NFL official in Saints bounty case once rebuked by state judge in case involving DE Will Smith
 

The NFLPA advised players facing league discipline for their involvement in the Saints alleged bounty system not to meet with the NFL in New York in part because they did not trust the involvement of a top NFL executive in the case, league sources said.

The official in questions, senior vice-president of law and labor policy Adolpho Birch was once chided by a state judge in Minnesota for the way he handled matters in the so-called StarCaps case.

NFL official in Saints bounty case once rebuked by state judge in case involving DE Will Smith | NOLA.com

OK this really just reinforces the theory I keep saying all along about these punishments...look at who got punished and who didn't...the league first said there were "24 to 27 players" involved and "significant" amounts of money, we were led to believe it's this HUGE scandal...now suddenly, it's a much smaller affair; and with the exception of Scott Fujita, the only players or coaches/executives who got ANY punishment in this were people that the league had past PR or image problems with, before in earlier instances (star caps, drugs, the U of Miami cliche, etc etc.) Same with Payton and Loomis and Vitt, they were involved in things, things that made Goodell and the league look bad, from a PR point of view, so this is payback. The penalties were very ticky tacky, the league picked on people with previous scandals attached to them (Hargrove, Payton etc), and only aimed at certain people, basically inventing a scandal and throwing the book at them for THIS, because they couldn't nail them for "that." Does not surprise me one bit that the prosecutor who botched the "star caps" case would be back after Will Smith to get revenge...

Fujita admitted to it up-front, the only player we have actually heard evidence about is Vilma, and Hargrove admitted to lying during the investigation, but Will Smith I still don't understand.