Tobias/SaintsBro - Bounties are systemic. They have been part of the NFL for decades. To say all of this started in the NFC 2010 Championship game is to ignore that coaches/players/owners/Goodell/Rozell/Tagliabue all have known about them for many many years.

Here is a Q for ya Shoe....

Why has there only been 1 trip? I would have made a dozen by now. I would have been in Goodell's office when MY players spoke and gave testimony. I would have been there when MY players and coaches appealed.

I may have not said peep... But MY arse would have been there, to at least support.

Great question, the first answer that comes to mind is that its not Benson's fight. He's got goodell and Vilma's lawyers to do that for him on each side of this thing, and he doesn't need to be there to "defend" his players when he really would be doing nothing of the sort.

Tom Benson likely gives two sh*ts about this whole thing. I'm sure Him hiring Louis Freeh to come in was a publicity stunt, nothing more. And it looks as though Freeh found out that there was something rotten in Denmark because there has been NOTHING said about that investigation. If Freeh found out there was nothing going on, Benson definitely would have said something, because down the line when the huge court case inevitably happens, some judge finding out that the league persecuted the Saints with literally nothing to stand on would be devastating for the NFL in court.

In other words, Benson is trying to placate the fans/incite the media by hiring this high profile investigator to come in and tell him something he already knows, then Benson goes to NY, which on the surface appears to look like he is going to contest this ruling, but in reality he is just telling roger to hold the line, keep doing what you're doing, and build us a case against all these ex-players that are going to bleed the league dry if they win their court case.

You don't hire Louis Freeh as a "publicity stunt" or a "front." You just don't. You hire Louis Freeh when you are an institution and your **** is ****ed up, you're embarrassed by it, and you need an outside investigator to find out what went wrong and get it sorted out. He investigated Waco and exposed how badly Janet Reno effed up. He caught the Unabomber. He roasted sacred cow Joe Paterno and clobbered Penn State after they hired and paid him to look into it. So this guy doesn't mess around or play patty cake or do "PR." He also runs about a million dollars' fee to conduct an investigation and institutional review like this; if Benson was such a cheapskate like you say he is, and wanted a distraction report "for show" he would SURELY hire somebody A LOT cheaper and less thorough than Freeh.

Also, one more time, please read this -- THERE IS NO MYSTERY OR CONSPIRACY WHY THE FREEH RERORT HAS NOT BEEN RELEASED -- it has most likely not been finished yet. It could take a while. The Penn State one he did, took like six months and included formal interviews with hundreds of people. Freeh finished up Penn State around JULY and started in on the Saints next, and he has to investigate the wiretapping, Bountygate and more. It's not even been 4 months, really, so give the man some time.

Something from it will come to light. We may not get to see all of it, it may be for Benson's eyes only, but it will exist. There may be a bombshell or two from it yet to come. Ya'll will see.