NFL says Mike Cerullo should be “commended” for coming forward
 

NFL says Mike Cerullo should be “commended” for coming forward | ProFootballTalk
Before Monday, the NFL refused to disclose the name of Saints bounty whistleblower Mike Cerullo, keeping his name concealed despite relying on the evidence he provided in suspending four players. On Monday, the NFL decided to disclose a sworn statement signed by Cerullo in May 2012, necessarily shedding his anonymity.

The league has issued a statement indicating that it was Cerullo’s idea to allow his name to be disclosed.

“Mike Cerullo should be commended for coming forward,” the NFL said. “The information and detail he provided was credible and has since been confirmed in numerous respects both by other witnesses and by supporting documents. It is unfortunate that some have sought to unfairly attack his integrity rather than give attention to the substance of his declaration.”

But if Cerullo’s sworn statement is completely credible, a portion of former Saints defensive coordinator Gregg Williams’ sworn statement necessarily isn’t. USA Today has links to both of the statements, and the most glaring discrepancy arises from Cerullo’s contention that he gave Saints linebacker Jonathan Vilma’s $10,000 postseason quarterback bounty prize to Williams for safekeeping; Williams says he never saw a dime of it. Likewise, Cerullo says the offer was first made before the 2009 divisional playoff game between the Saints and the Cardinals, with quarterback Kurt Warner being the target — and that Vilma then reiterated the offer before the game against the Vikings and quarterback Brett Favre. Williams makes no mention whatsoever of Vilma making any offer prior to the Cardinals game.

From Vilma’s perspective, the fact that the NFL is trying after the record of evidence was closed in June to bolster its case should be troubling. But the reality is that, if/when Vilma is suspended, a new appeals hearing will be conducted before Commissioner Roger Goodell. At that time, Cerullo and Williams will have to testify — and lawyer Peter Ginsberg will have an opportunity to eviscerate both of them.

It’s no secret — and definitely not news — that Ginsberg has had Cerullo in his sights. Vilma’s July lawsuit challenging his suspension outed Cerullo as the whistleblower, alleging hat the Saints fired Cerullo after he “disappear[ed] from the Club during the 2009 Season and provid[ed] a pretextual excuse that was shown to be inaccurate,” that he “disappear[ed] from the Club during the week leading up to the Super Bowl in 2010, again giving a pretextual excuse that was shown to be inaccurate,” that he received “a cubic zirconia Super Bowl ring facsimile rather than a genuine Super Bowl ring, for which Cerullo has strenuously and vehemently expressed his resentment,” that he “pledged revenge against the Saints,” and particularly against assistant head coach/linebackers coach Joe Vitt. It paints a picture of Cerullo as a many with a vendetta to exact against the Saints, which prevents the possibility of exaggeration or embellishment from being completely disregarded.

Surely, Cerullo didn’t decide out of the blue to allow his name to be tied to the case. The facts and circumstances support a reasonable inference that the league has been trying to persuade Cerullo to morph from whistleblower to full-blown witness, and that the league finally managed to talk Cerullo into fully cooperating once the appeals panel gave the league office a procedural Mulligan. When Cerullo testifies, it’ll be interesting to see what he has to say about why he changed his mind.

Re: NFL says Mike Cerullo should be “commended” for coming forward
 

It will be interesting to see if Sapp apologizes to Shockey for naming him as the whistleblower!

Re: NFL says Mike Cerullo should be “commended” for coming forward
 

Let me get this straight!

Vilma was shown 2 sworn affidavits as evidence he's guilty, which they both contradict each other signed 3 days ago...

While Vilma has 9 sworn affidavits saying he is innocent and I'm not sure the date on those, but I can almost guarantee they weren't 3 days ago...

Re: NFL says Mike Cerullo should be “commended” for coming forward
 

Signed 3 days ago for the Vikings game back in 2009.

But supposedly what the NFL and Goodell is coming down on the Saints about is continued program beyond 2009.

See the problem?

Re: NFL says Mike Cerullo should be “commended” for coming forward
 

This is for Vilma supposedly putting up 10k for the Favre hit; not the whole program...

Re: NFL says Mike Cerullo should be “commended” for coming forward
 

he did that months ago. and everything is allegedly fine between them.

Re: NFL says Mike Cerullo should be “commended” for coming forward
 

They were the testimony given in Federal Court before Judge Berrigan.

Re: NFL says Mike Cerullo should be “commended” for coming forward
 

you make an excellent point. the reason for the harsh punishments is they were told by the nfl they had information about a bounty program and for them to cease and desist immediately. so what we should be seeing is evidence of it going into the 2010 season. although as vehemently as vilma denies his participation i certainly hope it is not just based on a technicality.

