UMBC Football 327: Bountygate - The Fall of the New Orleans Saints

Well it wouldn’t be an NFL offseason without something big and interesting happening. Last year it was the lockout. This year it was the NFL’s investigation and eventually punishing of the New Orleans Saints. The Big Easy was once again questioned about their involvement in a bounty system, paying for big hits on key players. Not only was the Saints organization found guilty, they were punished thoroughly by Roger Goodell, the NFL Commissioner.

In fact, a punishment this severe has never before been dealt out by the NFL. The fines for the organization included (1 & 2):

Saints head coach Sean Payton is suspended without pay for the entire 2012 season.
Former Saints/current Rams defensive coordinator Gregg Williams is suspended indefinitely. (Commissioner Roger Goodell will review Williams' status at the conclusion of the 2012 season and consider whether to reinstate him.)
Saints GM Mickey Loomis is suspended without pay for the first eight regular-season games of the 2012 season.
Saints assistant head coach Joe Vitt is suspended without pay for the first six regular-season games of the 2012 season.
The Saints are stripped of their 2012 and 2013 second-round draft picks and have been hit with a $500,000 fine.

The Saints lost their second round picks instead of first since their 2012 first round pick was traded to New England. Though the punishment was doled out by the big man himself, Roger Goodell has allowed Loomis, Payton, Vitt, and Williams a chance to appeal his decision (5). Loomis, Payton, and Vitt all chose to appeal while Williams refused.

*UPDATE*

As expected, the New Orleans Saints’ coaching staff appealed the punishment that was handed down by Commissioner Roger Goodell. Also as expected, the NFL denied the Saints’ appeal (10 & 11). This means that the Saints coaches are still suspended, the team still loses their draft picks, and the $500,000 fine is still due to be paid. Roger Goodell still says that there are player punishments to come.

While the coaching staff of the New Orleans Saints should shoulder most of the blame in the Bountygate scandal, it takes two to tango. Some of the blame rests on the shoulders of the players who doled out the hits that were rewarded through the bounty program. One such player is inside linebacker and defensive captain Jonathon Vilma. Before the 2009 NFC Championship Game, Vilma reportedly offered $10,000 to the player who could knock out then-quarterback Brett Favre out of the game (6). One has to wonder if that bounty was split between the multiple players who hit Favre on nearly all of the Vikings offensive snaps, resulting in a severe ankle injury that would ultimately affect him the following season. Though Vilma isn’t the only Saint involved in the bounty program, as the official investigative report by the NFL revealed that in addition to Vilma, twenty-two to twenty-seven players of the Saints defense have been determined to have participated in Bountygate (6). Though not all of the players could be suspended and/or fined by the NFL, the uncertainty has caused organizations like the Vikings, ironically one of the teams most affected by the bounty programs, to rid themselves of former Saints players like defensive tackle Remi Ayodele, for fear that they might miss some if not all of the season due to their involvement in Bountygate (7). While the coaching staff of the New Orleans Saints suffered pretty severe penalties from Bountygate, one can only imagine the penalties Commissioner Rodger Goodell will levy out to those numerous players involved in this horrid scandal. According to the NFL, up to 27 players could be penalized for their involvement in the bounty program. Those 27 players should find their punishment doled out in the coming days (4).

Saints fans in New Orleans were disgusted with the punishments given to their team by Commissioner Goodell because the penalties were “too harsh” (10). If we were Saints fans, we too would believe these punishments were “too harsh”, but as a fans of different teams, we believe the punishment are acceptable. Saints fans protested outside of the Superdome in New Orleans in support of their team and coach. Fans wore custom made shirts, marched around stadium property, and made signs; all were acts of a non-violent protest.

In response to the punishments given to the Saints, players took to social media to display their feelings. A few of the players who made their opinions public on Twitter were Drew Brees, Darren Sharper, and Deuce McAllister (11). Drew Brees posted “I am speechless. Sean Payton is a great man, coach, and mentor. The best there is. I need to hear an explanation for this punishment.” Darren Sharper said “Terrible day for the saints fan base! Ruling is very strong! Now it's imperative the saints get deal done with Brees!” Finally Deuce McAllister posted “We take the good with the bad. You find out who's in and who's out and you go play ball. It’s an attitude @Saints.” Needless to say everybody who loves and follows the New Orleans Saints is against these punishments. With Goodell looking out for player safety, what did they expect to happen though?

Goodell has claimed that he made the punishment severe in order to send a message that this sort of action will not be tolerated (3). And despite how heavy this punishment is, it is our opinion that the NFL didn’t lay down stiff enough penalties. First round picks couldn’t be taken as their 2012 first round pick was traded to New England. But only partial year suspensions for the GM and Assistant Coach could have been bumped up to full year suspensions, as with Payton. Even a lifetime ban, as the case with Williams, could have been doled out to Payton. This was HIS team. He is supposed to be the leader to these men and he allowed corruption of the game to take place. Though Williams was clearly the driving force, Payton’s hands were just as dirty in our opinion.

Word Count: 1000

Sources

UMBC Football 327

Tuesday, April 10, 2012

Bountygate - The Fall of the New Orleans Saints

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