Bounty Investigator to Resign
 

Head of Saints bounty probe submits resignation letter | ProFootballTalk


Oh, Lord. What next?

Just shows how false there argument is, they are currently just trying to find more stuff to blame us for

We didn't get this much recognition and media attention after we won the Super Bowl

Delaying it until after the signing deadline, I'm tellin' ya....

Yeah, that doesn't help a whole lot but he's gone.

This SHOULD help a whole lot! NBC and PFT have reported it. ESPN won't, NFL obviously won't. But I really think this is bigger than the NFL now. Once Washington smells coverup in a legal matter - players class action suits - they'll dive right in. Goodell could ultimately end up in prison. That's of course the best case scenario.

I could see that as a reality. 50K pages, not all Saints related, former players on other teams stepping forward but no aknowlegement from the NFL. And the player suspensions...why is it taking so long...something is not right. I think Goodell's intent was to open the box and then quickly put the top back on but now it won't fit. He could seriously go to jail if he is involved in covering up any other bounty programs.

I smell vindication coming.

Would be nice.

This is a slippery slope... Obviously we would love for the reason to be because he may have fabricated something about the Saints... However it may also be because the NFL told him to hide something that would implicate the rest of the league or other teams...

He may have been told to ignore an email from Goodell chipping into the pot.

Interesting... Where there is fire...

Joe Hummel probably told Goodell to go...well, you know....
He was probably having trouble sleeping at night, knowing he was raking the Saints over the coals. His conscience was bothering him, knowing how many lives he was affecting with this whole bounty BS, and he was probably asked to find SOMETHING on the wire-tap BS, and he had to resign so that he could somewhat look at people with some kind of dignity. Now his life is turned upside down, maybe even ruined, all because of the vandetta that Goodell has against the Saints.

Guck Foodell!

I agree!

It would appear to at least be one of the two. It's beyond suspicious.

Doesn't matter. We need local news, paper and television to CONTINUOUSLY REPORT that the major outlets like ESPN and NFLN aren't reporting this at all. With all the surrounding information that is blown out of proportion, they haven't touched this, and sat on it for a whole weekend. If Greg Williams was seen at Wal Mart buying Bounty paper towels, there would be a freaking segment on Sportscenter. This is being ignored for a reason.

The question is why are outlets ignoring something. Sensational is sensational, good or bad. I know why NFLN ignored it. But why is ESPN doing the same.

Already the NFL denies the "Director of Investigations" was not part of the "Investigation" of Bountygate.

NO, what we really need are photos of Roger Goodell showering with little boys in his NFL office.

Unfortunately, prayer and Photoshop haven't done the job.... YET!!!

I read somewhere he got hired on as the Director of Security for some large corporation, but agreed to stick around until the bounty case was completed. It may be a simple case of "better job, move on."

Better job, move on? If this bountygate thing is actually as bad as it sounds, any idiot would stick around to make a better name for himself and then entertain new and better jobs in his 15 minutes. This stinks, not matter how you look at it.

Where did you read this...link? I want to see a quote of him saying he moved on to greener pastures. How much greener can it get, the NFL is one of the biggest corporations around.

Perception is EVERYTHING folks! Every thing that the Saints have been accused of, was released with a very specific intent in mind. Do you honestly think Godell would risk having doubt cast upon his beloved "Bounty Scandal"?
I don't think so. There is definitely more here than meets the eye!

I find the disparity with reporting styles troubling. I mean, I'm old enough to know better, and was close enough to the media for 20 years to understand, but some people are that quick - and younger people seem willing to accept just about anything.

Where there's smoke there's usually a fire, and a 'journalist' should investigate without prejudice. This is American damnit. I am troubled...

From Mike Triplet:

The resignation was first reported by Pro Football Talk, which wrote that speculation could arise regarding a connection between Hummel's departure and the delays in player suspensions in the Saints' case. Aiello quickly shot down that notion, though, saying that Hummel had "accepted a senior security position at a major company but delayed his departure until the Saints matter is completed."

