All Saints* players' suspensions have been overturned

[SIGCHI222]

fug em all .. go Captain Go panthers IDGAF :rolleyes:

Dammit...I specifically said, "I support Captain, you support Dwan" and you agreed. I see no mention of Dwan in your post. Just because I don't have an adoption sig yet does not give you the right to ignore me!

In other news, you guys need to get over to the adoption thread and pick up the last 2 or 3 remaining Panthers with no home. No kidding...get your asses over there and do the right thing.

"You go right back up there and get me a toddler. I need a baby"

[Mr. Scot]

Let me educate all of you AGAIN!

First of all I have told you all along that GODELL would be proven wrong. He jumped to conclusions, tried to make a case that wasn't there, lied about evidence and more. He needs to be kicked out of the league. Not only are the players free but it won't be long before Payton is back. Not that they will need him, especially early in the season. There first few games are the easier part of their schedule.

Second, for all of you who are saying the Saints*** are in trouble with the cap please check the numbers and get back to me. They are under by more than enough to bring back players.

Third, for all of you who think the players won't be ready please please have a clue. Will Smith has played in every preseason game and has practiced the entire time so he will be as ready as any player. Vilma is hurt but Lofton is a much player player than Vilma and the Saints*** D overall is significantly improved.

What an amazing day for the Saints*** organization. I have a feeling it is just the beginning of what will be a storybook year ending in a Super Bowl championship with Godell having to give the trophy to a reinstated Sean Peyton.

This is freaking awesome!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Or...not.

League’s internal memo suggests that suspensions will be re-issued

While it was a victory on the surface, it was fairly hollow and potentially temporary.

...

It’s likely that the league will simply re-issue the same suspensions.  Indeed, the memo sent by NFL general counsel Jeff Pash to the various teams on Friday clearly indicates that the league continues to believe that wrongdoing occurred — and that there should be significant punishment for it.

...

It would be a surprise if the outcome is anything other than what it already was:  a full season for Vilma, four games for Smith, three games for Fujita, and eight games for Hargrove.

:lol:

[Keith Moons Liver]

lol @ all you idiots who were celebrating their demise back when the punishment was handed down

i said it was a slap on the wrist and it looks like i was right

just goes to show you can cheat and nobody cares as long as you are good at it

[panthers55]

lol @ all you idiots who were celebrating their demise back when the punishment was handed down

i said it was a slap on the wrist and it looks like i was right

just goes to show you can cheat and nobody cares as long as you are good at it

LOL at all the Saint's apologists who jumped the gun with all their proclamations of being right when it looks like they are likely still wrong. Meantime the rest of the league and the world are moving on.

[breezing2anotherSB]

they haven't. thread title went off wrong info.

goodell has to reword the suspension and the infractions.

some thought it meant gooddell got overruled or suspensions were overturned and started reacting accordingly. they jumped the gun, tho and thought this meant something that it doesn't.

bad guys are still gonna get punished. haters are still gonna hate goodell and gooddell will still be right.

Umm on second thought...

Nobody cares about such details today, though. The players pulled a major upset and left Goodell looking very much like the cruel tyrant some deem him to be. The league can consider its own legal moves at this stage, but there's no real value in that. It's best to settle this matter quickly rather than risk any further embarrassment resulting from sheer pride.

http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/story/_/id/8349422/nfl-players-win-gut-punch-roger-goodell

[nctarheel0619]

Umm on second thought...

Nobody cares about such details today, though. The players pulled a major upset and left Goodell looking very much like the cruel tyrant some deem him to be. The league can consider its own legal moves at this stage, but there's no real value in that. It's best to settle this matter quickly rather than risk any further embarrassment resulting from sheer pride.

http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/story/_/id/8349422/nfl-players-win-gut-punch-roger-goodell

You posted a poo article from one of the worst writers on ESPN and we're expected to be impressed? Nope!

[rayzor]

Saints* still have a few people on their bandwagon and they are now relying on what they relied on for most of their existence in the league....pity.

they made themselves respectable for a little while and did it while they were the underdogs....the ones that people had pity for after katrina and 40 years of nothing but suck. only thing was they sold sold their souls to gregg williams who created a defense that could help them win games and eventually a ring but made them do it in a way that is very bad for the game and other players in the league. the few hanging on to that bandwagon are mostly in denial about all that, but the coaches already admitted it happened and the evidence is out there. it's only a matter of time before those last few naive people come to realize that the Saints* did in fact do wrong and are getting what they deserve. they will realize that as much as they might hate goodell, he was right.

the Saints* will struggle this year and will start their decline having to start taking a back seat to the panthers and falcons.

