Darren Sharper: No Saints players should be fined or suspended
 

Darren Sharper played on the Saints’ defense in 2009 and 2010, when Gregg Williams was running a bounty program. But Sharper doesn’t think any of his former teammates deserve to be punished.

“Hopefully there aren’t any fines or suspensions,” Sharper said on WWL, via SportsRadioInterviews.com. “I don’t think that suspensions, fines are warranted.”

Sharper’s reasoning isn’t something that the league office is likely to accept: In Sharper’s view, there’s insufficient evidence that players were getting money in exchange for hurting their opponents.

“I still don’t feel as though there is proof that guys received certain benefits from making dirty plays or making plays during the game,” Sharper said. “To say that you are going to fine guys because word of mouth or someone says or someone might speculate or someone might have a rumor out there saying that this guy came out and put a certain amount of money up to put a player out of a game, I don’t know the truth behind that and I don’t know if there is enough information to prove that.”

But NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell has already determined that there is enough information to prove that the Saints violated the bounty rules. Sharper’s argument is one that Goodell has already considered and dismissed.

But Sharper will continue to press his case.

“I don’t want to call it a bounty as far as guys getting rewards for making big plays,” Sharper said. “It’s tough for me to kind of sit here and say what guys are going to be picked out of the group and what is going to be the penalty. I don’t feel as though any penalties are warranted at all.”


Darren Sharper: No Saints players should be fined or suspended | ProFootballTalk

Don't you know that the Viqueens fans must hate this guy so bad... :)

Read the comments; most of the idiots don't know that Sharper has retired!

I wish he were still playing. He made the 2009 defense work. When he left so did the defensive mind set.

Yeah, he should totally shut up so he won't get suspended!

lol...can we get D-SHARP to come in as a "special defensive consultant"? Gotta love DS....

Always loved him. This makes me love him more. He KNOWS what went on. Pools. Period. I haven't even seen any EVIDENCE of lying. Remember, GW had a FU clause in his contract. So when SP said, "Hey, Gregg, is this 'bounty' thing still going on?" GW says, no and FU. This is how GW always coached, he didn't know any other way. Those who have spent ANY time in defensive locker rooms has heard this type of language - and worse, as I understand it. We all need to see it for what it is. The Saints have been scapegoated here.

Sharper and company were trying to play football as they learned it. Kill shots, smash mouth, take the QB out football. Nothing more. But certainly nothing less.

And by the way, guys and gals, if you want to save your sanity, stay off PFT. It's crazy making crap out there. I never really felt one way or another about Florio, but I've come to HATE his sniveling, voyeuristic, fetishistic promotion of the media circus which has befallen our team, our city, our region. Just thinking about how he's loving what has happened to us makes me grind my teeth.

I can't wait for the season to start. I can't wait to see our boys play the 49s IN OUR HOUSE. I can't wait to see our boys go to NY and BEAT THE CRAP, yeah, I said it, out of the Giants. And oh yeah, I can't wait to see Drew PAD HIS STATS AND RUN UP THE SCORES ON ***ALL*** THE TEAMS! I'm fired up!

Sharper was in that group.
He knows that they were just playing football.
Thanks Sharper for this whisper of sanity beneath all this other yelling.

I've read a lot about us "lying" about the whole thing, particularly Loomie and Sean, but that has ALL come from the media...EVERY BIT of it.

The NFL said it wasn't satisfied with Loomie and Sean as it related to their "cursory" effort to shut it down.

I'm tired of reading here and elsewhere that we "lied", particularly that Mickey and Sean lied. There is NO evidence that says they did, unless you want to believe the hacked opinions of sports writers who have directly quoted NOBODY to back that statement.