"The company held the position open for him so that he could complete his work on the Saints matter," Aiello said. "It is a big career opportunity for Joe (who is a former FBI agent) and has no bearing whatsoever on the Saints matter."

Aiello said chief security officer Jeff Miller has led the Saints investigation, and that Hummel reports to Miller.

Yeah ok..suuuuuure it is. Master of Puppets at it again!!

I will not stop believing that the NFL is hiding something, and that this has been a witch hunt on the Saints, until we have full disclosure.

But I'm going to stop kidding myself that we'll ever get that info. It either doesn't exist or is vastly different from what we've been told about it. There's always going to be an excuse from these people. I do think eventually Goodell is going to fall hard, but as long as he is employed he won't admit anything.

Lulz at all the conspiracy theorists out there. I'll eat crow if something comes out about a massive NFL cover up, but I just think it's funny how many people think the NFL is "out to get the Saints". Did we get screwed with the penalties? Yes, too harsh. Were there other teams that had bounties? More than likely. Is the rule about bounties and our involvement with them stupid and vague? Sure. But we still broke the rules and did so at a terribly inopportune time with all of the head injury lawsuits.

Besides, what good does the NFL get out of blasting New Orleans? This city and franchise has been the penultimate example of feel-good stories and triumph over difficult circumstances (legitimately difficult, not self-imposed). Kicking our franchise's ass certainly doesn't help business in New Orleans and around the country as many people are turned off by allegations of dirty play. Just looking at the facts, it doesn't make sense for the NFL to launch a vendetta against our boys.

Plus, the wiretapping thing wasn't launched by the NFL, that was ESPN. NFL.com wouldn't even acknowledge the allegations, which to me shows that they know how much worse that would be for business.

I'll probably be skewered for my opinion because there are so many passionate Saints fans who want to see our recent misfortune as an "attack" because it makes it easier to swallow... I see it as a combination of poorly timed severe rule-bending (with the bounties) and shoddy journalism (by ESPN, which is not new).

I for one never said they were "out to get us" but one would have to be VERY naive to think that we are not being used as scape goats for the NFL due to lawsuits. Things have gotten blown way out of proportion to serve an agenda of the NFL. That sir is a fact!

I am not going to blast you, I think you are entitled to your opinion and you seem to be rational -- even though I don't agree with you.

But I feel compelled to point out that it is not just the journalism that has been shoddy. The NFL report, IMO, raises questions about its credibility.

For example, the NFL's slick reference to 50,000 pages of documents was obviously used to leave the unwary reader with the impression that there are 50,000 pages of incriminating evidence. Of course there are not that any pages that have anything to do with the "bounty" program -- that is just how many pages that were reviewed. Nonetheless, the impression of a mountain of evidence is carefully planted in the mind of the average joe.

As far as the extremity of the penalties, well that is no accident and Goodell has not lost his mind. Once he decided that penalties were called for, he decided that deterring and punishing were not enough.

Goodell is out to cripple us -- at least for the year. Goodell wants to ensure that he does not have to suffer the humiliation of handing the Saints a Lombardi in the Superdome the same year this story has dominated the offseason. I sincerely believe that.

I, for one, don't think the NFL was "out to get" the Saints. I don't know anybody who thinks that really. What I DO think is that the NFL is using this to prop itself up as the keeper of fair play and player safety at a time when it is desperate to show itself as such.

The Saints effed up to be sure and broke a rule...a rule that is broken every season at every level. The portrait that the league has painted, and make no mistake the league went to great lengths to paint it in as negative a light as possible, supported by a puppet media desperate to keep its league connections, was deliberate and extremely unjust.

There was NO cheating going on, ala the Patriots, and NO precedent for a year suspension AND what is essentially an EIGHT MILLION dollar fine for Sean. It is the disparity that has angered me and I think most. It's a means to a (hopeful but misguided) legal end for the league and it is as transparent as anything could possibly be...

