SUSPENSIONS OVERTURNED
 

Jim Trotter ‏@SI_JimTrotter
BREAKING: A 3-member appeals panel has overturned the player suspensions in the Saints bounty case, says a source. Details coming.



https://twitter.com/SI_JimTrotter

Re: BREAKING- SUSPENSIONS OVERTURNED???
 

So can Will Smith play?

Re: BREAKING- SUSPENSIONS OVERTURNED???
 

*sound of record scratching*

say WHAAAAAAAT??!?!??

Re: BREAKING- SUSPENSIONS OVERTURNED???
 

If they're toying with me there will be hell to pay! :mad:

Re: BREAKING- SUSPENSIONS OVERTURNED???
 

Figured this would come out before the Judge ruled on the TRO...

Will be interesting regarding the details, because of the coaches situation...

Re: BREAKING- SUSPENSIONS OVERTURNED???
 

I'll help you round up the posse!

Re: BREAKING- SUSPENSIONS OVERTURNED???
 

Jonathan Vilma ‏@JonVilma51
Victory is mine!!!! -stewie griffin

Suspensions Vacated
 

Gabe Feldman ‏@SportsLawGuy

Appeals panel has vacated suspensions of Bounty 4 and remanded case back to commish for a redetermination of appropriate penalties

Re: BREAKING- SUSPENSIONS OVERTURNED???
 

<<<STUNNED

Re: BREAKING- SUSPENSIONS OVERTURNED???
 

So this means Will Smith is a 16 gamer this year?

Awesome!!!!

About dam time!! This rocks!!

Re: BREAKING- SUSPENSIONS OVERTURNED???
 

If appeal decision pushes this back to Der Kommisar it could still be a mess, but first info at least looks like initial decisions by Der Kommisar were FLAWED.

Re: BREAKING- SUSPENSIONS OVERTURNED???
 

Do you guys hear that sound? I think it's Goodell's jaw hitting the floor.

Re: BREAKING- SUSPENSIONS OVERTURNED???
 

Re: Suspensions Vacated
 

Gabe Feldman ‏@SportsLawGuy

Commish only has jurisdiction to punish for the "intent to injure" part of the misconduct so must reconsider case

Re: BREAKING- SUSPENSIONS OVERTURNED???
 

I thought it was Der Kommisar's HEAD bouncing off the floor when his knees buckled after hearing the decision.

Gabe Feldman ‏@SportsLawGuy
Commish only has jurisdiction to punish for the "intent to injure" part of the misconduct so must reconsider case.

Gabe Feldman ‏@SportsLawGuy
Panel finds that bounty conduct both constituted payment in violation of CBA and payment with intent to injure other players.

Re: Suspensions Vacated
 

Jonathan Vilma ‏@JonVilma51

Victory is mine!!!! -stewie griffin

:bng:

Re: Suspensions Vacated
 

So what does this mean? Do the suspended players get to play?

Re: BREAKING- SUSPENSIONS OVERTURNED???
 

This may cost him his job.

Re: BREAKING- SUSPENSIONS OVERTURNED???
 

What about Sean Payton?

Re: BREAKING- SUSPENSIONS OVERTURNED???
 

Time to sue.

Re: Suspensions Vacated
 

Yes. Smith is active for Sunday and Vilma is allowed to come back. Vilma of course probably is not ready to play with his knee but he is now able to come and be with the team and get his paychecks.

Re: BREAKING- SUSPENSIONS OVERTURNED???
 

Yep, it looks like they said you can still look at it again, and if you can prove intent to injure then you can re-suspend them. But for now it appears Smith and Vilma are NOT currently suspended.

Re: BREAKING- SUSPENSIONS OVERTURNED???
 

Appeals panel overturns bounty suspensions

In the end, Judge Berrigan didn’t have to issue a ruling at all.

An internal appeals panel has overturned the bounty suspensions imposed on the players, a source with knowledge of the decision tells PFT. The development was first reported by Jim Trotter of SI.com.

“Victory is mine!!!!” Saints linebacker Jonathan Vilma said, via Twitter.