Re: NFL says Mike Cerullo should be “commended” for coming forward
 

God this whole thing is a joke. It can be drawn out legally as long as possible and there still won't be any resolve in terms of guilty/not guilty. There isn't gonna be any cookie-cutter clear cut result. I can't wait until next season when Sean's back and everything is back to normal with none of this "bounty" garbage going on.

Re: NFL says Mike Cerullo should be “commended” for coming forward
 

NFL, you are right. He should be commended. Kindly please send the address of his current residence so we can give him the commendation he deserves.

Re: NFL says Mike Cerullo should be “commended” for coming forward
 

Thats the thing about it, you can see the level of play on the field from the Defense change to where the "remember me shots" just almost completely vanished in the 2010 season going into 2011 as well.

Its that alone which makes me question even more, "where is the evidence?"

I wont doubt something comes up for the 2009 season.

Re: NFL says Mike Cerullo should be “commended” for coming forward
 

Send your envelopes full of dog feces to Mike Cerullo c/o Princeton University. He's their Director of Football Operations now. $20 to the first of you who does it lol.

Re: NFL says Mike Cerullo should be “commended” for coming forward
 

Okay then goodell, bring this "cerullo" to the centre of new Orleans, drop him off and drive away, see if the new Orleans natives agree with you!

Re: NFL says Mike Cerullo should be “commended” for coming forward
 

Actually seen a comment that I never thought of before. We have heard about bounties on Warner and Farve...what about Manning?? How is it we had bounties on the QB's leading up to the big game but nothing on Manning?

Re: NFL says Mike Cerullo should be “commended” for coming forward
 

I'll be there this coming weekend for the Chiefs game... I'll have a sock with a bar of soap in it ready to give him a Full Metal Jacket-style ass-whoopin' if that actually happens lol!!

Wasn't the SB the time Cerullo went AWOL?

Re: NFL says Mike Cerullo should be “commended” for coming forward
 

NFL says Mike Cerullo should be “condemned” for coming forward

FIFT

Re: NFL says Mike Cerullo should be “commended” for coming forward
 

Anything that's spinning as fast as the NFL is right now is bound to fly off the face of the Earth at any second now...

Re: NFL says Mike Cerullo should be “commended” for coming forward
 

Yes, let's commend a revenge-fueled rat who may or may not have told the truth. Beautiful...just what society needs more of: snitches who think highly of themselves. Even if all he has said is the truth, he's still a snitch. Don't go to Vegas with this guy. Everything in Vegas WILL NOT stay Vegas.

Re: NFL says Mike Cerullo should be “commended” for coming forward
 

Rats get hurt, where i come from.

Re: NFL says Mike Cerullo should be “commended” for coming forward
 

Yep. Snitches get stitches.

Re: NFL says Mike Cerullo should be “commended” for coming forward
 

How can Cerullo be commended for coming forward after the fact?
Why didn't he report it when it was supposedly occurring?
If it was so wrong why did he participate in it?

Come on, man - the guy is a stoolie! :flush:

Re: NFL says Mike Cerullo should be “commended” for coming forward
 

and are found in ditches

...so I hear ;)

Re: NFL says Mike Cerullo should be “commended” for coming forward
 

This whole thing just out right STINKS, congats to Cerullo for being an idiot. His chances of being in a NFL locker room again is slim to none.
We can continue to comment and complain about this situation but as I've said before, TOM Nutless BENSON needs to come out publicly and question what GOODHELL has done to the Saints and with what evidence, a disgruntled fired employee and a few scribbled on pieces of paper."Please"
Forget Vilma I want the coaching staff and General Manager back NOW before it's to damn late.

Re: NFL says Mike Cerullo should be “commended” for coming forward
 

That scribbled on paper (which by the way did not correspond to any 2009 game) was supposedly supplied by Cerullo. I read an interview from way back in May that claimed Cerullo was the source and the guy even made reference to possible forged documents being accepted as evidence.

Re: NFL says Mike Cerullo should be “commended” for coming forward
 

Maybe when that Freeh report that Tom Benson is paying for comes out we'll get the truth....good or bad it's time for the truth.

Re: NFL says Mike Cerullo should be “commended” for coming forward
 

I remember something about this...supposedly there were "penciled" in additions to the already exisisting speadsheet with the "cart-off"/"knockout" lines added in.

Re: NFL says Mike Cerullo should be “commended” for coming forward
 

You know the thing to keep an eye on is if in the next couple of years if Cerullo has a job with the NFL office.