
RIP Junior. I always liked him as a player and he seemed like a decent guy.
Or they honestly just did not see it. The difference is, failure to see a penalty or making a wrong call is a mistake, not the demonstrable aim of the officials.
Now if you could prove the officials did not make those calls in order to support certain players getting injured, then you would have an equivalancy.
The Saint's coaching staff purposefully sent their players out to injure other players. Huge difference.
The year-long suspension for Vilma is pretty severe, but I'm still waiting on the IRS opinion of these off-the-books payments. They have a track record of taking exception to that kind of thing.
Lifetime bans for the management, players and refs that enabled it.
Win on your own merits because otherwise it's just WWF.