Sean Payton Suspension: Saints Coach a Casualty of Bad Timing

New Orleans Saints coach Sean Payton would have never gotten suspended for bounties in the '70s.  

But this ain't the disco era.

This is an era where NFL commissioner Roger Goodell is TERRIFIED of the physicality of the game to the point where they handed down possibly the harshest penalty in the history of the league.

Payton has been suspended for the entire 2012 season without pay. Former defensive coordinator Gregg Williams has been suspended indefinitely, assistant Joe Vitt got six games and even GM Mickey Loomis received eight. The league also doled out a $500,000 fine and took two second-round draft picks.

This is historic for all the wrong reasons.

Never before has a coach been suspended by the league. The NFL treated this as a much bigger deal than Spygate, and Goodell had harsh words for anybody that dares to try and intentionally hurt a fellow player (via ESPN):

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We are all accountable and responsible for player health and safety and the integrity of the game. We will not tolerate conduct or a culture that undermines those priorities.

"

You’ve read the stories, seen the features on TV and heard the commentators talk about them. Concussions are a huge deal in the world of the NFL today, and Goodell is doing his best to ensure his league doesn’t lose some sort of multi-billion dollar lawsuit that destroys the sport down the line.

With the sudden deaths of Dave Duerson, Tom McHale and Andre Waters in addition to a half dozen others who have directly or indirectly died because of excessive trauma to the head, the issue is impossible to ignore. Modern technology has helped us become aware of this issue. The more tragedies there are, the more the NFL’s legal team begins to sweat.

That’s why Goodell has attempted to make it look like the cover-up is more of a big deal.

I’m not buying it.

This is a politically correct society we are living in these days, and Goodell is simply trying to be a good president…err…commissioner.

He wants to please the voters, aka the fans. If the hot-button issue is on player safety, then that’s what gets soundly protected. The Saints were the unfortunate one’s to get caught at the worst possible time.

Back in the 1970s it was called getting your bell rung. That’s what defenders were programmed to do. Now they have to lay out a blanket and ensure they hit the ground softly. If the league found out about a bounty, the punishment would be one slap of the wrist.

I’m not saying it’s a bad thing, rather a necessary evolution of the game.

But it’s too bad the Saints had to go and get busted now. They are going to pay a price that’s as steep as a mountain.

Sometime life is all about timing…and the Saints are screwed because of it. 

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