...which is why the media witch hunt and clear double-standard and willingness to open as many wounds as possible with zero evidence - it's willingness to do all it could do to destroy the careers of good men on one hand while looking the other way when smoke appears on the other side of the hill...THIS is what is uber-maddening to me...

So, I'm not going to bash anybody either. Everybody has a right to his or her opinion, but any Saints fan, and further any fan of football, and still further any one who supports justice and fair play, would be and should be completely angered by this whole thing. It is my opinion that anybody who isn't is simply not willing to look at the whole picture in a very thoughtful way. To say that Saints fans feel like the league is picking on them is woefully short-sighted...but that's just my 2 cents.

You stole my line, ROFL...... that just means you owe me a beer when I go to San Francisco next week! :mrgreen:

:bng:

Of all the teams and all their investigation efforts, that stemmed for years, they only found one team with a bounty program. I find that impossible to to believe. What is easy to believe is that when the NFL goes to court over the players they no longer have to say we did nothing. They had two choices, come down on several teams and open up more lawsuits or, just murder one with a strong fan base. That's not a conspiracy against the Saints, that's damage control and I say this because other former players have already stated this is nothing new or unique just to the Saints.

.. and I would like to add to this, the beating Farve took made the Saints an easy target, not because QB's don't get beat up every Sunday, but because it was Brett Farve, and his agent decided to release those pictures, as if the other 1200 or so players in the NFL don't get bruises or swollen ankles... combined with GW's mouth, it gave the NFL the perfect scapegoat.

Well said, I certainly understand your point about singling our guys out. I am addressing more the folks who seem to think that the NFL somehow benefits or gains pleasure from doing this; like some evil plot to destroy the Saints. I think they saw something in the bounties that was a threat to their business (ie money) because of the average fans' perception of such allegations and also because of the lawsuits coming down the pike. They reacted defensively and strongly, too strongly IMO, but the penalties reek of the League fearing for what would happen if the public perceived their response as not taking it seriously.

So he had a job offer?
Anyone from down near teh city knows the value of a brother-in-law. He can bring you fish when he caught too many, he'll tell his friends about the truck you're selling, he can fix your outboard and he can get you work. This is nothing more than the good ol boy network. Men in high positions doing favors for others. Maybe box seats to the next ten super owls.

For Benson, bountygate (big picture) is a good thing. More teams dragged into it means more lawsuits and more lawsuits mean lost revenue which they share as owners.

Wow, being next to those Super Owls at the game must be a real hoot!

So what have we learned from all of this:


Chief is apparently above Director.

........

Goodell has a shower in his office.


.... and the discovery that Super Owls are not to be confused with Superb Owls


http://t2.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:A...WE5bOVlwgUKK8A

http://www.vaillife.net/assets/Did-s...Superb-owl.jpg


Sorry there was no suitable image for a Super Bowel

[Tin Foil Hat] Wow, sure seems to be a lot of ex-FBI guys poking around the Saints lately...and now we recently learned the real actual FBI is looking into the whole wiretapping thing. Hmmm, I wonder if all those ex-FBI guys might ever be talking to each other at all... You know, because, "what if" somebody who was ex-FBI and worked for the Saints, got fired by Loomis and the Saints, and if he had a grudge and decided to sue them over some dirt he claimed to have, and if that ex-FBI person was somehow informally also talking to the ex-FBI investigator at the NFL who was investigating the bounties just after that unsuccessful lawsuit, and what if that same first ex-FBI guy was now talking to the real FBI, trying to get them to probe into Mickey Loomis and "wiretapping".... well... that would be a really far-out Tin Foil Hat conspiracy, that no one could possibly ever believe,right? ... It's not like an ex-FBI guy with a grudge against the Saints, could remember the phone number of his former office, or know the FBI agent who took his place, or names of other ex-FBI agents who were out there working for the NFL or anything. That's totally impossible. [/Tin Foil Hat]