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WWL NFL Analyst Mike Detillier says he’s not surprised by this final ruling that could put an end to the back-and-forth over the so-called “bounty gate” case.
“I think the NFL just wanted to wash their hands of it, to be honest. They’ve got much bigger fish to fry at this point,” Detillier told us.
Mike says although the four Saints players got their names and reputations dragged through the mud, it was thousands of die-hard backers of the Black and Gold who paid the price for the investigation.
“The real losers in this case here, though, are the fans in New Orleans who have spent their money in season tickets and in suites, in being supporters of the Who Dat Nation. They did nothing wrong here in supporting the product.”
Listen to the full interview with Mike Detillier:
Listen to the full interview with Mike Detillier:
Detillier scoffs at the notion that the investigation was truly about player safety, and says the bottom line is the bottom line behind Goodell’s investitation.
“I understood from day one what this ruling was all about. It wasn’t about ‘pay for performance,’ bounty, hits, or anything else. It was the fact that the NFL was doing what they could to have some cover, and they were playing to a jury yet to be seated in America on these hundreds and hundreds of lawsuits that will be filed in federal court. And one day, the NFL Commissioner of the NFL will have to sit in the courtroom, and he does not want to be the sports version of ‘tobacco boss.’ He does not want to lose the millions, and hundreds of millions, of dollars which could be lost in a lawsuit with the NFL over NFL player safety.”
Tagliabue’s ruling (view the full ruling HERE) agrees with Goodell’s findings that Jon Vilma, Will Smith, and Anthony Hargrove participated in “conduct detrimental to the integrity of, and public confidence in, the game of professional football." (Tagliabue exonerated Scott Fujita.) However, Tagliabue went on to rule, “this entire case has been contaminated by the coaches and others in the Saints’ organization. Moreover, the League has not previously suspended or fined players for some of the activities in which these players participated and has in the recent past imposed only minimal fines on NFL Clubs - - not players - - of a mere $25,000 or less.”
Detillier says it was a head-scratcher from the start as to why players were suspended over something allegedly put in place by coaches.
“To have the players invoked in this didn’t make a lot of sense. You’re like in the military, you’re told to do what to do, every play. If you don’t do it, I can find someone else to do it. And that’s what happened here, they were just taking orders from superiors. Now, in theory, you might say, ‘that’s wrong, they should have stood up to that.’ Well, you know what? There are only about 1,700 NFL jobs. You’re going to do what that coach tells you to do, and there’s pretty much no recourse back.”
Mike says that Tagliabue, the man who made the ruling vacating the suspensions, was likely well aware that pay-for-performance programs have been around for quite some time.
“The ruling is no surprise to me, understanding that Paul Tagliabue has walked around this issue for many years when he was Commissioner…the information on these sort of things were around the NFL forever …that there’s a little something extra for a big hit.”
