Goodell sends right message, slamming Saints, Payton
It was Gregg Williams' (right) bounty program, but Sean Payton allowed him to do it. (AP photo)
(Last updated: 2:20 p.m.)
Roger Goodell got it right Wednesday – not just for coming down hard on the New Orleans Saints in general and coach Sean Payton in particular, but for slamming somebody who doesn’t wear a uniform.
The NFL commissioner suspended Payton, the Saints’ head coach, for the entire 2012 season for his role in the team’s bounty program. He also suspended former New Orleans defensive coordinator Gregg Williams (now with St. Louis) for at least one year, assistant head coach Joe Vitt for six games and general manager Mickey Loomis for eight games. The Saints also will lose two second-round draft picks (2012 and 2013) and must pay a $500,000 fine.
The Saints will be allowed to keep their shoes.
Player discipline will be forthcoming. But the punishment against Payton and the team, while harsh, is justified. The Saints not only implemented a bounty program that “endangered player safety over a three-year period,” quoting from the NFL’s official news release (or jury verdict), but they lied about it. Allegations regarding the 2009 Super Bowl season initially were investigated in 2010, but couldn’t be proved. Team officials denied it then, and again this past season when new evidence surfaced.
The league referenced, “a deliberate effort to conceal the program’s existence from league investigators, and a clear determination to maintain the program despite express direction from Saints ownership that it stop as well as ongoing inquiries from the league office.”
If we know one thing about Roger Goodell, it’s that he doesn’t like being lied to.
“We are all accountable and responsible for player health and safety and the integrity of the game,” he said. “We will not tolerate conduct or a culture that undermines those priorities.”
Don’t confuse the NFL’s licensed violence with premeditated assault. As former Chicago Bears safety Doug Plank said two weeks ago, “I can’t believe a coach, a team or an organization would stand behind that [bounty] policy. For a coach to even address something like that with players, like, ‘This is a person we can remove from the game,’ that puts you on pretty thin ice.”
Given the backdrop, it's safe to assume this photo was taken back when Goodell was welcome at the Saints' facility. (AP photo)
The investigation revealed the Saints placed bounties on four opposing quarterbacks: Brett Favre, Cam Newton, Aaron Rodgers and Kurt Warner. It said the Saints’ Jonathan Vilma “offered $10,000 to any player who knocked Brett Favre out of the [2009] NFC championship game.”
Was it Goodell’s objective to make an example of the Saints? Absolutely. His mission is to “protect the shield.” The ripple effect of this punishment will be felt in 31 other front offices.
But this particularly sends a great message to players. Goodell has been known as “the discipline” commissioner. For the past several seasons, he has come down hard on players for on- and off-the-field actions that he believes casts the league in a negative light. There has been a perception he is not equally tough on coaches or team officials. (An exception: “Spygate.” Goodell disciplined the New England Patriots for videotaping the New York Jets’ defensive hand signals in 2007 and took a first-round draft pick away from the team.)
Goodell largely is viewed as the owners’ guy. Of course, he is. He works for the 32 NFL owners, not the 1,700 players. That was reaffirmed with several comments he made during collective-bargaining talks and the lockout before last season.
But there is no dispute here. If Goodell didn’t wreck the Saints, he certainly left them doubled-over.
A recent Super Bowl winner – and the Falcons’ primary competition in the NFC South – just lost its head coach (Payton), his top assistant (Vitt) and its general manager (Loomis). The $500,000 fine means little. The two second-round picks mean significantly more.
Saints owner Tom Benson will not invite Goodell to dinner at Commander’s Palace any time soon.
Goodell said the involvement of players is still being reviewed and punishment will be decided at a future time. But coming down on those not wearing the uniforms is significant. He made the right call.
