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.

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.