Thread: New Orleans Boondock Saints

And now the other shoe drops. According to ESPN Mickey Loomis had a device in his suite from '02-'04 that allowed him to listen to the opposing teams' headset communications. Wonder what the punishment will be for this if it can be proven?

4 confirmed suspensions, including Vilma for a full year.

I have no problem with fines and/or suspensions for everyone involved, but I feel ALL of these are quite excessive. How can you have a team illegally videotaping for who knows how long, and they get some fines, but ZERO suspensions for the main coaches, and then for the Saints you have the suspensions you do. I think it is 2 fold. 1) They wanted to play down spygate, like it was no big deal. 2) Since the NFL is getting its collective ass sued off by former players in regards to injuries and concussions all of these suspensions are the placebo that they actually give a damn.

Pathetic if you ask me.

Originally Posted by Morningfrost

If it can be proven, Loomis might have bigger problems since that violates Federal law.

1) Highly unlikely this happened, and even on the off chance it did, good luck proving anyone listened to anything.
2) The report that came out from OTL on ESPN, was from a former contracted employee fired by the saints in 2007 (I believe that's the correct year), and he told OTL that there was a box that allowed Loomis to listen in in 2002-2004. No actual evidence, just word of mouth. OTL runs with this story and the entire network of ESPN turns it into "OMG Loomis was listening to every play by the opposing team for the last 10 years, OMG".

Seriously disappointed in ESPN for the shitty and irresponsible reporting. There is no further evidence (or any evidence for that matter) to back up this asinine claim, so now they act like they never reported it and you haven't heard anything since. I hope Loomis sues the fuck out of ESPN for not only reporting a half ass claim and not doing their due diligence but for also changing it from 02-04 to listening to everything til present day. They slandered a man with little to no evidence on something he could go to FEDERAL PRISON for. It's a complete joke.

As for the player suspensions, if they are guilty , they are guilty. I have yet to see or hear any evidence of an actual bounty system. The NFL has provided ZERO evidence of anything. That tape of the Williams' speech is something that can be heard in any locker room. It sounds rough, but it doesn't prove there was any money offered for hurting players.

To top it off, none of the players suspended even knew they were being investigated, nor were they given a chance to even defend themselves.

I agree with you Civil. Roger Goodell doesn't give two shits about player safety. He is making the Saints into a gift to the former players as "proof" he cares to lessen the lawsuits. He is out of control and has entirely too much power, especially when it comes to the NFL disciplinary process and its appeals. And according to Smith and Vilma, they are not going down without a fight. They are going to appeal and file suites of their own take the fight to Goodell, so kudos to them.

Of course being a Saints fan, it will be hard to believe anything I say as unbiased, so take it how you will. If they are guilty, then do what you have to do to punish them. But the league refuses to show evidence to the NFLPA, the public or the players of any bounty, monetary exchanges for injuries or anything that would conclusively condemn any of the staff or the players of intentionally trying to injure players.

Only evidence (if you want to call it that), is that tape from the night before the Frisco game where Williams talks about hurting people. You don't see or hear Vilma offer money. You don't see or hear anyone agree to what he is saying. All circumstantial. Shit like this would never fly in any court.

Like I said, if they are guilty, punish their asses. But I have yet to see any REAL evidence that warrants what has been done in terms of punishment and discipline.

That being said, don't even get me started on spygate and the complete double standard the league is showing. The canyon of differences in the discipline between the two scandals is HUGE and only solidifies my belief that the Saints' punishment is there for Goodell to save face with the pending lawsuits.

Column: Goodell better have goods on 'bad' Saints - Yahoo! Sports

Roger Goodell better have the goods.
Somewhere in the 50,000 pages of documents related to the Saints bounty program better be some compelling evidence that it was much more organized and way more vicious than anything the NFL had ever seen. Otherwise, the punishment he's doled out already has exceeded the crime, and the commissioner's credibility on two of the signature issues of his tenure - player safety and the integrity of the games - will suffer a hit he can barely afford. Because if the players believe Goodell is more interested in burnishing his tough-guy reputation and insulating the league from further liability on safety concerns than he is in genuinely pursuing their best interests, look out. All the pushback from all the previous disciplinary cases combined will seem like a nudge..

To your point civil.

Badell doesn't give a shit about player safety and he is going to get busted on it.

Another link that shows that Badell could be two faced.

Report: League “misrepresented” Gregg Williams’ interviews | ProFootballTalk