JayOzOne Posted March 22, 2012 Share Posted March 22, 2012 Just another reason for grandstanding congressmen to get their names in the headlines. Screw the Taints and their organization!http://espn.go.com/nfl/story/_/id/7722853/new-orleans-saints-senator-****-durbin-sets-hearing-bounties-nfl WASHINGTON -- The Senate wants to grill the NFL about bounties. And the NBA, NHL, NCAA and Major League Baseball are invited, too.Sen. **** Durbin is setting up a Judiciary Committee hearing about bounties in professional football and other major sports in the wake of news that New Orleans Saints players received extra cash for hits that hurt particular opponents.The assistant Senate majority leader, an Illinois Democrat, said Thursday he wants to examine whether federal law should make such bounty systems a crime."Let's be real basic about it here. If this activity were taking place off of a sporting field, away from a court, nobody would have a second thought (about whether it's wrong). 'You mean, someone paid you to go out and hurt someone?'" Durbin said in a telephone interview before raising the issue on the floor of the Senate."It goes way beyond the rules of any sporting contest, at least team contest, to intentionally inflict harm on another person for a financial reward," he said.His announcement came a day after the NFL took a harsh stand on bounties, suspending Saints coach Sean Payton for all of next season, and indefinitely banning their former defensive coordinator, Gregg Williams. Saints general manager Mickey Loomis was barred for half of 2012, assistant head coach Joe Vitt got a six-game ban, and the team also was docked two second-round draft picks (one in 2012 and another in '13) and $500,000.Payton is the first head coach suspended by the league for any reason.NFL commissioner Roger Goodell still needs to decide what penalties to give players who were involved in the Saints' scheme from 2009-11.The NFLPA on Thursday said in a statement that it still is waiting for cooperation from the Saints and NFL to set up interviews."NFLPA leadership looks forward to meeting with the Commissioner to discuss the League's 'Bounty' investigation," the NFLPA said. "To date, neither the League, nor the Saints, have helped us facilitate interviews with members of management or the coaching staff. We expect the League to provide all information so that we can ensure a fair process for all who were involved."Durbin said he was pleased by the severity of Goodell's punishment against the Saints."I am encouraged by what the National Football League did. What they came down with as a penalty on the New Orleans Saints was decisive and historic," Durbin said, adding that he thought the league was "taking this very seriously."But moving forward, the NFL and other leagues must "come up with standards to make sure this isn't going to happen again," he said. Otherwise, lawmakers will need to "at least explore whether it is necessary to have federal legislation in this area."One possibility, Durbin explained, would be to extend federal sports bribery laws to cover bounties, so that "if someone offers in a team sports situation some sort of value, money or otherwise, to intentionally hurt another player, that, in fact, would be a crime."In an email to the AP, NFL spokesman Greg Aiello wrote: "Commissioner Goodell has taken strong action to ensure that bounties are eliminated from the NFL. We have not heard from Senator Durbin but would be pleased to discuss the matter with him."Under the bounty system overseen in New Orleans by Williams -- who was hired in January by the St. Louis Rams -- the targeted players included quarterbacks Aaron Rodgers, Cam Newton, Brett Favre and Kurt Warner. "Knockouts" were worth $1,500 and "cart-offs" $1,000, with payments doubled or tripled for the playoffs.According to the league, Saints defensive captain Jonathan Vilma offered $10,000 to any player who knocked then-Vikings QB Favre out of the 2010 NFC Championship Game.Vikings punter Chris Kluwe, in an interview on the "Judd & Phunn" show on 1500 ESPN Thursday, said he would like to see both Williams and Vilma banned for life from the NFL."My position has always been that I think Vilma and Gregg Williams should be banned for life and then Payton should get a year, their GM should get a year and anyone who knowingly took money after a hit that injured someone should get a year as well," Kluwe said.Durbin isn't sure when the hearing will happen, but he said it could be two to three weeks from now. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ethos Posted March 22, 2012 Share Posted March 22, 2012 It only gets better. So what exactly does the Senate plan on doing to the Taints? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vabchbirdlover Posted March 22, 2012 Share Posted March 22, 2012 (edited) More govt invovelment with New Orleans, will it ever end! Edited March 22, 2012 by vabchbirdlover Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
falcon057 Posted March 22, 2012 Share Posted March 22, 2012 And the HITS just keep coming like a nightmare but just can't wake up! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FalconFanForLife Posted March 22, 2012 Share Posted March 22, 2012 Well anything that keeps dragging NO through the mud is not only fun for me, but good for us in general just because of the HUGE distraction it places on the entire Aints organization. However, nothing disgusts me more than politicians, and the thought of this clown Durbin exploiting it to get his name in the media makes we wanna PUKE! We have far more serious issues than this bounty gate for our failed political leaders to worry about, and the last thing we need is ANY oversight from the bloated, ineffectual federal government that already squanders our wealth just to further their own political careers.Goodell is handling this just perfectly IMHO. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Borat Posted March 22, 2012 Share Posted March 22, 2012 Normally, I hate Durbin,But this, I think, is a platform I'm on board with. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Carl927 Posted March 23, 2012 Share Posted March 23, 2012 Lying to congress is a little bit worse than lying to Goodell. This poopstorm could soon be a category five, given the level of denial extant in that franchise. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Faithful Falcon Posted March 23, 2012 Share Posted March 23, 2012 Wait til the Salary Cap Situation hits. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Herr Doktor Posted March 23, 2012 Share Posted March 23, 2012 ****. Are you serious? The government ruins everything. I honestly pity the Saints now. Now its going into the realms of absurdity. SMH and wheeling for simpler times..... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Saintsfan#1 Posted March 23, 2012 Share Posted March 23, 2012 Government won't be able to do anything to the Saints Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NOVAFalconFan Posted March 23, 2012 Share Posted March 23, 2012 Government won't be able to do anything to the SaintsI remember telling people that Mike Vick was innocent, too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Quarterback Posted March 23, 2012 Share Posted March 23, 2012 One would think with a federal goverment so deeply in debt and utterly dysfunctional they would focus more time on more important matters. In fact, we can only dream of how they should learn to handle issues so swiftly, decisively, and profoundly as Goodell did. While I'm not overly thrilled with some of the newer player safety rules (e.g., the kickoff rule that has nearly neutered one of the most exciting plays of the game), suffice it to say the man doesn't mess around when it comes to making a point--even to the darling little Saints. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Vent King Posted March 23, 2012 Share Posted March 23, 2012 Hey as much as I am LUVVVVVVIN this Aints disaster, Congress can't do more to them than Wyatt Earrrr, uh I mean Rodger Goodell has already done so yea, I'm going to need you guys to concentrate on the economy and bringing them gas prices down okay? Thanks... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Miller2Rison Posted March 23, 2012 Share Posted March 23, 2012 Hey as much as I am LUVVVVVVIN this Aints disaster, Congress can't do more to them than Wyatt Earrrr, uh I mean Rodger Goodell has already done so yea, I'm going to need you guys to concentrate on the economy and bringing them gas prices down okay? Thanks...true. The government has way bigger issues right now that punishing the Saints, how about creating better jobs? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Trouble Posted March 23, 2012 Share Posted March 23, 2012 Government won't be able to do anything to the SaintsThey will name the new laws after the saints. Maybe call it Paytons law. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OnlyPostsReactionFaces Posted March 23, 2012 Share Posted March 23, 2012 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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