By Jeff Schultz
Tell us what you think about the site
Customer Care »
Vacation stops, manage subscriptions and more
AJC Services
Sections
Other Editions
Visitor Agreement | Privacy Statement
© 2013 The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
562 comments Add your comment
DawgNole
March 22nd, 2012
10:14 am
Way back on page 1 of this blog I predicted that the Saints fans on here would be in full denial. I also expressed the hope that their number would be reduced. Well, they’re in full denial, no question. They’re also rationalizing, blame-shifting, finger-pointing, boasting (still), taking potshots at the Falcons, etc. What’s amazing to me is that the Saints’ violators have largely owned up to this, apologized, and accepted their punishment; it’s mostly the incredibly ignorant fans, including those visiting this Falcons blog, who continue to defend (and even brag about) their team’s criminal activities. They’re already wildly predicting victory over the Falcons and guaranteeing another SB win in ‘12. Of course, when they start losing next year–especially to the Falcons–you can count on them blaming the unprecedented punishment justifiably handed to them.
As far as my prediction and hope, one was accurate and other was dashed.
DawgNole
March 22nd, 2012
10:17 am
Make that “. . . one was accurate and THE other was dashed.” And sorry for the double post.
Tommyb
March 22nd, 2012
10:20 am
Hey bourbon St
1st ray lewis did murder anyone
2nd Vick served 2 years in prison
3rd video taping someone and ending someones career not even the same thing
Hahaha crybaby
just sayin'
March 22nd, 2012
10:20 am
word on the street is that a disgruntled, former player spilled the beans…look for disgruntled former players from other teams to come forward, as long as they’re given immunity…this isn’t over..and other teams will be implicated…
Tommyb
March 22nd, 2012
10:20 am
Pops ray lewis didn’t murder anyone
Tommy Maddox
March 22nd, 2012
10:22 am
I wonder if Curtis Lofton is still having dinner with the Saints’ brass?
Sid
March 22nd, 2012
10:32 am
Mister.Earl
March 21st, 2012
9:12 pm
The Saints still have superior talent
The players will respond with passion
*********************************************************************
You can’t even be certain they will have Drew Brees man. Carl Nicks is gone………….you don’t want to lose a Carl Nicks on an offense that depends on a passing attack so much. Tracy Porter is unsigned, Robert Meacham is gone, Aubrayo Franklin, still unsigned. Shaun Rogers, unsigned.
But the axe from Goodell on the players is yet to fall. Stay tuned.
Who Dat!
March 22nd, 2012
10:39 am
Last time I checked pay for performance was legal in the business world! That is all this is.
WHO DAT!
JSS
March 22nd, 2012
10:44 am
There just might some kind of supreme being, Chipper might finally hit the bricks!!! Oh, but of course he has to take a Bobby tour!!! 1 false idol down, 1 more to go!!!
Parade of Knuckleheads
March 22nd, 2012
10:49 am
Bring out the brown paper bags
for the who dats and their goofy coaching staff.
Toomer's Corner
March 22nd, 2012
10:53 am
Too bad Roger Goodell was’nt the SEC Commissioner back when Bear Bryant had his bounty rewards.
redcoat
March 22nd, 2012
10:58 am
Mr. “Who Dat?”………You are right, unless their is a rule or regulation regarding how that performance is paid as to ensure the integrity of the business and safety of the employees involved. But if your part of the “Saints” organization integrity and safety doesn’t matter. This is also being demonstrated by a majority of their “fans” currently.
Sid
March 22nd, 2012
11:16 am
Who Dat!
March 22nd, 2012
10:39 am
Last time I checked pay for performance was legal in the business world! That is all this is.
WHO DAT!
********************************************************
In the business world you don’t see Bobby McCray blindsiding Kurt Warner with intent to maim.
Sid
March 22nd, 2012
11:35 am
JSS
March 22nd, 2012
10:44 am
There just might some kind of supreme being, Chipper might finally hit the bricks!!! Oh, but of course he has to take a Bobby tour!!! 1 false idol down, 1 more to go!!!
