NFL re-issues bounty suspensions...

[KillerKat]

lol so much for all that celebrating by the Saints and fanbase for the suspensions being overturned.

Four weeks and three days after an internal appeals panel vacated suspensions imposed on Saints linebacker Jonathan Vilma, Browns linebacker Scott Fujita, Saints defensive end Will Smith, and free-agent defensive end Anthony Hargrove, the league has re-issued the discipline without any changes or reductions, according to a league source.

This means that Vilma will be suspended a full season, Fujita will be suspended three games, Smith will be suspended four games, and Hargrove will be suspended eight games.

All four players have the right to appeal the ruling to Commissioner Roger Goodell. Given that the players chose this time around to meet with Goodell before he issued the suspensions, the players may be more inclined to participate in the appeal process this time around.

Given that the league has relied this time around on lengthy sworn statements from former Saints defensive coordinator Gregg Williams and former Saints assistant Mike Cerullo, it’s likely that both will testify at the appeal hearing.

Then, after the appeal process has been completed, the players likely will take the league back to court — barring a dramatic reduction or reversal of the punishments by Goodell.

The players also may challenge the rulings once again under the labor deal, if the players believe that the punishment in any way extends beyond Goodell’s jurisdiction over conduct detrimental to the game and encroaches on possible salary-cap violations.

UPDATE 3:37 p.m. ET: The NFL says that an explanation of the re-issued bounty discipline is coming soon. Asked for confirmation that the same discipline has been meted out, the league said, “It’s not that simple.” As to specific question as to whether the penalties will be the same, the NFL said, “Not all.”

http://profootballta...nty-discipline/

Brees can go back to being the tool he is saying how unfair this is.

[PhillyB]

pat?

[Wyank]

pat?

Too busy waiting for Brees to give an explanation.

[footballisasport]

If I was the fans of the Panthers, I'd be way more concerned with what's wrong with my team than I would be with the Saints. But that's just me. It seems some of you rather sit and hope for the failure of otherteams than fix your own team's mess.

[KillerKat]

If I was the fans of the Panthers, I'd be way more concerned with what's wrong with my team than I would be with the Saints. But that's just me. It seems some of you rather sit and hope for the failure of otherteams than fix your own team's mess.

Are you mentally handicapped?

[TheRed]

If I was the fans of the Panthers, I'd be way more concerned with what's wrong with my team than I would be with the Saints. But that's just me. It seems some of you rather sit and hope for the failure of otherteams than fix your own team's mess.

Who is your team anyhow? You have almost 3,000 posts here..

[4Corners]

but but but Vilma tweeted "Victory is mine" a month ago!

[klumme]

If I was the fans of the Panthers, I'd be way more concerned with what's wrong with my team than I would be with the Saints. But that's just me. It seems some of you rather sit and hope for the failure of otherteams than fix your own team's mess.

You have made it pretty clear that you only have one thing on your mind, but some people actually can comprehend more than one single thought.

[Hawk]

good

that is all

[The NFL Shield At Midfield]

If I was the fans of the Panthers, I'd be way more concerned with what's wrong with my team than I would be with the Saints. But that's just me. It seems some of you rather sit and hope for the failure of otherteams than fix your own team's mess.

so NFL central should have zero posts and zero threads then.

because we should be "way more concerned with what's wrong with our team"

[GRWatcher]

A local Charlotte TV station said that the NFL referenced a 2010 game against the Panthers. This game, Nov. 7th:

http://www.panthers....b3-9c715eb056aa

http://www.panthers....e4-b256188cb422

http://www.panthers....f1-fe7f2fc53331

Full NFL release here:

http://www.nfl.com/n..._headline_stack

"The facts, however, conclusively undermine this characterization. For example, in a game between the Saints and the New York Giants in 2009, a Saints player earned a reward for a cart-off of Giants running back Brandon Jacobs, who left the game with a shoulder injury. After a 2010 game against the Carolina Panthers, the Saints defensive unit was commended for forcing '3 CART-OFFS! 1 already placed on I.R.!' In that game, three Carolina players were seriously injured: running backs Jonathan Stewart and Tyrell Sutton, who were literally carted off the field with a head/neck and ankle injury, respectively, and quarterback Matt Moore, who was later placed on injured reserve, unable to return for the remainder of the season, with a torn labrum. These all satisfied Coach Williams' definition of cart-offs: 'big hits that resulted in an opposing player leaving the game due to the hit (for example, having the "wind knocked out of him" or being shaken up or injured in some other way)...' He added that 'rewarding cart-offs and knockouts...could encourage players to injure opposing players [and] I now understand that someone could be seriously injured as a result...'

They are getting what they deserve. Period. Vilma especially is slime. No sympathy here.

[Falcons1stPanthers2nd]

POW! RIGHT IN THE KISSER.

[Wyank]

If I was the fans of the Panthers, I'd be way more concerned with what's wrong with my team than I would be with the Saints. But that's just me. It seems some of you rather sit and hope for the failure of otherteams than fix your own team's mess.

I sit and hope for the Panthers to right the ship. I sit and laugh at a division rival getting slammed by Goddell.