Watched a long segment last night with Chris Carter, Jerry Rice and I believe Tim Hasselback..beck..maybe it wasn't him. They also let Bill Romanowski respond to Carter's claims that he said he was going to end his career just before a game. A few observations.
If the biggest issue for New Orleans concerning the penalties handed down was lying, then I get it. If they singled them out to make an example, then Goodell needs to go back and rethink this whole thing. These are some of the biggest stars in the game saying "Bounties", however you want to define them, have always been a part of the game and will always be a part of it.
Romanowski is/was a mean son of a bitch. Despite the fact that he's about brain dead from taking and giving way too many blows to the head, he made some good points. He made no bones about admitting to telling Carter and others, "I'm taking you out today". He said it didn't mean he was going to try and injure you...despite the fact that he has a long history of doing just that...dirty ass player...it meant he was going to try and hit you as hard as humanly possible. He played that way on every play.
They all made a big distinction between "hurt" and "injured". There's a big difference in trying to take somebody's knee out and trying to make the huge hit and ring their bell. Carter and Rice both said they'd go into the huddle and tell them whoever was looking to take them out and the linemen or the other receivers, in Rice's case, John Taylor, would make sure they handled that player. Both said they absolutely would pay their linemen money or dinners....whatever.
Carter made an excellent point with regards to Vilma. He said Goodell has made it crystal clear that they hold coaches and management to a far higher standard than players. His thinking is that Vilma's year off is much more of a penalty than a coach getting suspended a year because a player only has so many years he can actually play football while Payton will come back and can coach as long as he's able.
Just some interesting back and forth that put at least some of it it in a different light for me.
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