NFL Commish Roger Goodell rules this week that he was stripping the New Orleans Saints of their second-round pick in the 2013 draft for their involvement in “Bounty Gate." This latest ruling came down on Monday afternoon. This news is coming off the heels of the discipline Goodell passed down earlier this year.
Since March, the Saints have been stripped of their 2012 second-round pick and saw head coach Sean Payton, assistant coach Joe Vitt, former defensive coordinator Gregg Williams, general manager Mickey Loomis as well as players Jonathan Vilma, Scott Fujita, Will Smith and Anthony Hargrove suspended. On top of that, the Saints were fined $500,000. Even though there were more players involved in the scandal as Goodell stated earlier this year he only suspended those involved in a leadership role.
Loomis, the Saints’ GM, was suspended for eight games for his role in the scandal. He was allegedly providing bonuses to players trying to knock opposing players out of games. Owner Tom Benson reportedly told Loomis to shut the operation down, which didn't help his case in front of the NFL.
Vitt, who is an assistant head coach, was assigned to monitor Williams during the time that they had the bounty. When he didn’t tell anyone that Williams was using a fund to pay players for bounties, he became just as accountable. However, Vitt was only suspended six games to Williams’ indefinite suspension.
Williams faced the stiffest penalty by being suspended indefinitely. He was labeled as the instigator in this whole scandal. A recording even surfaced about Williams telling players who was injured and where to target. Sean Payton was suspended for one year because his staff did not do more to stop the program.
Four players were suspended due to them contributing to bounties, per Goodell’s investigation. Anthony Hargrove (eight games), Will Smith (four games), Scott Fujita (three games) and Jonathan Vilma (2012 season) were the culprits. Vilma, being a major contributor, was given the harshest penalty to a player since the 1960’s when Pete Rozell suspended two players for an entire season. The players were able to appeal the suspensions and were reinstated after a review from former NFL Commissioner Paul Tagliabue.
This is just one example of Goodell’s punishments. Recently Goodell suspended Ed Reed of the Baltimore Ravens one game for excessive hits on defenseless receivers. Reed does not have a history of head hunting and was surprising when the punishment came down from league offices. His suspension was rescinded but had a fine of $50,000 was replaced once he appealed. A one week suspension would cost Reed $423,000.
Most recently, Tom Brady was fined $10,000 for his slide into Reed, which could have caused injury. That same day Frank Gore was fined $10,500 for wearing his socks too low during the NFC Championship game. With that I am guessing that a sock too low is worth $500 more than possible injuring another player? Goodell has become very dictator-like in his suspensions and should have a committee review much like rule changes with the competition committee.