ESPN.com/nfl poll: Was the bounty scandal blown out of proportion?

otistp said

I agree that the NFL should show whatever evidence they have, provided they can protect the identity of whoever turned in the evidence. I don't think it's fair to the fans of the Saints to ask them to just accept their word for it. As a non-Saints fan, I look at things like the apologies of the coach or whatever and consider that to be a fairly decent admission of guilt.

I think all teams' fans think, for some reason, that the NFL is against their team. I know my fellow Bucs fans do it all the time. From my time reading this board, it seems like you guys have that same attitude, like the NFL had it out for you for transgressions beyond what they are claiming, but if you ask most everyone else, before this, the Saints were (deservedly so) one of the NFL's darlings.
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Also, love your pug.

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I think the biggest problem with the 'evidence' is that the NFL came out firing...saying they had 18,000 documents or 50,000 pages of evidence or whatever....essentially a boatload of damming evidence....but what has been released has been very weak, limited in amount, and IMO doesn't prove pay-to-injure at all, which is what the franchise was punished for. An organization can release documents or evidence while protecting the sources...it's called a using a Sharpie to black out the name of the whistle-blower. Re: the coaches apologizing...everyone know's Goodell believes he's God-ell and so I think they took a look at the overall situation and decided to accept the punishment, issue brief statements, and get back to their NFL jobs as soon as possible instead of getting into a huge battle with a guy who seems to hold all of the power....judge, jury, executioner. Employees of the NFL seem to have so much less power/options vs. the players.

Re: NFL fans thinking the NFL is against their specific team....agreed though in this case we aren't talking about a lack of respect or unfair game scheduling....we are talking about a concerted effort to torpedo this coming season. I believe the punishments handed down are the harshest in the history of the league. Does the punishment fit the crime, given there is still wide debate regarding what the crime actually was? If the NFL truly has the evidence showing pay-to-injure....and had brought this to light in a calm and logical manner...and the evidence was both true and damming....then I'm good with the punishment imposed...but that didn't happen. All I want is transparency so I know the NFL is operating ethically, instead of in it's own best interests given the pending injury/player safety litigation.

Re: the pug...his name is Dexter and he rocks a Saints jersey every gameday!

Finally I appreciate your candor...it's not often I can have a sensible conversation re: what's gone down this off-season with another team's fans.