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NFL commissioner Roger Goodell has reduced the bounty-related suspensions of two New Orleans Saints players while upholding the punishments of two others.
Linebacker Scott Fujita's three-game suspension has been reduced to one while defensive end Anthony Hargrove's eight-game penalty has been trimmed to seven games.
The suspensions of linebacker Jonathan Vilma and defensive end Will Smith will remain the same.
Vilma is on the Saints' physically unable to perform list and will not be eligible to play this year but can keep the money he has been paid for his six weeks on the PUP list.
The four players have 72 hours to appeal Goodell's latest ruling. Should they choose to do that, the understanding is that they would be allowed to play until the appeal process is completed, a source told Werder.
Goodell appoints the person who will hear the appeal and last time chose to do so himself.
The players had been suspended as a result of a bounty pool that league investigators have said the Saints ran for three seasons from 2009-11, but the bans had been vacated on technical, jurisdictional grounds by an appeal panel operating within the NFL's collective bargaining agreement. That decision had led to the re-instatement of the four players and has forced Goodell to begin the disciplinary process for the players over again.
In addition to fighting their previous suspensions through procedures called for by the NFL's labor agreement, the four players have also sued in federal court in New Orleans. Vilma has his own attorneys, while the NFL Players Association has represented the other three. Only Vilma has sued for defamation. The other federal claims, made by all four players, generally state that Goodell violated labor law by failing to act as an impartial arbitrator. They also ask the judge to bar the commissioner from punishing the players in the bounty matter.
Source: AP
Linebacker Scott Fujita's three-game suspension has been reduced to one while defensive end Anthony Hargrove's eight-game penalty has been trimmed to seven games.
The suspensions of linebacker Jonathan Vilma and defensive end Will Smith will remain the same.
Vilma is on the Saints' physically unable to perform list and will not be eligible to play this year but can keep the money he has been paid for his six weeks on the PUP list.
The four players have 72 hours to appeal Goodell's latest ruling. Should they choose to do that, the understanding is that they would be allowed to play until the appeal process is completed, a source told Werder.
Goodell appoints the person who will hear the appeal and last time chose to do so himself.
The players had been suspended as a result of a bounty pool that league investigators have said the Saints ran for three seasons from 2009-11, but the bans had been vacated on technical, jurisdictional grounds by an appeal panel operating within the NFL's collective bargaining agreement. That decision had led to the re-instatement of the four players and has forced Goodell to begin the disciplinary process for the players over again.
In addition to fighting their previous suspensions through procedures called for by the NFL's labor agreement, the four players have also sued in federal court in New Orleans. Vilma has his own attorneys, while the NFL Players Association has represented the other three. Only Vilma has sued for defamation. The other federal claims, made by all four players, generally state that Goodell violated labor law by failing to act as an impartial arbitrator. They also ask the judge to bar the commissioner from punishing the players in the bounty matter.
Source: AP