Media Questions Re: 2013 2nd Round Pick (1 Viewer)

So odd.

The NFL did a much better job with the closure involving Spygate. Of course, NE team. Would have changed NFL history had Belichick et al been suspended.

It is obvious how damaging the penalties were already in 2012. To announce a final determination now is dumb, and the whole idea of this still not being over by 2013 draft is spiteful.

I don't expect Goodell to change his view because Goodell, but I would think it is fair for him to have to articulate his reasoning, if only to make him feel uncomfortable.

Short thoughts...

It's because the NFL thought they had something much bigger here to use against the former players in the concussion lawsuit.

When the NFL thought we had a player specific bounty against Brett Favre to take him out of the game, they rushed in like Bulls in a China shop.

At the end of the day, they found that we had a PFP like everyone else. Except, at some point 3 years later, they got information from Mike C. They jumped on that stupid napkin that reiterated the Favre bounty. However, the only real evidence he really had were Power Point slides from the defensive meetings. Those slides had pay outs for sacks, fumbles, knock outs and cart offs.

So, the NFL saw their chance to use us as the scape goat, because the payments for a knock out or cart off, regardless of the intent or how the tackle was made, can be "letter of the law" taken as a bounty. So, boom. NFL wins. That's all they needed. Everything else was hype, because they really thought they had the coup de gras with the Vilma accusation. But that faltered, but it didn't matter, because the reality was all they needed was one PP slide that showed anyone got money for a "cart off".

But that's not sexy, so they added all that other flourish.

The coaches are Management, so they get stuck taking the medicine.

But I agree.. the Saints took their poison pill, they mostly played nice, so why isnt' Goodell entertaining giving the 2nd rounder (or the other financial penalties that he also said could be reduced) back?

Is it just as simple as we haven't asked for it? Or were we actually denied?
 
If anybody is out there... My problem is the lack of coverage of the Vitt testimony. There are lots of nuggets there, from info coming out, to being able to feel the tension between Vitt and the NFL and their counsel.

I wrote Florio for 2 days, trying to get him to cover it, which he did 2 days later. It was more of an afterthought. I know its Super Bowl week and all, but if they can cover Ray Lewis' deer antler cocktails, they can cover this.

For anybody who hasn't read it, I encourage you to. Eye opening, lots to discuss.

I'm very disappointed with the lack of coverage. To me, its the story of the week.
 
this is where you've gone wrong. I am definitely applauding the effort and agree with you wholeheartedly.

But when it comes to Goodell, "should" has no place in the conversation. He doesn't believe he is accountable to anyone except for himself and the legitimation of any penalties are balanced only in the megalomaniac's mind.

There are a ton of things he "should" have done or been doing or be doing - but he's doing none of that.

And the media, by and large, has given him a pass. As the scandal wore on and the machinations became more transparently arbitrary, people started asking questions. But never was it hard hitting. And now that Payton has been reinstated, the narrative has shifted to "closure" and "moving on."

The 2nd round draft pick is a forgotten footnote. It will be mentioned come draft time - the reddit comment was, I think, one of the many lapses in judgment he's made.

I think he felt like he could say that and it wouldn't matter - or he just doesn't care because he's above the law - and the issue will resurface as the draft gets closer.

Why?

Because if there's one thing he's been consistent about, it's dragging the franchise's reputation through the media mud, as a platform for his hollow and sanctimonious platitudes about "integrity" and "player safety."

And he'll do it again. For the same reason he's done it before. And in the same style he's done before.

And Rich Eisen will say nothing. Nor will anyone else.

Maybe that's overly cynical - but the reality is that not enough people care.

One day, though, to the NFL's detriment, he's going to screw with another team and another team's fanbase. And no amount of "told ya so" from fans like us who have seen, in detail, his disregard for the very things he's preaching from his pulpit about will matter then, either.

Not until he takes on a team or an issue that enough people care about to hold him accountable. But by then, it might be too late.



Great post.
 
Goodell:angryrazz: is two-faced. Nuff Said!!! Type of person to throw a stick and hide his hands.
 
Those Vitt links could be important. The CBA, which protected the commissioner from being sued for defamation by Vilma, does not apply to coaches. Hence, they had to keep their mouths shut so that they would be reinstated--but there's nothing to stop Vitt from suing Cerullo if he can find a lawyer who can formulate a legal theory that would enable the suit to take place such that a judge doesn't have to dismiss it. I have no idea whether or not that's possible. And, if it's not possible to get this matter into a real legal system, people will continue to get away with lying and defaming others. This should not happen in the United States of America.
 
First off, Thank you, Stephanie Stradley !!!! You are the only media personality who has called BS on Goodell and questioned his sloppy, unprofessional, and cowardly handling of Bountygate from the beginning. It is an absolute joke that no one in the local NOLA media has been half as vociferous as you in your criticism of that red-headed punk.

The national media isn't going to dig deeper on the Saints' '13 2nd round pick for two reasons, I think:

1) THEY ARE ALL BOUGHT AND PAID FOR!!!! They are afraid to really aggressively attack Goodell publicly because if they do, they fear that they will either lose their access to the NFL, or their jobs. Peter King, Florio, Schefter, Glazer, Rich Eisen: they are all part of the establishment. They either work for the NFL, or work for a network that has a contract with the NFL. No chance they cover this issue with the same tenacity that they would if they were reporting on a story about a player.

