Transcripts of Roger Goodell Appeals Hearing with Players
 

.... for those you that are interested.

The NFL Players Association's suit against the NFL, 526 pages in total, included much of the correspondence that took place between it and the league in the aftermath of the NFL's bounty program investigation. The exhibits include a transcript of the appeals hearing held by NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell on June 18 for the current and former Saints players suspended after the investigation.

The transcript can be found in its entirety by clicking on the link below. The following is an excerpt of Mary Jo White, a former federal prosecutor who headed the league's investigation, presenting the league's evidence to the players and their attorneys:

read it here


link back

I went through the majority of the transcript yesterday. There are quite a few references to information that was not given to the players (after specific requests for some of the information).

The whole situation no matter the outcome is going to leave question about the league (from the owners down), the NFLPA, coaches, players, and culture surrounding the game. It involves the Saints now, but could probably have been ANY team or group of players.

I hate these links that take ten minutes to load so I went ahead and just transcribed it to a regular post.

MJW: "You are ****ed."
Suspended players: "But..."
RG: Don't argue. You're ****ed!"
Suspended players' counsel: "But..."
Jeff Pash: "Didn't you hear our Lord and Master? You're ****ed!"
Suspended players: "But...."
RG: "Shut up, you're ****ed!"
Suspended players counsel: Appeal....!"
RG: "Appeal denied! You're ****ed!"
Repeat this for about two hours and then we get to the end
Suspended players: "**** this, we're outta here!"
RG: "You're still ****ed and tell Williams to stay away from my wife!"

Which is why THIS fight should be important to fans of ALL teams.

I'm sorry, but as Judge, Jury and executioner I have to tell you that you're done for, no matter what I have to do or fabricate.

I read it. It sounds like they're just covering their tails in respect to telling players what evidence they rely upon rather than SHOWING them. I can only imagine what it was like to have to sit there and bite my tongue that whole time.
As far as I can remember, Williams recanted his words. So did ornstien and do did Vitt. Introducing "evidence" that occurred after the sentences were handed down is just silly. These guys are probably incredible lawyers, but they don't seem to be able to hold an argument.

This is the point I tried to make last week in a thread I started, but some took me wrong and thought I was tired of what other fans were saying about us. I was trying to stress that while others are bashing us for fighting this they should be scared for their team. If Goodell will suspend coaches and players for a whole year without showing evidence to back up the extreme measures he has taken, what do they think he is going to do now that he has total power to players like Harrison and Suh who play with wreckless abandon when he has irrefutable video evidence for all to see.

+ 1 on this.

Any fan who thinks his or her team isn't in the cross hairs too is fooling themselves. Roger is going to stop at nothing at long as he is allowed to do so. And yes, he and his lawyers are smart people - smart enough to know they can get away with this as long as they are able to hide behind the CBA.

The man has lied under oath, fully supported a quack telling players there weren't at any greater risk of head trauma because they play football, and has destroyed evidence in the past? Why any sane person would assume he's telling the truth is beyond me - and that's why I know anybody who IS supporting him has an agenda of their own...either that or they're just plain stupid. It's all on YouTube for the world to see.

Players and coaches all around the league could be doing what we as a fanbase have been doing from the beginning, and put some serious pressure on Goodell that would carry a lot more weight than what we say, because no one wants to listen to us no matter how logical we may be.

But instead they all recognize what's going on and have chosen, at least to this point, to take the cowards way out and kiss his butt for fear of suffering similar punishment. Thing is, there is a fair amount of momentum building in the Saints favor, and with some support from their peers we could potentially see this thing overturned in court. It would allow the judge a perspective from the people who actually play the game and know what goes on, rather than just hearing NFL vs. the Saints.

I definitely applaud the few players who have spoken up on our behalf. It's too bad there are not more including front offices.