*********************************************
Ok, I have to ask, what is wrong with this future Hall of Famer, other than 40 years old and 19 years in the majors. Chipper’s career BA .304, Career On Base % .402, 454 Homeruns
“The first time Braves manager Bobby Cox saw Chipper Jones, he knew he was going to be a star. ‘That face,’ Cox said. ‘He has that face.’ It is the face of a baseball lifer, a guy who was born to play the game. A baseball lifer doesn’t necessarily mean playing until you’re 45, then managing or coaching the rest of your life. It also means playing the game properly, doing what you’re told, doing what’s best for the team, adjusting constantly and, of course, winning.” – ESPN Columnist Tim Kurkjian in ESPN The Magazine (August 3, 2005)
He’s earned his swan song.
Now, can we get back to trashing the Saints and their trolling “WHO FAT” fan base.
Gospel
March 22nd, 2012
11:46 am
Saints fans are talking here bc they are sad.
Ahhh, that’s cute.
Tears are ok tho.
Gospel
March 22nd, 2012
11:48 am
Falcons blogs = saints fans grief work
We are happy to provide Aints some therapy
poor lil guys
Real Falcon Fanatic
March 22nd, 2012
11:51 am
Too bad for the “Taints” all of this just makes me want to cry…..How cool would in be for the “Taints” to finish last in the NFC south! Every team in the league should have a secret bounty out on brees and all of these other scum.
Raymar
March 22nd, 2012
12:05 pm
2-10 soon to be 2-12 against Brees. That won’t be so amusing will it? Laugh it up now funny boys. The end of the season will see another Falcon meltdown….as USUAL.
Matt "CHOKE" Ryan
March 22nd, 2012
12:26 pm
Ga Wins
March 22nd, 2012
10:09 am
I think we should be offended….why didn’t Matt Ryan make the hit list. The Saints don’t see him as important enough?
________________________________________________
Because he SUCKED so bad it was in the best interest for the Saints to ensure CHOKE remained unharmed……………………
HA HA HA
Matt "CHOKE" Ryan
March 22nd, 2012
12:28 pm
HA HA HA
Falcants fans are pathetic. The only way the Falcants can beat any elite team is off the field…………
HA HA HA
Michael
March 22nd, 2012
12:31 pm
As a Falcons fan for over 35 years, I am saddened that we have to revel in the potential demise of a team in order to even have a chance at winning a division crown. It is truly pitiful that we don’t settle our rivalries on the field…our best against their best…but rather are so pathetic as a coaching staff and team that we have to wait for the league commissioner to cripple a team with the pen before we even can have a chance to be winners on the field. Unforuntately, even with a weakened New Orleans team, their staff and players are still superior to ours. As long as we have Mike Smith and Matt Ryan, we will be looking up at the division. And the fact that we did nothing to go after Carl Nicks will haunt us like not re-signing Harvey Dahl did this past season.
Matt "CHOKE" Ryan
March 22nd, 2012
12:43 pm
Michael
March 22nd, 2012
12:31 pm
As a Falcons fan for over 35 years, I am saddened that we have to revel in the potential demise of a team in order to even have a chance at winning a division crown
_________________________________________________
It’s not the Saints they should be worried about. Tampa was a 10-6 team two years ago and they have retooled and improved through free agency and if the Falcants are celebrating the Saints punishment, Tampa & the surging Cam Newton led Panthers will send them to the basement in the division.
As long as CHOKE is the qb they will never win another playoff game.
Van Brocklin
March 22nd, 2012
12:46 pm
. . . . sAints ?
Van Brocklin
March 22nd, 2012
12:49 pm
Matt Ryan’s four years,
11-5
9-7
13-3
10-6
LawDawg
March 22nd, 2012
1:25 pm
Whatever. The idea that NFL players who are always trying to hit each other as hard as possible would try to hit harder to get what amounts to pocket change for them is stupid. This whole thing was blown out of proportion because the ESPN-ified sports media had nothing else to cover when the story came out and blew it all out of proportion.
