Tagliabue vacates penalties for Saints

[McGinley]

http://espn.go.com/nfl/story/_/id/87...unty-penalties

[dennis byrd 90]

Good job by him. The players should pay a fine and move on. That should've happened from the beginning.

[TheMikeIsHot]

Goddell is the worst. He has to go.

[crasherino]

That's a pretty big FU from Tags to Goodell, no?

[chirorob]

Originally Posted by crasherino

That's a pretty big FU from Tags to Goodell, no?

Huge blow to the dictator of football.

[PatriotReign]

Whoops. Didn't read the story- can Sean Peyton return as coach this season?

[PMarsico9]

No ancillary crime should garner a penalty greater than one that was in fact cheating.

Unfortunately what's been done has been done, but I thought it was a sick joke that these guys get 1 year suspensions for a motivational ploy while Belichick got away with a slap on the wrist for actually cheating.

[Bleedgreen]

This decision today by Tagliabue obviously makes Goodell's handling of Spygate even worse.

[DDNYjets]

Originally Posted by crasherino

That's a pretty big FU from Tags to Goodell, no?

I can see why you would think that but I think Goodell pretty much told Tags what to do. It was becoming a massive debacle with tons of inconsistencies. Goodell had to remove himself from it so Tags came in and put an end to it and did a little damage control by saying Goodell was justified to fine them but he blamed the players and the organization for "contaminating" the case.

This was a major damage control effort and Goodell was not going to be able to come out of it unscathed. I think Tags did his best to help and protect Goodell in his civil cases.

[adpz]

Wow - just wow. I smell lawsuits . . .

[Jet Blast]

I am not one to cry out that everything is a conspiracy, however this reeks of it! Imagine you are Roger Goodell and the outcry over your strict penalties is much more than you ever expected. You want to backpedal on without losing face or creating the impression that you bowed to pressure. What to do? Get someone else to take the heat. The flames die down without you having to back down... just what the doctor ordered. It all fits too well not to have happened that way.

[halfsharkalligatorhalfman]

Good. NFL recovered some credibility and Goodell lost some.

[JetzIL]

Did I miss something wasn't Vilma found guilty of wrong doing, being connected to the hit squad by "Paul" investigation?

[McGinley]

Originally Posted by JetzIL

Did I miss something wasn't Vilma found guilty of wrong doing, being connected to the hit squad by "Paul" investigation?

From what I know, yes. They were found guilty of "conduct detrimental to the league", blah blah blah. Ultimately, they won't face suspensions. Sean Peyton and Loomis (as far as I know) will still serve their suspensions.

[BushyTheBeaver]

Originally Posted by PMarsico9

No ancillary crime should garner a penalty greater than one that was in fact cheating.

Unfortunately what's been done has been done, but I thought it was a sick joke that these guys get 1 year suspensions for a motivational ploy while Belichick got away with a slap on the wrist for actually cheating.

A hundred million cajillion dollars says if the Saints were in the AFC East and the Patriots weren't your position on this would be completely reversed.

[jetssjumets]

Originally Posted by Bleedgreen

This decision today by Tagliabue obviously makes Goodell's handling of Spygate even worse.

Yep. I, as many others, will continue to ask why the evidence was so quickly destroyed without a full review or public airing. One can only reasonably conclude that the integrity of the game was at stake -- including 3 SB victories. The Commissioner did not want to open that pandora's box.

So with this decision, the NE Pats remain the only cheaters. No surprise.