Indeed it is, for now. Unlike any ruling that may have been issued by Judge Berrigan, the ruling from the internal appeals panel, which overturned a prior decision from arbitrator Richard Burbank, is final and binding. The league has no recourse — unless the league chooses to file a lawsuit attacking the outcome of the internal arbitration. (Which is what the players had been trying to do before Judge Berrigan.)

As to Judge Berrigan, she may still issue a ruling adopting and enforcing the outcome of the internal appeal, giving federal credibility to the decision of the panel.

We’ve just received the decision from the panel. We’ll be posting something that explains the ruling in further detail.

Appeals panel overturns bounty suspensions | ProFootballTalk

Re: BREAKING- SUSPENSIONS OVERTURNED???
 

Yep, Payton Loomis and Vitt are sure to follow with some sort of appeal or legal action.

Re: Suspensions Vacated
 

Someone said this would happen so Goodell could save face and this would go away.

I need to find that post lol

Re: SUSPENSIONS OVERTURNED
 

Will Smith for Sunday and beyond! :bugeyes: :bng:

Re: SUSPENSIONS OVERTURNED
 

I think Vilma is now eligible for the 6 week PUP and Will Smith is eligible to play Sunday.

Re: SUSPENSIONS OVERTURNED
 

If they have nothing other than the evidence they have already released Der Kommisar may just be out-of-luck.

Coaches not included in the CBA, so on/off field may not apply.

Benson (Tom & Rita) should PUSH NOW for the coaches to fall under the Salary Cap violations of the organization... appear that would leave NO WAY TO SUSPEND coaches.

Re: BREAKING- SUSPENSIONS OVERTURNED???
 

I posted this before, and I am not a big conspiracy theorist, but I can't help but think that the NFL "hinted" to the panel they needed to reach this conclusion. This conclusion can help Goodell save face, saying he did what he could in the name of player safety, but he will abide by the process set forth by the CBA, all the while avoiding the NFL's "evidence" to be made public, because I firmly believe that the "evidence" either proves all teams had a money pool going, or that the "evidence" is fabricated. Either way, it would be extremely bad for the league.

Re: SUSPENSIONS OVERTURNED
 

One thing about this is it really only relieves the players of the SUSPENSIONS...

The decision regarding the Slander case has still not been released... :deadhorse2:

Re: SUSPENSIONS OVERTURNED
 

Can you guys have Vilma pull some strings and get our Cap money back too, since he clearly is a miracle worker. Thanks!

Re: SUSPENSIONS OVERTURNED
 

But as a Saint fan, I'm more concerned with Smith and Vilma playing. The slander case is just dessert (pun intended).

Re: SUSPENSIONS OVERTURNED
 

Tidbit on Vilma...

After having his one-year suspension overturned, Mike Triplett of the New Orleans Times-Picayune expects Jonathan Vilma to be placed on the reserve/PUP list, costing him the first six games.

While it's good news for Vilma that he can resume collecting game checks, there's still no guarantee he'll help the Saints this year. Vilma has undergone three surgeries on his left knee since last November. The 30-year-old didn't participate in any practices or preseason games with the Saints this summer and fall.

Source: Mike Triplett on Twitter

Re: SUSPENSIONS OVERTURNED
 

Woot! This is great news!

Re: SUSPENSIONS OVERTURNED
 

Ohhhhh snap!!! To be a fly on the wall when Godell got this info would have been priceless!!

Re: SUSPENSIONS OVERTURNED
 

Has me thinking about where Vilma is in his injury rehab? Like has been said all offseason, a healthy Vilma, Lofton, Hawthorne is a scary situation for any offense...

edit: papz beat me with the answer...

Re: SUSPENSIONS OVERTURNED
 

Right, I would give anything to see his reaction.

Re: SUSPENSIONS OVERTURNED
 

I'm more excited about Smith being able to play all 16. Vilma was hurt and was gonna miss the 1st half of the season anyway.

It'll be great to have Vilma return fresh for the end of the season.

Re: SUSPENSIONS OVERTURNED
 

Agreed, but would really like to see, ML, SP, JV have some relief as well by leveraging the appeals decisions. Think for that to occur today's decision will have to be released to see if there is a legal way to include them.