In light of “BountyGate”, NFL commissioner, Roger Goodell, has suspended Sean Payton for the entire 2012 season without pay.
Payton, a 6-year head coach with the New Orleans Saints, will not be receiving his 6 million dollar salary and his team was issued a $500,000 fine as well as giving up second round draft pics in the 2012 and 2013 drafts.
General Manager, Mickey Loomis, has been suspended for eight games, assistant head coach, Joe Vitt, has been suspended for the first six games of the 2012 season and former defensive coordinator, Gregg Williams, is suspended until further notice.
All the recent suspensions of Saints personnel come in light of “BountyGate”. In a nut shell, “BountyGate” evolves the Saints’ implementing a bounty system where players are awarded with additional fiscal incentives to land heavy tackles, with the intention of injuring, on the opposing team.
“Bounty programs have no place in our game. They are incompatible with our efforts to promote sportsmanship, fair play, and player safety,” Goodell said in a press released on nfl.com.
Vitt and Williams also allegedly misled the leagues investigations in 2010.
Additionally 22 to 27 players are said to be involved with “BountyGate” but they have not been punished yet, under a separate investigation from the NFL Players Association.
It goes without saying that the absence of Payton in 2012 will be a huge blow for the Saints. The 48 year old head coach has led his team to the playoffs four out of the six seasons he was coach, winning the Superbowl in 2009. Lastly, the Saints have not weathered the fallout from “BountyGate” just yet. The players associated with the program still face punishment.