Before the salary cap, bonus programs for this kind of thing (from the team itself) were common.
Jimmy In Marietta
March 22nd, 2012
1:36 pm
Dirty rice, dirty Saints. It was arrogant of their head coach, GM and DC to think it was OK to still do it despite a NFL investigation. Yes, Goddell is making an example of them and sending a message to the other 31 teams, but he picked the Saints because THEY gave him ammunition.
Raymar
March 22nd, 2012
1:50 pm
Matt Ryan’s four years,
11-5
9-7
13-3
10-6
And ZERO playoff wins! Nothing else matters!
Pistolero
March 22nd, 2012
2:02 pm
Breaking News!!!! The aints are being investigated about a connection to the Kennedy assassination.
shesoleo
March 22nd, 2012
3:00 pm
All you Aint fans got what you deserve…And now you want to complain WHAT A NERVE…Sean Payton got a year…Drew Brees may not clear??? Loomis 8. Vix 6…No more games shall you fix… Your sorry fanbase loves to brag and gloat… But Roger G. put that BOUNTY!! around your throat…And if you think good OLE BREESIE did not know??? He’s a LIAR TOO. thats for SHO…So be in DENIAL and bitch and whine….I bet you won’t try that S-IT the next time.LMFAO!!!!!!!!!!!
sainthiram
March 22nd, 2012
3:03 pm
so maybe the failclowns might be competative with us this year! NOT. payton wasn’t calling the plays when you got embarassed by us last year. in fact, after he broke his leg , an asst called the rest of the 13-3 season . see if you can figure it out and i’ll bet smitty still can’t stop us—or make a 4th and inches !
Samuel L. Jackson
March 22nd, 2012
3:08 pm
bla bla bla, Saints will finish last in the division… bla bla, the Falcons will beat them now bla bla…. This is was the same thing said after the Saints won the SB and they won 11 games, then it was oh the Saints have 23 FA’s and there is no way they can win… All they did was win 13 games, the division, and WIN A PLAYOFF GAME. Something this current Falcon regime can’t possibly grasp.
I am glad to see these Falcon fans fill their glass with false hope. The entire offensive coaching staff is intact except Payton. Did the Saints stop scoring points or winning games when he was injured this past season and had to give up his playcalling duties???
I can’t wait for football to start, hope you are ready for another a$$ whippin!!!! This year 45-16 is gonna feel like a wet dream!!!
4th and inches
March 22nd, 2012
3:14 pm
Damn-If only the whole team got suspended , then I might be able to win one against the true NFC South champs. Oh well , time tp go peroxide my hair again .
Brian Friel
March 22nd, 2012
4:58 pm
Since Facebook remove this, I will post it here.
Oh when the Aint’s…….Oh when the Aint’s……oh when the Aint’s go mmmmmmaaaaaaaaaarrrrrrrrrrrrrcccccccccccccchhhhhhhhhhhiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiinnnnnnnnggggggggggggggg
ooooooooooooooouuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttt!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Oh how I’d hate to be in that number…..when the Aint’s go marching OUT!!!!!
Matt "CHOKE" Ryan
March 22nd, 2012
8:08 pm
Van Brocklin
March 22nd, 2012
12:49 pm
Matt Ryan’s four years,
11-5
9-7
13-3
10-6
__________________________________________________________
You forgot:
Only Falcons qb to go 0-3 in the playoffs
Only Falcons qb to be S-H-U-T-O-U-T in the playoffs
HA HA HA
Matt "CHOKE" Ryan
March 22nd, 2012
8:09 pm
Only Falcants fans celebrate OFF THE FIELD victories………….
