NFL Sends Strong Message Rejecting Saints' Bounty Appeals

Commissioner Roger Goodell sent a strong message on Tuesday: putting bounties on other players will not be tolerated in the NFL under his watch. By rejecting the appeals of the four players who allegedly supervised the New Orleans Saints bounty program, Goodell showed how seriously he takes the situation. 

Jonathan Vilma will now miss the entire 2012 season, defensive tackle Anthony Hargrove will miss eight games, defensive end Will Smith is suspended for the first four, and Scott Fujita will miss three contests. The players have said they plan to fight the commissioner's rulings in federal court. 

By now we all know the story. Former defensive coordinator Gregg Williams ran a program where he payed his players for big hits, impact plays and allegedly also put bounties on certain opponents. The NFL claims more than 20 current and former New Orleans players participated in the bounty program, and it was determined to send a message with the punishments. 

The Saints may not be the only team in the league to ever run a bounty program, but they were the first ones to get caught doing it. Not only was New Orleans caught, but members of the organization allegedly tried to cover it up instead of coming clean. That combination put the league in a position where it had to act harshly. 

While some would argue that the Saints are being punished unfairly, this kind of behavior couldn't be tolerated. The franchise was absolutely made an example of, but really there is no way to defend what Williams and his defense did. There is also no way the league could have allowed head coach Sean Payton, who should have had more control over his team, to be on the sidelines this season. 

I know most Saints fans are fuming over the league's punishment of the team's staff and players and feel they aren't justified. But after the audio of Greg Williams imploring his players to injure members of the San Francisco 49ers surfaced, there was no way Goodell could let New Orleans skate.

That audio was the smoking gun the league needed. It disgusted most of the public and made the NFL look awful. The league had to send a strong message and, as a result, the Saints were punished severely.