Smitty, it's called reading comprehension, look into it, lol. WAY at the top of the page, you asked
why they should be above the law? Who ever said anything remotely like that? I am saying the penalty
is far too harsh for a league based on violence. AND that I am not going to watch it out of protest based
on that opinion.

In your question of apples and oranges, I clearly stated that I knew one was not like the other,
and asked you if you remembered the penalty for the Patriots. Apparently you did not.
Of course you were simply trying to LEAD me to answer that no one had ever DONE anything
like this and been caught, to which you would reply "hence the unprecedented punishment."
But I am too smart for you.
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At least you still have LSU :-)

And SEC football is way more fun to watch anyhow
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I believe that Beli was fined 500k and the team was fined 250k

He wasn't suspensed however
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Precisely why I am going to boycott the league.

And Islay, your googling was correct. 500k and 250k

Off the top of my head, the Saints lost 500k, 2 draft picks, a coach, a GM and an assistant coach.
Plus many as yet un-named fines to individuals. And the one who F'ed everybody is gone, but indefinitely suspended.
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It's ALL I have left, Powski....
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re: the patriots

I think everyone (except Jets fans :-) ) can admit that it was a similar thing - everyone was doing it but they got caught so they got punished.
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Whatever you say bud. They broke the rules and got caught. They knew what could happen and obviously didn't care. Deal with it, it is what it is.
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I AM dealing with it. I even started a thread to state how I was going to deal with it.
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Sounds more like a disgruntled fan to me. I think it's a fair punishment and I would feel the same way if I was a Saints fan too.

It's my un-biased opinion. I neither like nor hate the Saints.
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There have been a lot of individual punishments that were a year or longer. First to come to mind for me are Paul Hornung and Alex Karas. Of course I read "no one" as individuals, whereas if you said "no team", I would agree. But no team has been caught like this, so it makes sense no team has had this severe of a punishment.

Here's a list of one year and greater punishments handed out by the NFL (as of 2007 (LINK)).


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Brad, I thought the Saints penalties were crazy severe, as well.
I think the one thing you're missing, or didn't really get here, is that it's not that "there were warnings".
They were caught by the NFL and told to cut the sh1t out.
They ignored it.
Then, in a time while the league was under microscopic scrutiny and loaded down with concussion-related lawsuits, this came to light again.
You can bet your bottom dollar the lawsuits played a large part in the severity of the penalties. The Saints earned those penalties for being flat stupid, putting the league in jeopardy, and being stupid.

If this all comes to light 10 years ago, it means nothing. I'll argue all day long that it's a part of football, at least to a point. You don't go out and Theismann a guy just because you can, but if you're not exploiting injury to win a game, you ain't trying.

As much as I disagree with the severity of the penalties, and as much as I think they're a sham, I think you and I can agree that the Saints earned a penalty for being stupid. That stuff belongs in the locker room, not on national tv.
THEY forced Goodell's hand. Proof? He didn't do dick to them the FIRST time they were caught. They backed him right into a corner this time, and he had to be severe to show that "The NFL takes a blah, blah stance, player safety blah" because that's what is going to minimize the checks the NFL has to write for all the concussion and player safety lawsuits they are currently fighting.

Don't blame the NFL, even if they are corporate hogs. The Saints brought this one on themselves, lock, stock and barrel.
If you need any more proof that the Saints are stupid, Drew Brees does not have a contract. He hasn't signed signed the franchise tender. Right now, the Saints don't have Drew Brees. Now THAT'S stupid. If I were Brees, and that's what that club thought of me, I'd be on vacation with you this season.
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Not going to watch any of it.
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Wow,
Let me preface my comment by stating that I'm not really a football fan but I can't believe that paying players to purposly injury an opponent, possible ending his career is at all acceptable.

I'd think of nothing less then a lifetime ban for those involved, and if it were up to me a fine too.

The NFL, from the outside, looks like a trashy organization ATM.:-)

As far as a boycott, fine I didn't like it in the first place...
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QFT, I haven't been able to muster up enough interest to watch the NFL in years.
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Brad, you are certainly entitled to hold any opinion you wish, and protest in any way you desire. However, you need realize that the vast majority of the "sporting" nation has absolutely no problem with the punishments dropped upon the Saints, nor will they have problems with those likely to follow against individual players down the road. Not only has the climate changed in the NFL when it comes to the oftimes brutality inherent in the game, but the present-day litiginous atmosphere, and subsequent legal and financial risks the league faces, forces Godell to take a hard line to protect the league from a potential rash of lawsuits, which could end up destroying the economy of the sport . . . and thus the sport itself.

So which would you rather have: A bad season or two following these sanction, or no NFL at all?
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I love all the SEC and LSU love. Like they've never cheated :-)
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Who said anything about them not cheating? College football is just 100000000 times more fun to watch. Well, except for the latest BCS championship, I'm a born and raised Alabama fan, and I'm glad they left no doubt as to who was the better team, but Gawd that game was dull.
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The NFL is already facing major lawsuits over concussion syndrome and other maladies affecting retired (some prematurely) players. Now, something comes to public light where coaches were asking players to hurt other players? How can the NFL not respond harshly?
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If they screw up and lose Brees, which they really deserve to at this point, I don't blame you. I wouldn't watch them either.
I'm gonna get directv, the NFL package, and go into a football coma from Thursday till Monday, watching every single NFL game every week, cause I love that sh1t.
I'm super excited to see how Griffen 3 and Luck work out, and I'm gonna watch Cam Newton tear it up, and see how Peyton does in Denver. It looks like an exceptional year coming up.
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I agree, It should be an interesting year with all the trades and new players
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