Saints get the hammer from the NFL

[spacecaps]

Who dat gonna beat dem Saints? Roger Goodel, that's who.

[Brad]

If Payton is suspended for a year, I gotta believe Williams will be banned. Wow

Williams has been banned indefinitely. He is gone for at least one year. He can ask for reinstatement after one year but I have a feeling he will never coach in the NFL again, and rightfully so.

[megomania]

Gotta figure lying to the commish during the investigation didn't help things. The cover up always hurts more.

I think that is actually what did them in for such harsh reprecussions. Let's be honest - the NFL promotes violence and uses big/hard hits to promote their game.

[Goblin19]

This was harsher than I expected, but not unwarranted.

[sprytel]

When the story broke, there were reports of how this was such a common practice around the league. If truly "everyone was doing it", I am shocked they cracked down so hard... even if the league's intent was to send a message.

[Megospidey]

This wasn't really about the bounties or the fact that other teams are doing it. It was about the cover-up to hide it from the NFL by Sean Peyton.

The cover-up ALWAYS gets you in more trouble than the actual crime itself. No one likes being lied to, including Goodell.

[Brad]

There are quite a few layers to this entire story. First off while other teams may have done this it wasn't sanctioned by their coaches. Mostly just players putting some skin into the game from what I have read. No secret that many athletes like to gamble in some form or another. Once the coaches started sanctioning this and contributing money to this, the whole complexion changes. Plus they flat out lied about it to the league. Plus they were circumventing the salary cap by paying players cash. Plus paying someone to actually try and cause harm and injury to another person may have other legal ramifications. So if you total everything up then it is more understandable why they were punished so harshly by the NFL.

[MegoMark71]

Gotta figure lying to the commish during the investigation didn't help things. The cover up always hurts more.

That had to be a big factor in the result. Not good to lie to the comish.