WOW
Roger Goodell did not muck around with the whole Saints bounty thing. I’ve just been reading a bit about it and I’m pretty sure most of these are firsts. The most surprising thing is that Sean Payton is gonged for the 2012 season. Even though I’d been following the story and it was pretty clear that Payton was in the know, I figured his punishment would be closer to wrist slap material.
Though I guess this is consistent with how Goodell has dealt with discipline in the league, both with players and management or coaches. He slapped the Patriots hard for the whole Spygate thing a few years back. He’s been tough with players for in season violations regarding illegal hits. Now, he’s continued with the coaches for the Saints.
I wonder if this will be enough to discourage the use of a bounty system. It seems absurd that something like that would even be necessary in the NFL, where winning is prized above all else. I mean, what more incentive do these guys need? As long as the whistleblower is protected, I suppose the risk will now be significant for any team that chooses to go there. (I’ve read about Jeremy Shockey being fingered as the whistleblower, but there’s been some pushback about that, so for now I’m assuming that the true whistleblower is still anonymous.)
I think overall, I’m in agreement with the penalties and it will be interesting to see what happens to the players. Football is a tough enough game as it is without some clown coming after a player to make a personal buck as part of some clandestine incentive system. It’s actually a little shocking to me the lack of vision on the part of the participating players. Sure, they’re all competing against each other, but they’re all part of the same thing and all those players have similar experiences. So going out there with the intent to hurt someone, when everyone knows that any play could be their last anyway, just seems gratuitous to say the least.