HA HA HA
4th and inches
March 22nd, 2012
8:53 pm
Only Falcants fans celebrate WINNING seasons…’cause thats all they’re ever gonna get with the meltmiester
musicrockinrobin
March 22nd, 2012
9:55 pm
You know what bothers me the most? Why did they get away with it in the first place? It was very obvious at several points that the Saints were playing dirty and getting away with late hits, especially against Bret Favre in the 2009 NFC Championship game. If the refs would just enforce the rules the way they are written, and had they thrown flags when they should have the bounty system would have been moot. The fact that the league allowed it smacks of favoritism, but they wouldn’t do that would they….Enforce the rules:late hits, spearing, hitting out of bounds, unnecessary roughness, hands to the face. CALL IT and they wil adjust their play.
Mikefalcon63
March 23rd, 2012
8:48 am
Typical Aints fans… Instead of facing the reality and blasting your own team for its stupidity, you lash out at another team and their fan base. It really don’t show the maturity level of the New Orleans fan base. I think even my 5 year old understand to not blame or lash out on others when he is the person who screwed up. Your coach and GM screwed up. Deal with it.
SO GLAD
March 23rd, 2012
8:57 am
They got away with it in the 2009 championship game because the NFL was giving the SB title to them. They wanted them to be the poster kids for the ‘comeback team despite all odds’. They were just stupid, arrogant liars that didn’t stop the bounty when your owner told them too. Kept on lying about it and this is what happened. Blame it on the coaches.
SO GLAD
March 23rd, 2012
8:57 am
They got away with it in the 2009 championship game because the NFL was giving the SB title to them. They wanted them to be the poster kids for the ‘comeback team despite all odds’. They were just stupid, arrogant liars that didn’t stop the bounty when your owner told them too. Kept on lying about it and this is what happened. Blame it on the coaches.
SO GLAD
March 23rd, 2012
8:57 am
They got away with it in the 2009 championship game because the NFL was giving the SB title to them. They wanted them to be the poster kids for the ‘comeback team despite all odds’. They were just stupid, arrogant liars that didn’t stop the bounty when your owner told them too. Kept on lying about it and this is what happened. Blame it on the coaches.
doug lite
March 23rd, 2012
10:22 am
This is AWESOME!! The aint’s were acting illegally and out of control and needed to be put in their place. The aint’s are GARBAGE!
BWAAAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAAAAAA
Aint Life Grand
March 23rd, 2012
1:34 pm
A lot of ATL haters commenting on this blog as usual. Looks like the short bus stopped at the library again, must be Bill Maher followers.
Jeremy Shockey
March 23rd, 2012
1:37 pm
Coach Williams had a bounty out on me in practice, now who gets the last laugh!!!!
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA
Joe
March 23rd, 2012
1:47 pm
Surreal Housewife of Atlanta sure sounds a lot like a Saints fan, don’t hide show yourself. Most importantly don’t come to a Falcons site expecting sympathy, Its not going to happen.
Joe
March 23rd, 2012
1:52 pm
Saint’s fans want the person who told, they want the commissioner, they want to get even. No Saints fan has asked the question, how did we get into this situation. I will give you a hint, its your coach, but we cant go against him he won for us. He also won first place in cheating. If your going to cheat dont be a completely dumb about it.
atb
March 23rd, 2012
2:52 pm
this is some big news…
no wonder kurt retired… check out his interview
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1_RLkU9XB98
Surreal Housewife of Atlanta
March 23rd, 2012
3:03 pm
Show me where I sound like a Saint’s fan.
Joe Tess Fish House
March 23rd, 2012
3:05 pm
I heard that the Flacons were guilty of this 2 but 4 some reason only the Saints got in truble. Makes U wonder how much mony Mr Blanks gave 2 the NFL to stay out of truble.
scot
March 23rd, 2012
3:15 pm
as saints fan i don’t deny what the saints did ,but this has been going on for years .The saints didn’t just come up with this .all these pending law suits got the nfl scared .so when goodel talks about protecting players he full of sh— its about the law suits he could care less about the players