The Game Isn't Played That Way Anymore*

From across the country, NFL players rallied around the four Saints that were suspended yesterday. The players felt as though Vilma, Hargrove, Smith, and Fujita were being punished for "playing football." That trying to hurt an opponent was "part of the game."

Not anymore.

That's what the players and some fans don't seem to get. The NFL is trying to get rid of that part of the game.

The scandalous part of this scandal was the money. Pay-to-injure. The Saints coaches and players like Vilma paid cash to players for injuring opponents. Which is a salary cap violation. And it also goes against what the NFL has been trying to do in order to limit injuries.

And I know Goodell and the owners are concerned about the safety of their money more than the safety of the players. I know Goodell is an autocrat, a king operating without restrictions. But that's what his position requires.

Everyone in the NFL is concerned about money. Players hold out for money. Players switch teams for money. Neither the owners or the players can use the greed argument against the other. They're all greedy. We're all greedy.

The NFL wants to protect their investment. They invest in the players and invest in the game. The League wants the game to be as hard-hitting and as safe as possible. It's a tenuous balancing act. The NHL is struggling with a similar problem. The NHL wants the game to be as fast and physical as possible, but they don't want to see players carted off the ice with their heads in neckboards. Both leagues want the game exciting so fans watch, but not so violent that they turn away.

The Saints' bounty program unbalanced what the NFL is trying to produce. The Saints' bounty program was purely about hard hits and injuries. The NFL can't allow that.

Vilma, Hargrove, Smith, and Fujita helped Gregg Williams and Sean Payton set up this bounty program. And before this off-season, such a program might have seemed to be part of the way football has always been played.

But it isn't how the game will be played anymore.

Enough of this Saints stuff. I'm going to take Bills' linebacker Kirk Morrison's advice:

Instead of following this Bounty fallout, I'm going to google "Kate Upton Cat Daddy" again. Yeah that's a great idea. Now that's a fallout.
— Kirk Morrison (@kirkmorrison) May 2, 2012

Four Saints Suspended for Bounties

When Jonathan Vilma put $10,000 cash on the table and offered it as a reward to any of his teammates who could knock Brett Favre out of the NFC Championship game in early 2010, he had no idea that he would be costing himself $5.5 million. That was the punishment handed down by Roger Goodell today. Vilma has been suspended for the season, without pay.

And I'm all for it. Vilma offered a financial incentive (which is a violation of the salary cap) to injure a player. Anyone who thinks the punishment is too harsh must take into consideration those two points. The Saints were violating the cap. And they were encouraging their players to injure other players. I don't know if you've noticed, but the NFL has been trying to clamp down on injuries, especially to QBs.

Oh, and then the Saints repeatedly lied about it, and continued to do it even while under investigation. Like a burglar continuing to rob a house even after the police show up.

And maybe this took place with other teams. I doubt the Saints were the only team that had such a program. It won't happen anymore, though, after what happened to Sean Payton and now these four players.

Anthony Hargrove was suspended for 8 games. Probably due to his obstructing the investigation and initially lying to the NFL.

Will Smith was suspended for 4 games (and sent to live with his Aunt and Uncle in California). He reportedly helped former defensive coordinator Gregg Williams set up the bounty program.

Scott Fujita, who is now on the Browns, was suspended for 3 games.

What the Saints did was wrong. And even if other teams did it, that's a lame excuse. If you got pulled over by a State Trooper would you say to him "You know, I'm not the only one speeding on 128 right now." Yeah, good luck getting out of that ticket.

No head coach will promote or allow a bounty program after what happened to Payton.

And now, no player will try to set up such a program on their own, or even participate, after what happened to these four guys. The risk has become greater than the reward. Thanks to Roger Goodell.

Sick of Saints Sympathy

Before we even knew about the bounties, I was already a little sick of the Saints. They seem to be everyone's second favorite team. And only lately. These people weren't saying "who dat" when Jeff Blake was slinging passes for the Saints. It's only since Drew Brees arrived and the Saints became good.

