The final hammer has come down on the Saints.
The giant anvil has landed on linebacker Jonathan Vilma.
Now the team can finally move forward.
NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell provided the ultimate cart-off when he suspended Vilma for an entire season. He also suspended
three others.
The NFL’s long, national nightmare is over.
Who are we fooling? The real nightmare continues.
Legendary linebacker Junior Seau apparently took his own life Wednesday in California. He did so eerily the same way another
former star, Dave Duerson, did.
Duerson shot himself in the chest so
others could examine his brain, claiming damage done to him during his
years on the football
field led to numerous physical and emotional problems.
Seau’s demise at least raises many of the same doubts.
Ironically, the Seau news comes the same day the Saints learned of Goodell’s final punishment for Bountygate, the pay-for-pain
scandal that has rocked the New Orleans franchise.
You have to admit, if Seau was trying to make a point his timing could not have been any better.
While there is no indication the two events are linked, more than a few eyebrows must again be raised.
Vilma was one of four players suspended in the Saints scandal. He was given the harshest punishment, a year’s suspension.
While players throughout the league came to Vilma’s defense, news of Seau must at least confuse their emotions if not worry
them. Some may even become scared straight.
Yes, on paper the suspensions seem excessive, but there is a lot going on here that needs to be looked at.
The Saints are scapegoats for a league under siege.
Former players are filing lawsuit after lawsuit against the league for not protecting them during their playing days.
Now Vilma and others are about to go after the league for trying to protect players, maybe even from themselves. At the very
least they will appeal Goodell’s ruling.
While the Saints may feel overly punished, and their fans do for sure, it could have been worse.
It was reported up to 27 players took part in the three-year program, many after the franchise was warned to stop. Though
finding 27 defensive players on those rosters who hit hard enough to actually do damage would seem like a difficult task.
The Saints will only lose 20 games when you count defensive lineman Will Smith’s four-game suspension.
Vilma missed five games last year, and the Saints won all of them. His skills have been diminishing of late and the team made
some nice moves in the offseason just in case this happened.
So the Saints will be fine there.
But let’s not lose focus as to why Goodell came down so hard on the Saints. Fact is, he has to change the culture of the game
to save it.
The lawsuits will hurt the game, but losing stars for the financial gain of others would kill it.
Goodell wanted to send a message to the courts that he was doing all he can to protect the players who in the future might
be suing the league themselves. He also wanted to show the union he had the players’ best interest in mind as well.
He had warned the Saints. This is not a one-time deal. They just didn’t listen.
If the Seau tragedy doesn’t at least get players’ attentions, clearly one of their own losing a year’s salary will.
Fact is, players should be the ones concerned about all that is happening.
I understand the fans worry little about these players. They just want their team to win. That’s the simple way of looking
at it.
To them, Vilma and the Saints are the victims in all this.
That’s missing the bigger picture.
Let’s hope it doesn’t take more Duersons and Seaus to open up everybody’s eyes.
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Jim Gazzolo is managing sports editor. Email him at jgazzolo@americanpress.com