[PantherBlue]

I would laugh my ass off if the Saints*** release Vilma by 5 to avoid a guaranteed contract.

That would be fitting. I don't think Vilma would think it was alright for another team to put a bounty on his ankle.

I say if you are going to let the Aints put bountys on other QBs with no punishments, then other teams should feel free to take out Drew Brees. just sayin'...

[rayzor]

I would laugh my ass off if the Saints** release Vilma by 5 to avoid a guaranteed contract.

team to vilma. "yeah bro! we'll watch your back! as it's heading right out the door sucka!"

[Mr. Scot]

A little clarification from Florio...

NFL not required to prove "intent to injure"

Many of you have raised in the wake of Friday’s ruling from an internal appeals panel vacating the player suspensions and sending the bounty cases back to square one that, when Commissioner Roger Goodell imposes discipline the second time, he must prove the existence of “intent to injure.”

At the risk of being too blunt (then again, when has that ever stopped me?), that’s just wrong.

The ruling was simple. The labor deal gives authority to multiple people to resolve multiple types of disputes. The Commissioner has the authority to discipline players for conduct detrimental to the game. The “System Arbitrator” (Stephen Burbank) has the authority to resolve issues of discipline arising from salary-cap violations.

The suspensions of Saints* linebacker Jonathan Vilma, Saints* defensive end Will Smith, Browns linebacker Jonathan Vilma, and free-agent defensive end Anthony Hargrove were wiped out because the initial letters from the Commissioner to the suspended players failed to make sufficiently clear the fact that the Commissioner was acting only under his authority to suspend players for conduct detrimental to the game.

And so the process begins again, with the league office fully aware of the line between the two sources of authority — and with the league more than capable of staying in the proper lane the next time around.

But it doesn’t mean the Commissioner must prove the existence of specific intent to injure. That wasn’t part of the equation the first time, and it’s not part of the equation this time.

[rayzor]

awesome.

[bradael]

they haven't. thread title went off wrong info.

goodell has to reword the suspension and the infractions.

some thought it meant gooddell got overruled or suspensions were overturned and started reacting accordingly. they jumped the gun, tho and thought this meant something that it doesn't.

bad guys are still gonna get punished. haters are still gonna hate goodell and gooddell will still be right.

He has to prove intent to injure in order to suspend them again otherwise Berrigan will issue an injunction for the sham appeal and he'll end up right back in court. If he could have proven intent to injure, this would have been over a long time ago and they wouldn't have played semantics by calling this a "pay for performance/bounty program" after Vilma filed a defamation lawsuit for claiming he was intentionally injuring players.

Jeff Pash also said in a June interview that "Intent doesn't matter". Well, it does now.

Also, Judge Berrigan issued an order after this announcement on Friday stating that she will not rule on the federal case at this time. Which basically means that if Roger Goodell screws up again, she will issue an injunction and it will be an even bigger PR nightmare.

All that is going to happen is the NFL will claim the players still did what they said. They will give empty threats that they will consider re-suspending them under conduct detrimental. But in reality, they'll only be doing that as 1) Damage control and 2) To give the impression that they still have leverage so that they can try to settle with Vilma to get his defamation lawsuit out of court.

If Vilma does not settle, and I hope he doesn't... the world will finally see just how corrupt Goodell and Pash are because Vilma will be allowed discovery. This means every piece of "evidence" the NFL has, including witnesses. It also will lead to a subpoena for the coaches, the witness(es), and probably Joe Hummel (the lead investigator who resigned back in April - the NFL announced it during the draft so no one would care).

It would also likely lead to a subpoena for all e-mails involving Roger Goodell. Which means if he sent any e-mails suggesting fabrication, or linking the bounty investigation to save them from the concussion lawsuits... he's toast. Or, if they deleted those e-mails from their system since May (when Vilma filed his lawsuit), then someone is going to prison for obstruction of justice.

[rainwater]

He has to prove intent to injure in order to suspend them again otherwise Berrigan will issue an injunction for the sham appeal and he'll end up right back in court.

Not if the Goodell sends the case to the arbitrator. Then intent to inure does not matter.

[pepaw]

IT'S JUST A CONSPIRACY. DREW BREES HAS SUCH GOOD PUBLIC SPEAKING SKILLS AND A MOLE. YOU GUYS WILL SEE AND BE SORRY BECAUSE I JUST BE BREEZING TO ANOTHER SUPERBOWL DURHURHRURHR