Jonathan Vilma tries to tackle me on Twitter (missed)
Just because Jonathan Vilma can fly doesn't mean can get away with everything.
It’s not pretty when a person becomes so desperate and is caught up in denial that he turns delusional. That appears to be the case with New Orleans linebacker Jonathan Vilma.
Earlier today, I sent out a link to ex-Saint Anthony Hargrove’s declaration to the NFL that he was told to lie by assistant coach Gregg Williams and Joe Vitt in 2010 about the existence of the team’s “bounty” program.
That three page declaration, obtained by Yahoo, is listed below. It clearly illustrates the dishonesty and coverup in the Saints’ organization about the program, and as we’ve learned lies and coverups can lead to greater penalties that the crimes themselves might have resulted in.
Anyway, the one thing I didn’t expect to happen was that Vilma and I would get into a back-and-forth on Twitter. Vilma has been suspended for the entire 2012 season. He and NFLPA consider this NFL investigation a bunch of hooey. I’ve weighed on that here.
Meanwhile, back to the Twitter debate . . .
• Poking Tweet from @JeffSchultzAJC: Hey NFLPA and @JonVilma51, check this out (via Yahoo): http://yhoo.it/ISiYn0
• Response from @JonVilma51: he denied the existence of a bounty program…wats ur point. Nowhere does it say there was a bounty program. Ur reaching.
• Me again (imagine flabbergasted look): It says he was told to lie by coaches. Why would he be told to lie about program that didn’t exist? Can’t wait for your answer.
• Reader @Clete27 is among those who chimes in: Rea@JeffSchultzAJC @JonVilma51 If it didn’t exist, why was he instructed (repeatedly) to deny its existence?
• Vilma responds again: @Clete27 @jeffschultzajc I’m sorry if by responding to u, u thot I cared wat u think. U make no decisions in my world Idc wat u think
My role here is not to try to make sense of Vilma’s response, but merely to mock.
Hargrove, who now plays for Green Bay, was suspended for eight games. He admits to lying to the NFL back in 2010 when asked about the program the first time and recently came clean.
Here are two excerpts from Hargrove’s declaration that I find particularly interesting:
• Coach Vitt also told me that I should deny the existence of any bounty or bounty program, and he told me to remember that he was the person who “brought [me] into the League and brought [me] to the Saints.”
• The meeting lasted approximately 30 minutes, and during that time both Coach Williams and Coach Vitt told me that I should deny the existence of any bounty or bounty program to the NFL. Williams and Vitt repeatedly stated that they “care about me and … if we all stay on the same page about this, it will blow over.” They told me that when the NFL asked me about any bounty or bounty program, I should “just play dumb.”
The meeting was held on or before Feb. 24, 2010. Hargrove’s declaration was signed and dated April 13, 2012.
I’ll let you know if there are any updates on this Twitter debate.
But I can’t promise anything. Unlike Vilma, I actually have a job next season.
By Jeff Schultz
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261 comments Add your comment
Corey
May 7th, 2012
5:44 pm
Where did the Saints cheat? Your right Matthew, your opinion is not needed
Boo Brees
May 7th, 2012
5:48 pm
@SeenThisBitchB4- and here I thought you were just holding on to the past. WHEN DAT?? 3 YEARS AGO?? TRU DAT!!!
Mr Smiley
May 7th, 2012
5:52 pm
Just like the saints to resort to name calling and pre-elementary grammar that they insist be in all caps.
C
May 7th, 2012
5:53 pm
Notice how it’s mostly Saints “fans” posting on this article? They have no job, no life, have plenty of free time to ready Atlanta newspapers and are probably typing on a computer they leased from a pawn shop because they have no bank account and just have old grillz to trade as collateral.
RobbE33
May 7th, 2012
5:57 pm
He’s nothing else to do. What did you expect? Dirty ‘aints are getting what’s coming to them. Who dat? YOU dat!
will
May 7th, 2012
6:04 pm
You can place an * on anything you wish. I was in the Quarter after SB44 I was at the SB parade and no one not GODell on some D- bags from the most plain jane city in the world can take that away from me! PS: I didn’t lease my computer I stole it fair and square.
tweeter
May 7th, 2012
6:09 pm
Talk to your kids–no one uses proper spelling/grammar on twitter, especially athletes and celebrities. derp.
Sid
May 7th, 2012
6:19 pm
Jeff Schultz May 7th, 2012 3:41 pm
— I figured, hey, it’s not everyday something like this happens. So I might as well milk it for a blog.
*********************************************
Man, you are puttin’ a squeezin’ on them udders!! Keep it up, ya got about a 5 gal can full right now!
will
May 7th, 2012
6:20 pm
Enter your comments here
WeBurn
May 7th, 2012
6:21 pm
Schultz,
Great job on tweaking Filthma. Keep up the good work. Who’s your next target??
