Only four of the 27 players Roger Goodell implemented in the
New Orleans Saints’ bounty program will receive punishments for their actions.
The league announced today that they have suspended linebacker Jonathan Vilma, linebacker
Scott Fujita, defensive tackle Anthony Hargrove and defensive end Will Smith for
their “active participation” and for “enthusiastically embracing” the bounty
program.
Vilma was hit the hardest with a one year suspension,
Hargrove is suspended eight games, Smith will miss four games and Fujita will
miss three. Vilma and Smith are the only ones of this group that are still with
the Saints.
Hargrove signed with the Green Bay Packers during the free
agent period and Fujita is now with the Cleveland Browns. Goodell has now
inadvertently hurt three other teams in his ambition to punish the Saints while
barely giving the Saints a slap on the wrist.
New Orleans was already prepared to lose a few players and
signed linebackers Curtis Lofton and David Hawthorne in free agency. They also
let defensive coordinator Greg Williams walk after the season replacing him
with Steve Spagnuolo.
The St. Louis Rams lost their defensive coordinator when
Williams was banned indefinitely although they have known long enough to have
found a reasonable replacement for him. Still the Saints seem to have come out
of this thing virtually unscathed with the exception of losing their coach Sean
Payton for the year.
It seems like the Saints will still be in pretty good
position to at least win their division this year which will make all of this
scandal talk seem as trivial as Goodell’s punishment. Sounds like Spygate all
over again, the rich get richer and keep on winning.
Roosevelt Hall is an NFL Blogger for The Sport Mentalist and an NBA Blogger for The Sport Mentalist 2. He is also a Sports Reporter for Pro Sports Lives. He can be contacted at RHall_TPFB@Yahoo.com and be sure to follow him on Twitter @sportmentalist.
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