NEW ORLEANS (AP) — Jon Vilma urged a federal judge Friday to reject NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell's motion to dismiss the
defamation lawsuit filed against him by the Saints linebacker.
Vilma's request to U.S. District Judge
Ginger Berrigan argues Goodell acted with "reckless disregard for the
truth" when basing
initial allegations about Vilma upon one fired Saints assistant,
Mike Cerullo, whose testimony has been inconsistent and challenged
by other witnesses in the NFL's bounty probe of the Saints.
The motion centers on Goodell's public comments that Vilma held up $10,000 cash in a team meeting in 2010, offering it to
anyone who knocked Arizona quarterback Kurt Warner out of a playoff game.
During recent NFL appeal hearings in the bounty case, former Saints defensive coordinator Gregg Williams testified he never
saw any money.
"Williams has always told Goodell, and
continues to state, that there was never any cash put up for a bounty on
any player.
It was 'just talk.'" Vilma's motion reads. "Nonetheless, Goodell
irresponsibly chose to contend that Vilma walked around with
$10,000 before the Cardinals game."
Vilma's season-long suspension and with
various shorter bans for three other players were thrown out Tuesday by
former Commissioner
Paul Tagliabue, who Goodell had appointed to oversee the appeals
of player punishment.
After Tagliabue's decision, the NFL Players
Association dropped claims in federal court on behalf of Saints
defensive end
Will Smith and two former Saints: Cleveland linebacker Scott
Fujita and free agent defensive lineman Anthony Hargrove. Vilma
dropped his claims against the league concerning the disciplinary
process, but moved forward with his defamation case against
the commissioner, asking Berrigan to allow discovery, which
consists of the collection of evidence and deposing of witnesses.
Berrigan has so far delayed discovery while the Goodell's motion
to dismiss the case is pending.
In their effort to highlight how unreliable
Cerullo was, Vilma's attorneys, Peter Ginsberg and Duke Williams, cite
hearing
testimony from Saints assistant head coach Joe Vitt, who said
Payton once arranged for police protection at his former suburban
family home while he was away at league meetings because the head
coach feared Cerullo was emotionally unstable and might
harm his family.
While the lawsuit does not quote the testimony from the closed-door hearing directly, it appears in transcripts obtained by
The Associated Press.
"An email was sent to the League about Mike
Cerullo long before these (bounty) charges were brought up on our
football team
saying that Mike Cerullo was crazy, that Sean Payton had to have a
police escort or, excuse me, police protection at his house
because he was going to the owners' meeting, and he was worried
about his family with Cerullo," Vitt testified. "This is the
kind of guy we're dealing with. Allright?"
Vilma's motion also notes that the NFL subsequently dropped Goodell's initial allegation about Vilma physically holding up
money in the meeting before the Arizona game.
"There can no longer be any doubt that Goodell acted with malice ... in making this quasi-criminal accusation against Vilma,"
the motion said.
The NFL continues to allege that Vilma
offered a $10,000 to anyone who knocked then-Minnesota quarterback Brett
Favre out
of the 2010 NFC title game, which followed the Arizona game.
Williams testified that he recalled such an offer for that game,
but never saw any money change hands and suggested the offer
represented nothing more than tough talk in an emotional meeting
that he allowed to get out of hand.