Will the statement made by Goodell to the players and coaches stick?

The NFLPA(NFL Players Association) has filed a grievance that claims that Roger Goodell does not have the authority to discipline the New Orleans Saints players in the bounty case.


The grievance will be heard later today by Shyam Das, who overturned Ryan Braun's suspension and was recently fired by MLB. The firing does not affect the hearing, or the standing of Das as the arbitrator in the case.

The union claims NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell doesn't have the authority to hand out discipline for player conduct that occurred before the current collective bargaining agreement was finalized last August. The players argue that a CBA arbitrator, and not Goodell, has the right to decide player punishment under such circumstances, as well as rule on any appeals.

A CBA arbitrator would be one agreed to by both the NFL and the NFLPA, so this grievance does hold some water.

The players and the NFLPA continue to state that they have not been given enough evidence to validate the harsh punishments handed down by Roger Goodell.

The NFLPA released this statement last month:

"The NFLPA was aware of the existence of the Gregg Williams audio prior to its release. We learned of the tape as part of our effort to obtain any and all information related to an alleged pay-to-injure scheme. We had no control of the content and did not make a determination on the method of its release. To date, the NFL has not provided the NFLPA with detailed evidence of the existence of such a program."

--NFL Players Association

All four players involved have filed appeals, and the NFLPA thinks that Stephen Burbank, the CBA arbitrator, should hear those appeals, not Roger Goodell.

The one main problem I have with the NFLPA fighting this battle for the players involved is that it seems to undermine former players, and the lawsuits they have filed against the NFL for injuries sustained while playing.

Anyone that has been following this story knows the message Goodell is trying to send to the players and coaches, and it seems the NFLPA is on the losing side here. If the players do really want concussions taken out of the game, the Saints bounty program and any like it have no place in football.


As far as the evidence goes, former New Orleans Saints defensive lineman Anthony Hargrove submitted a signed declaration to the NFL in April detailing how he was instructed by current and former Saints assistant coaches Joe Vitt and Gregg Williams in 2010 to deny the team's bounty program.

The declaration was provided to the NFL by Hargrove through the NFL Players Association.

He was told to lie, and the NFLPA knows it. The NFLPA knew about the Williams audio before the league did, and there are reports of a paper trail uncovered by an investigator hired by the NFL that show transactions tied to bounties. The IRS would love to see that one.

I'll say it one last time, 'everyone does it' is an excuse, not a valid argument, and this excuse has never made anything ok.