Former New Orleans Saints linebacker Scott Fujita, who now plays for the Cleveland Browns, has consistently rebutted allegations that he participated in a pay-for-injury program in the scandal known as Bountygate. Although Fujita has admitted to giving money to a pool, he insists it was only for ‘big plays.’ ”My reputation is a lot more [...]
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Mike Freeman drops possible bombshell amidst Bountygate controversy
Among sports columnists, Mike Freeman of CBS Sports has been one of the Saints’ harshest critics in the wake of the bounty scandal. He even went so far as to call Jonathan Vilma’s defamation lawsuit against Roger Goodell “arrogant” in a column he wrote a few days ago. But now, it seems Freeman is slowly [...]
READ MORE »Roger Goodell blasted for lack of transparency
In a recent radio interview on AM 790, Mike Florio criticized Roger Goodell’s handling of the punishments handed down to the players allegedly involved in the Bountygate scandal. He began by pointing out that when the Saints’ coaches didn’t vigorously challenge their suspensions (or in Gregg Williams case, not at all), he assumed that everything [...]
READ MORE »Domonique Foxworth blasts the NFL over Bountygate in new Op Ed piece
Domonique Foxworth, former Baltimore Ravens cornerback and current president of the NFL Players Association wrote an Op Ed piece in the USA Today yesterday criticizing the NFL’s depiction of the NFLPA’s stance on the Bountygate situation and demanding to see actual evidence of player participation in the Bountygate scandal. ”There are people willingly misleading the [...]
READ MORE »Lance Briggs calls suspension of Vilma “a bunch of BS”
On Saturday, David Haugh of the Chicago Tribune wrote an article about the discussion he had recently with Chicago Bears linebacker Lance Briggs. Haugh and Briggs disagreed strongly about the appropriateness of Saints’ linebacker Jonathan Vilma’s year-long suspension for his role in the Bountygate scandal. Haugh challenged Briggs’ statement that Vilma’s suspension was, as he [...]
READ MORE »NFL fires back at NFLPA over Bountygate
The NFL has issued a response to the NFLPA’s grievance over the suspension of four players involved in the Bountygate scandal. Here is the text of the response in full: “On May 2, Commissioner Goodell suspended four current or former New Orleans Saints players for conduct detrimental to the integrity of and public confidence in [...]
READ MORE »NFLPA files grievance over Bountygate suspensions
Earlier today, the NFLPA filed a grievance against Roger Goodell and the NFL regarding the suspensions of four players involved in the Bountygate scandal. The grievance states that owing to the new CBA (collective bargaining agreement) which was reached last year, the NFL does not have the authority to punish players for any conduct which [...]
READ MORE »NFLPA head DeMaurice Smith travels to New Orleans
Executive Director of the NFLPA, DeMaurice Smith, traveled to New Orleans Thursday along with NFLPA President Dominique Foxworth to huddle with members of the New Orleans Saints and to weigh legal options for those affected by Roger Goodell’s decision to suspend four players involved in the Bountygate scandal. Yesterday, ESPN’s Adam Schefter predicted that there [...]
READ MORE »Adam Schefter says “massive legal battle” coming in the wake of Bountygate suspensions
Earlier today, it was reported that NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell had handed down suspensions for four players involved in the Bountygate scandal: Jonathan Vilma, Anthony Hargrove, Will Smith, and Scott Fujita. Vilma received the worst of the punishments, having been suspended for the entire 2012 season. It has been indicated that all four players will [...]
READ MORE »James Harrison chimes in on Bountygate suspensions
Pittsburgh Steelers linebacker James Harrison gave his two cents on the NFL’s suspension of four players in connection with the Bountygate scandal earlier today. “Ridiculous, and nobody really sees why the punishments have been so severe over the past 3 – 4 years!” he exclaimed on his Facebook page just after Goodell’s ruling. James Harrison [...]
READ MORE »Harbaugh backtracks from Spygate comments
Earlier today, Baltimore Ravens head coach John Harbaugh was asked about the Bountygate scandal during a radio interview with Baltimore station 97.9 FM. In reply, Harbaugh focused mostly on the New England Patriots, who won three Super Bowls during a stretch of time in which they were videotaping signals of opposing teams in a scandal [...]
READ MORE »Roger Goodell doesn’t expect to hand down bounty punishments this week
Earlier today, while speaking with reporters at an NFL draft event, Roger Goodell said the punishment phase regarding the players who were involved with the Bountygate scandal was in the “final stages,” although he indicated it was unlikely he would be issuing any decisions this week regarding possible suspensions or other punishments. The general consensus [...]
READ MORE »Source calls Saints’ alleged eavesdropping “impossible”
Embroiled in a new scandal regarding their general manager Mickey Loomis and his alleged eavesdropping of the opposing teams’ electronic communications in the Superdome from 2002 to 2004, the New Orleans Saints got a bit of support when a source told CBS Sports earlier that it would be impossible for a general manager to eavesdrop [...]
READ MORE »Gary Myers thinks Roger Goodell will stagger the Saints punishments
In an article which attempts to analyze the various ways Roger Goodell could hand down punishment to individual members of the Saints defense, Gary Myers of the New York Daily News opines that Goodell will not suspend all of the affected players concurrently. He believes that forcing all the suspended players to sit out at [...]
READ MORE »Report: Jonathan Vilma awaits suspension
According to Jason LaCanfora of NFL.com, sources close to Jonathan Vilma claim that the Saints linebacker is expecting to be suspended for two to eight games for his role in the Bountygate scandal. LaCanfora believes that an even more harsh punishment could be levied against Vilma, who allegedly put up a $10,000 reward for anyone [...]
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