Just coming out. This is per Larry Holder per Greg Aiello. Unbelievable if true..... https://twitter.com/LarryHolder/status/278563845235146753
So, in reading more, it looks like Tagliabue agreed with Goodell that there was a bounty and they should fine/suspend players but he was overturning their fines/suspensions? Weird.
I took two interpretations from what Tagliabue said: 1. Not only was it all true, but Goodell could have gone even farther by suspending more players. But two years of covering up the details have made it impossible to get the complete, concrete truth. Bottom line, the Saints are a foul, dirty organization. 2. There is no evidence that anything that was said led to any misconduct on the field. It would appear the team just interpreted the bounty talk as motivational speaking or trash talk. Penalizing players or coaches for words in the locker room is a slippery slope the league need not get into. What happens on the field is paramount. Let's leave well enough alone.
Tagliabue went on for several paragraphs emphasizing that part of his decision is founded in the fact that there is no evidence the "bounties" led to any misconduct on the field. ESPN has been talking non-stop about this story for the last 2 hours, and I haven't heard a word about that part. Its all about Tagliabue affirming Goodell.
They can't prove anything, they have lied, covered up, and fabricated their own truth, and went off the word of a disgruntled former employee, and pressured Greg Williams into signing a document or else. All in an effort to avoid getting ass raped in court by former players for guess what, lying and covering shit up regarding head injuries. Goodell is trash.
Tags basically said that there was reason for punishment, but Goodell went too far. There was evidence of the Saints participating in a play for performance program, but nothing that indicated that players were being paid to hurt people. The lack of fines and penalties for these "bounties" was evidence enough. The investigation was compromised by the coaches interfering with the NFL's front offices. Now, if I'm Tom Benson I ask Goodell nicely for my draft picks and coaches back. If he says "No", then I hire a lawyer and sue for them back.
Ya know, reading the comments from fans of other teams out there; I really don't understand how they can act like the Saints are so all nasty and dirty... as if NO OTHER NFL teams are doing nasty things under the table. People really need to pick their marbles up off the floor and get a life.
Where were these teams back when it was happening? You never heard ONE PERSON, let alone a team, say that the Saints were dirty and purposely trying to injure players. Even going back to the Super Bowl, when Gregg Williams came out and said they were going to give Peyton Manning 'remember me' shots, everyone acted like those hits were just part of the game. I can't recall ANYONE saying that those would be cheap shots. Kurt Warner has never once said that the hit Bobby McCray was dirty. Furthermore, where is the outcry for Pierre Thomas, who suffered a helmet to helmet hit and fumbled the ball last year against SF in the divisional playoffs? If the Saints even get a chip shot FG on that drive, then they win the game. Did the Saints have a pay for performance program, that included hard hits? You bet. Did they go out of there way to injure other players? No way.