William
May 7th, 2012
6:24 pm
How impressive…. You engaged in a Twitter battle like a teenage girl and then decided to sophmorically brag about it after, as though you have “won” something. Nice ending about having a job next year, considering that you would need to work about another 25 years to equal what he made last year alone. Keep sniffin’ jocks.
Samuel L. Jackson
May 7th, 2012
6:26 pm
What you failed to mention Jeff is that Williams also said that the NFL had been after him for years and he had done this at multiple other stops along the way of his 20+ yrs in the NFL, but the Saints were the only team he coached for to be punished. Kinda difficult to say the Saints AREN’T being singled out at this point when the NFL has Williams stating the obvious (he didn’t invent a bounty program in New Orleans, merely did what he has always done).
Boo Brees
May 7th, 2012
6:27 pm
@SeenThisBitchB4- was it my comment on Brees losing to lame QB’s in the playoffs that got you so upset? Still mad about the Seahawks? That was such a weak title defense, but they were better. Not better than us though, we went up there and beat them. Not sure we could have handled the Rams last year.
Don’t worry about all that stuff though, it’s all in the past. Just like the Saints SB title
Sid
May 7th, 2012
6:28 pm
SeenThisB4 May 7th, 2012 6:09 pm
********************************************
I see you’re already enjoying that whine from the NFC South Cellar………….!!
Matt the Brave
May 7th, 2012
6:29 pm
CYA Vilma! Kids, if you don’t know what that means, ask your parents.
Sid
May 7th, 2012
6:29 pm
Who dat say chicken in dis crowd?
Speak de word agin’ and speak it loud–
Blame de lan’ let white folks rule it,
I’se a lookin fu a pullet,
Who dat say chicken is dis crowd.
Sid
May 7th, 2012
6:33 pm
http://planet1051.com/did-you-make-the-new-orleans-saints-lose-to-the-san-francisco-49ers-in-the-playoffs/
busterbrave
May 7th, 2012
6:34 pm
YA’LL BE FUNNY !! THE VERDICT AND FACTS ARE IN, CASE CLOSED !!!!
busterbrave
May 7th, 2012
6:37 pm
YA’LL BE FUNNY, DA’ FACTS ARE IN,DA’ SHERIFF HAS SPOKEN,CASE CLOSED !!!! WORD !!
WHO DAT GIRL
May 7th, 2012
6:37 pm
Poor falcant fans still bitter that we own yall 24-7. We will whip yall without a head coach.LOL!!!. Who Dat all day, nothing changed. We will be motivated, so be ready and stop being a hater Jeff.
Falcons > Everyone
May 7th, 2012
6:38 pm
Like I said the other day on DOL’s blog: I don’t care if New Orleans beats us twice this season as long as I see Arthur Blank hoist the Lombardi in their house.
Wet Willie...keep on smiling
May 7th, 2012
6:38 pm
Williams is in a world of sheet with the NFL folks for sure. Vilma…well you can take him out of Miami but you can’t take the Miami out of him. Big black eye for the NFL and the Saints. Football is a one tuff sport and I played both HS and college. Your plan is to do the Joe Frasier (knock the MF out) but you don’t bet money on it and you do it with a good clean tackle or block. The trash in this country is taking everything with it as we drift into the sheetcan.
LawDawg
May 7th, 2012
6:40 pm
So you picked a fight with Vilma and got a defensive response? We are all so very proud of you.
Boo Brees
May 7th, 2012
6:42 pm
@SeenThisBitchB4- another delusional Saints fan. Got a question…… Were you visualizing that last post while writting it?
falcon fan
May 7th, 2012
6:46 pm
I HATE THE SAINTS.. BUT I HATE YOU EVEN WORSE. I WILL NEVER FORGET THE HACK JOB YOU DID ON RUSH LIMBAUGH YOU PIG.
LakeDawg
May 7th, 2012
6:47 pm
Nice hips Jeff.
As for Vilma, he surprised me. He obeyed the 1st rule. When in a hole, stop digging.
LakeDawg
May 7th, 2012
6:47 pm
Rush Limbaugh is a pig.
Sid
May 7th, 2012
6:52 pm
Bobby McCray cheap shot on Kurt Warner
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E3huGqug7g0&feature=related
Roman Harper cheap shot on Steve Smith
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lLNBkRJyDYM&feature=related
Paul in NH
May 7th, 2012
7:00 pm
“My role here is not to try to make sense of Vilma’s response, but merely to mock.”
Jeff – I never realized I was using you as my role model when I post on the AJC blogs.
Sid
May 7th, 2012
7:01 pm
WHO DAT GIRL May 7th, 2012 6:37 pm
We will whip yall without a head coach.
**************************************************
No………………you won’t.
WHO DAT GIRL
May 7th, 2012
7:05 pm
ATL=LOSERVILLE USA LOL!!!
Hash Browns
May 7th, 2012
7:09 pm
This sums the whole AJC operation up these days:
“So I might as well milk it for a blog.”
Skank Vilma
May 7th, 2012
7:14 pm
I should have known better….what did they teach me in college ?
