The Bounty Gate player punishments have finally come down. Roger Goodell laid down the hammer: Scott Fujita gone 3 games, Anthony Hargrove done for 8 games, Will Smith out for 4 games, and the big shocker Jonathan Vilma done for the entire year. I am shocked that these penalties were so strong. I believe however, this had a lot to do with the recent tense lockout relationships and basically Goodell challenging the NFLPA to see how they can protect the players like Vilma as well as protect the players they were trying to hurt. Goodell is sending a message that the NFLPA has no power. Also a strong factor in this is that the Saints after being warned numerous times about their practices they continued to brazenly ignore Goodell. Goodell’s punishments in this bounty gate scandal has basically ended the careers of Jonathan Vilma and Greg Williams while I don’t think it is fair that Goodell has all power he does. So if there is a lesson that has been learned out of all of this is when Goodell says stop it -stop it. You may lose your career.