And now everyone feels bad for the "harsh" and "severe" punishments the NFL doled out. If a punishment isn't harsh or isn't severe, is it even a punishment? What's the point of an unharsh punishment?

The Saints broke the rules. Repeatedly. They violated the salary cap, they encouraged players to inflict injury, and when they were being investigated by the NFL, they continued to break the rules. These are not actions that merit sympathy.

Goodell is ruthless, but that's what his position entails. He isn't supposed to be just, or moral, or understanding, or sympathetic. He's supposed to be harsh, even tyrannical at times.

And the simple fact is, after yesterday, NO team in the NFL is going to tolerate these types of bounty payments anymore. Goodell's punishment of Sean Payton turned the other 31 coaches into 31 junior commissioners who will ensure that their teams do not engage in this type of behavior. This was a league-wide problem on Wednesday morning. By Wednesday night, the problem was solved.

Goodell Crucifies Saints

The punishments dispensed by the NFL seem harsh. Head Coach Sean Payton has been suspended without pay for the entire 2012 season. Saints' GM Mickey Loomis has been suspended for 8 games. Asisstant Joe Vitt has been suspended for 6 games. Former Saints' Defensive Coordinator (now working for the Rams) Gregg Williams has been suspended indefinitely. The Saints will forfeit their 2nd round picks in 2012 and 2013 (they do not have a 1st round pick this year). They've also been fined $500,000.

That seems intense. And I'm sure some will compare this to the NFL's lack of suspensions after SpyGate.

However, guys like Williams didn't cooperate with the investigation into this. And he's even admitted to attempting to obstruct it.

Furthermore, the Saints violated salary cap rules with these bounties. You can't do that. It's explicitly against the rules. There's no gray area, no need to send memos to remind the coaches. You can't give someone an under the table bonus for an interception. This isn't college football.

Finally, I think these bounties had more impact on games played on the field than tapes of opposing signal-callers that were viewed after the game was played. Call me crazy.

The punishments seem harsh. But do you think any team will allow such a bounty program to exist after today? Do you think any Head Coach will just shrug and move on with his business? This punishment is about deterring teams from doing this in the future. And I think in that respect, it will be very effective.

Big hits are part of the game. They're supposed to send messages. Goodell and the NFL sent a very loud, very clear message today.

Bounty Hunters

This is a big story. But could you imagine how much bigger it would be if those evil Patriots were involved?

The Saints allegedly managed a pool of cash up to $50,000 and rewarded defensive players for inflicting injuries on opponents. Knocking out an opposing player was worth a $1,500 bonus. A "cart-off" was worth $1,000.

Defensive coordinator Gregg Williams oversaw the fund - with the knowledge of head coach Sean Payton - back in 2009 when the Saints won the Super Bowl.

The amount of the bonuses is low for pro athletes, but it's still unauthorized compensation that goes beyond the salary cap. And that's against the rules. No asterisks for the 2009 Championship necessary, but the Saints should be severely punished for running such a fund.

The nature of the bonuses is kind of sickening. Cart-offs? Does a player get a new car for ending a QBs career? Then again, it's a violent sport. People don't hit each other with the intent of NOT hurting each other.

Still, the whole knockout and cart-off thing means players are encouraged to go for the head and legs. The NFL has gotten serious about injuries from those kinds of hits and this is their chance to fully demonstrate that seriousness.

It's horrible for PR. The NFL suspends so many players, fines them so often for dirty hits. They can't let programs like these continue now that they've been unearthed. And the fact that the head coach knew about it is all the more damning.

The problem isn't localized to New Orleans. And I'd be utterly stunned if there is a franchise in the NFL that has never had such an informal Pain Payment Program at one point in time.

It is a contact sport. Injuries happen. But ultimately injuries should be viewed as part of the game, not the goal of the game.