Bravesfan79
May 7th, 2012
7:14 pm
blablablabla, who cares, lets talk about the Hawks and what they could do to improve. I say hire Jeff Van Gundy as coach.
Falcon James
May 7th, 2012
7:26 pm
I have to say that I agree with the intellegent people in this blog. If they be no bounty program, why not just say “they be no bounty program”. Further, why the need for a meeting. If they be no bounty program then why did two coach tell him to deny a bounty program. Certainly Hargrove is smart enough to decide for himself how to answer a simple question.
NFL “Mr Hargrove, was they a bounty program?”
Hargrove “Coach told me to tell you, NO. They be no bounty program”
NFL “Why did Coach tell you to deny that they be one?”
Hargrove “Not sure, Coach say I should just play dumb when you ask”
NFL “Are you playing dumb because that what Coach tell you to do”
Hargrove “Yep”
redcoat
May 7th, 2012
7:42 pm
I really disappointed in Seen , thought you had more class than that.
redcoat
May 7th, 2012
7:44 pm
I guess you are no better
JustOneThing
May 7th, 2012
7:49 pm
Before everyone starts accusing everyone else, I just want to clarify one fact. While bountygate may be true and very deplorable, I do not understand why everyone counts the Saint’s win in the superbowl as tainted. A $10,000 bounty might make me want to hit someone harder, but you have to remember that the purported players are making 50x greater than that in their salary. And what are their salaries based off of one may ask? Making more sacks, getting to the QB faster, being able to hit harder… paying for performance. Just because it may be outside the scope of legal tender from salaries doesn’t make the Saints any less of a winner. I guarantee you the Vikings/Colts were trying their best to take Brees out of the game too regardless of having more monetary incentive. Once again just trying to show some perspective.
Jonathan Vilma's old school bus driver
May 7th, 2012
7:52 pm
I drove the short bus.
Mako
May 7th, 2012
7:53 pm
JS….brother lives in Boca Raton and his youngest son is junior at the U and is majoring in finance….nephew agrees that this mental midget from U should have to return his degree for acting like a 8 yr old, who takes the ball home with him ’cause he’s mad!
D man
May 7th, 2012
7:56 pm
I don’t care about Vilma but that’s because I’m a Falcon fan. Vilma just needs to take a lesson from Mike V and start telling the truth. Always the best thing to do.
Innocent Bystander
May 7th, 2012
8:11 pm
I’m about as anti NO as you can get. But the simple fact of the matter is that nowhere in that sworn statement is there an admission that a bounty program actually existed. Think of it like this, if your boss sets you down tomorrow and tells you that the CEO is coming to question you about the existence of Santa Claus and you are to “stick with the program” and deny all knowledge of Santa’s existence, does that mean Santa is real? Uh… no, you’re simply to tell the truth and deny his existence (not that I believe the NO bounty program didn’t exist).
Go Falcons!
Marlo Thomas
May 7th, 2012
8:36 pm
was Dat Girl. She don’t like cheaters.
mo
May 7th, 2012
8:36 pm
The funny thing is that Greg Williams has admitted to it, so this declaration isn’t a ’smoking gun’, it just corroborates his admission. So whatever Vilma, be mad that the coach put your name out there.
Boo Brees
May 7th, 2012
8:40 pm
I have to agree, I don’t get it. Does Santa exist or not?
Taco
May 7th, 2012
8:40 pm
Sorry Jeff no one really cares about you antagonizing some lying thug. Nobody believes him and why bother.
Hurst
May 7th, 2012
8:43 pm
That’s nice you have a job this season Jeff. Not like Vilma made more $ last year than you will for the next 15 or so.
WHO DAT GIRL
May 7th, 2012
8:49 pm
Poor falcant fans trying to use my name, get your own. @SeenThisB4 keep giving them hell they can’t mess with you. WHO DAT for life.
realitycheck
May 7th, 2012
8:49 pm
Just don’t get all the Falcons obsession with the Saints. If they used a quarter of their energy worrying about their own team instead of the Saints, they might have a chance to improve. I’m starting to think that the Saints might get a better rating share in metro Atlanta than the Falcons do. If Melt doesn’t win a playoff game this year, his days in Atlanta probably will be numbered as will Smith’s. This time next year the Saints will have Payton back, probably get that 2nd round pick back, and will be at full strength while the Falcons may be looking for a new coach and possibly GM too. After all, Dimwit’s only significant move was acquiring an aging Eagle defensive back and the Eagles have a history of knowing when to get rid of a veteran in the secondary. How about Bobby Taylor, Lito Sheppard, Brian Dawkins, and Eric Allen just to name a few. Wow, that Falcon roster really improved this offseason……LOL!
Mark. (another one)
May 7th, 2012
8:58 pm
JS: In legal cases, when a criminal refuses to accept the initial offer and makes the prosecutor prove their case, the original offer comes off the table. Is it possible the NFL will increase the penalty for those that fight? Vilma for one appears to live in his own world.