Following a ruling by an appeals panel to vacate the suspensions of the four New Orleans Saints players, the NFL and commissioner Roger Goodell have announced new penalties for the players involved.
On Tuesday the league sent a memo to NFL teams, reducing the suspensions for two players and upholding two others.
Saints linebacker Jonathan Vilma had his season-long suspension upheld and defensive end Will Smith's suspension was kept at four games. Browns linebacker Scott Fujita had his suspension reduced from three games to one, while free agent defensive end Anthony Hargrove will serve a seven-game suspension rather than eight.
Vilma responded to the decision on Twitter: This is not news to me pride won't let him admit he's wrong."
Goodell sent a letter to the players and a memo to teams around the league.
"The quality, specificity and scope of the evidence supporting the findings of conduct detrimental (to the game) are far greater and more extensive than ordinarily available in such cases," Goodell said, according to ESPN.com. "The players confirmed many of the key facts disclosed in our investigation, most particularly that the program offered cash rewards for 'cart-offs,' that players were encouraged to 'crank up the John Deere tractor' and have their opponents carted off the field, and that rewards were offered and paid for plays that resulted in opposing players having to leave the field of play."
The NFL Players Association released a statement following the ruling.
"For more than six months, the NFL has ignored the facts, abused the process outlined in our collective bargaining agreement and failed to produce evidence that the players intended to injure anyone, ever," the statement said. "The only evidence that exists is the league's gross violation of fair due process, transparency and impartiality during this process. Truth and fairness have been the casualties of the league's refusal to admit that it might have made a mistake."
The players were reinstated after the panel ruling and the process of deciding punishment began all over again. Along with that, the players have 72 hours to appeal the decision, the same was as they did the first time around.
"We will review this decision thoroughly and review all options to protect our players' rights with vigilance," the NFLPA said in its statement.
The four players were suspended due to their alleged involvement in a bounty program and a pay scheme that rewarded players for injuring opponents.
Vilma's lawyer, Peter Ginsberg, issued a statement as well.
"The suspension has the fingerprints of lawyers trying to fit a square peg into a round hole to appease an Appeals Panel decision ordering the Commissioner to pay attention to his authority under the CBA," Ginsberg said.
According to ESPN.com sports business reporter Darren Rovell, the four players will earn back $1,042,649 in salary.
The new suspensions are just another wrinkle in a seemingly never-ending story.
The four players have already sued the NFL in federal court about the first suspensions and defensive coordinator Greg Williams, who orchestrated the program, has signed documents that state that Vilma offered a $10,000 bounty on quarterback Brett Favre in the 2010 NFC Championship game. Vilma has denied that action.
Vilma's lawyer responded to the accusations.
"Consistent with the Commissioner's disregard of the evidence, he did not even request to see the bank records showing this fact," Ginsberg said in a statement.
Goodell sent a letter to Smith about the suspension. According to ESPN.com, some of the letter said:
"At our meeting in September, you confirmed that you expressed approval of the program when it was first presented to you by (defensive coordinator Gregg Williams). You also confirmed that you provided money to the program pool both at the beginning of the season and again during the playoffs. I understand that you deny that anyone intended to inflict injury on any opposing player. Even in the face of repeated appeals to 'crank up the John Deere tractor and cart the guy off,' you and others now claim that the objective was instead merely to 'knock the wind out' of your opponents, requiring them to leave the game for only a play or two. From the standpoint of player safety, fair competition, and the integrity of the game, the issues with which I am concerned today, this kind of after-the-fact explanation is little more than wordplay that, in my judgment as Commissioner, offers no basis on which to excuse conduct that does not belong in professional football. Such behavior is conduct detrimental without regard to the precise extent or duration of the disability intended.''
He also wrote to Fujita:
"Your own comments confirm that players were encouraged to 'crank up the John Deere tractor and cart those guys off' the playing field." In a similar letter to Smith, Goodell also said, "Even in the face of repeated appeals to 'crank up the John Deere tractor and cart the guy off,' you and others now claim that the objective was instead merely to 'knock the wind out' of your opponents, requiring them to leave the game for only a play or two."
Williams is still suspended indefinitely by the NFL. Vilma has not played this season due to injury.