2) Sports Journalism doesn't exist anymore. It's a 24-hour news cycle now. Most people are too dumb, too lazy, or don't care to read a 15 page article about what a sham Bountygate is. The headline-grabbers these days are bogus trade rumors, overly-exaggerated injury reports, or speculation about where a free agent is going to sign, or whether a coach is "on the hot seat". It's all garbage. There is no accountability anymore. Accuracy rides shotgun to reporting something first, whether it's true or not.

As for our local media in NOLA, it's mostly people trying to draw attention to themselves by taking the contrarian viewpoint, or sycophants who are gunning for national gigs and don't want to upset the NFL. Take Jeff Duncan, for instance. His work the last 10 months sucking up to the NFL makes Scottie from 'Boogie Night' look like Rambo.

Bountygate should cost Goodell his job. He has mishandled this from the beginning. He might have even made a lot of it up out of thin air. He definitely had already decided to punish Sean Payton and the Saints from the beginning. He purposely waited until after the lockout so he could blackmail the owners and the players and the owners into giving him the autonomy to collect the "evidence", review the "evidence", rule on the "evidence", and hear all appeals. (This isn't North Korea!!! If a prosecutor in the US acted like Goodell did, he would be disbarred and would be in jail...and would be facing civil suits, like Michael Nifong.

My point is that Goodell knew that he could get away with this and used the "player safety" mantra to sell the rest of the owners. He knew that Tom Benson is a weak owner and had no leverage to fight him back. NOLA is the 22nd most valuable franchise in the NFL and is in the 2nd smallest market (maybe bottom 5, i think). And, most importantly, Benson doesn't own his stadium. He is an old man who has made a lot of money, but most of his net worth is tied into the Saints. Translation: Goodell knew Benson would not fight back. Benson never held a press conferene, interview, or otherwise articulated his disagreement with the penalties. He did nothing. As expected. (Oh, and he was bribed, too. He got a $7-8 million windfall in salaries that he didn’t have to pay when offset against the $500,000 fine by the NFL.”

I could go on and on. I'll just stop there. I hope that some day the full truth about Bountygate comes out and Roger Goodell is exposed for the lying, phony, hypocrite that he is.
 
This is a good start. Thanks Ms Stradley. There's still plenty of time before the draft for this to be discussed and presented to Heir Goodell. This is just not the week to discuss stuff like this. The NFL is in full SB mode right now. By the way, good luck to your Texans season. Yall are due.
 
Another little fact you may want to mention. The professionalism of Roger Goodell after informing players of suspension through the media, he informed the Saints organization they wouldn't be getting the 2nd round pick back on a PFT internet chat.

This is so true. I talked to someone I know who works for the Saints asking about the validity of his comments when they happened and the reply i got said that the Saints don't know anything about that yet because they hadn't even formally asked for the pick back yet through the legal channels
 
Thank for kind words. Here's my interview with Rich Eisen I did on Tuesday.

Here's the part relevant to y'all:

You and the Commissioner did a Reddit AMA on Monday….
“As we’re hip, and we do what the kids say….”
What wasn’t hip to the folks in New Orleans was his response on Monday that there is no chance the Saints get their second round pick back in 2013. After the Saints appealed last April, the NFL released a statement that said:
“the commissioner would consider whether there are factors that would support modifying the forfeiture of the team’s 2013 second-round draft choice.”
Do you the reasoning behind this decision or if the Saints knew about this final decision before it was announced on Reddit AMA?
“Well, you’re asking me questions above my pay grade. I have no idea what is happening behind the scenes. I’m just the wheel in the cog of the machine which operates out in Los Angeles. I don’t know what the inner workings of the Commissioner office regarding the Saints bounty case, whether he will reinstate or not, what he’s told the Saints or not, that is a question best directed…”
You could ask it.
“I’m going to see him on Friday. As I’m in New Orleans, I plan on definitely touching about this.”




So there you go. I must away now. Heading to New Orleans after rush hour his morning. Beer by the afternoon. If something happens about this stuff, @ reply me on Twitter. I really think y'all deserve an answer, even if the answer is just making Goodell uncomfortable by answering the question.
 
Thank for kind words. Here's my interview with Rich Eisen I did on Tuesday.

Here's the part relevant to y'all:

You and the Commissioner did a Reddit AMA on Monday….
“As we’re hip, and we do what the kids say….”
What wasn’t hip to the folks in New Orleans was his response on Monday that there is no chance the Saints get their second round pick back in 2013. After the Saints appealed last April, the NFL released a statement that said:
“the commissioner would consider whether there are factors that would support modifying the forfeiture of the team’s 2013 second-round draft choice.”
Do you the reasoning behind this decision or if the Saints knew about this final decision before it was announced on Reddit AMA?
“Well, you’re asking me questions above my pay grade. I have no idea what is happening behind the scenes. I’m just the wheel in the cog of the machine which operates out in Los Angeles. I don’t know what the inner workings of the Commissioner office regarding the Saints bounty case, whether he will reinstate or not, what he’s told the Saints or not, that is a question best directed…”
You could ask it.
“I’m going to see him on Friday. As I’m in New Orleans, I plan on definitely touching about this.”




So there you go. I must away now. Heading to New Orleans after rush hour his morning. Beer by the afternoon. If something happens about this stuff, @ reply me on Twitter. I really think y'all deserve an answer, even if the answer is just making Goodell uncomfortable by answering the question.

Excellent work!
 
Awesome. Well, I hope he does ask this question and some follow ups.

Enjoy your time in New Orleans. I miss all my bars...:(
 

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