So does that mean the NFL kept all its “damning evidence” to itself? Or does that mean the NFL doesn’t have much damning evidence? Either way, it’s a disturbing sign that the league apparently feels like it doesn’t have to prove its case or justify its decisions to anybody.

Even more disturbing – and awfully ironic – is that part of the evidence the NFL did share with players was a column I wrote last week after talking with linebacker Scott Shanle. For one thing, that article was written well after the league handed out its punishments, so it shouldn’t have had any bearing on the punishments handed out by the league (the same goes for a recent essay written by filmmaker Sean Pamphilon that the NFL included Friday).

For another thing, Shanle didn’t confirm the existence of any bounty program, any specific bounties or any intent to injure opponents. And in that column, I stressed that the NFL needs to be more forthcoming with its evidence on the Saints because, “it sure does seem like the NFL has painted their actions to be much worse than they really were. And if that’s not true, then the NFL should do a better job of proving its point.”

Shanle was open about the fact that the Saints had a pay-for-performance program in place, which is illegal. He also confirmed that big, legal hits were rewarded as part of that program, including ones that led to opponents’ injuries. And he confirmed that sometimes those types of hits were referred to as cart-offs and knockouts, “in Gregg’s language,” referring to fiery former defensive coordinator Gregg Williams.

However, Shanle stressed that players didn’t take Williams’ words literally, and he insisted that the NFL’s claims have been blown way out of proportion. I wholeheartedly agree.

Also ironic is that later in that Shanle article, I stressed that we can’t just take the NFL’s word on these allegations because we already caught them lying about the details of Hargrove’s signed declaration to the league earlier this year.

So now, apparently, the NFL is asking both the players and the public to just take their word for it again. And clearly that is not being received well.