NFL Sends Loud but Ineffective Message by Penalizing Saints

Earlier today, it was announced that the NFL has suspended New Orleans Saints head coach Sean Payton for one-year for his lack of oversight in stopping the bounty system created under former defensive coordinator Greg Williams.  

The league has also suspended Williams—now defensive coordinator for the St. Louis Rams—indefinitely, suspended Saints general manager Mickey Loomis for the first eight games of the NFL season, fined the team $500,000 and docked them two second-round picks, one in each of the next two drafts.

The penalties are severe, and rightfully so: The Saints exhibited arrogance and stupidity in running the program to begin with; and on top of that, failed to cease its existence when given previous warnings. 

They also send a strong message about how seriously the NFL and commissioner Roger Goodell are taking the issue of player safety, a message that was reiterated in this quote from the Goodell:

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...A combination of elements made this matter particularly unusual and egregious. When there is targeting of players for injury and cash rewards over a three-year period, the involvement of the coaching staff, and three years of denials and willful disrespect of the rules, a strong and lasting message must be sent that such conduct is totally unacceptable and has no place in the game.

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I have no doubts that the swift and stern justice enacted by the league will discourage such bounty programs from existing in the future, but is the NFL actually naive enough to believe that this will have any impact on player safety?

Pro football is a violent sport, and the evidence strongly supports the fact that the fans like it that way. 

Instant replays, SportsCenter highlights and YouTube videos of vicious hits by NFL defenders are just as prevalent and popular as acrobatic catches, spin moves, stiff-arms, and long touchdown passes. No amount of penalties or legislation by the league is going to change that.

If that weren’t enough, NFL defenders are being paid millions of dollars to take out the opposition. Lost in the Denver Broncos signing of Peyton Manning is the fact that new Buffalo Bills defensive end Mario Williams got paid more money to go after Manning and his fellow members of the quarterbacking fraternity. You think Williams is going to gently wrap them up and carefully lay them down on the turf? 

The NFL and Roger Goodell have a responsibility to put a good face on their product; to make certain that the teams and players that make up their league exhibit the highest level of integrity when representing the sport in any way.  

But the game is at the mercy of the fans’ whimsy, and until we demand a less violent product, there is little the league can do to stop defenders from gaining any edge they can in the pursuit of victory, even if that results in player injuries.

You have to be wired a certain way to play defense effectively in the NFL these days, and no fine, suspension or loss of draft picks is going to change that.