NEW YORK -- NFL commissioner Roger Goodell held appeals hearings Monday in the Saints bounty case for four suspended players, who complained that the process is unfair and the league hasn't proved anything.
?? -- Jonathan Vilma
I don't know how I can get a fair process when (Roger Goodell) is the judge, jury and executioner. You're assuming it will be fair, but it's not.
Goodell met Monday at NFL headquarters with New Orleans linebacker Jonathan Vilma, who is out for the 2012 season; defensive end Will Smith, who has been docked for four games; Green Bay defensive end Anthony Hargrove, suspended for eight games; and Cleveland linebacker Scott Fujita (three games).
Vilma left first, after about an hourlong session in the morning.
The linebacker's attorney, Peter Ginsberg, said the NFL requested an adjournment to Monday afternoon, but he and Vilma refused. Ginsberg called the hearing "a sham" and said Goodell failed to present the evidence on which he based his decision to impose Vilma's penalty.
"Roger Goodell has taken three months to tear down what I built over eight years," said Vilma, who is suing the commissioner for defamation. "It's tough to swallow. I have been linked to a bounty and it simply is not true.
NFL's Bounty Exhibits
The NFLPA released the exhibits that the NFL used in its bounty hearings with players Monday. Here are the exhibits (warning: links contain profanity).
?�PDFs: Exhibits 1-12 | Exhibits 13-16
"I don't know how I can get a fair process when he is the judge, jury and executioner. You're assuming it will be fair, but it's not."
Smith, Hargrove and Fujita had their appeals heard by Goodell at afternoon sessions with their attorneys and lawyers for the NFL Players Association on hand at the league's Manhattan offices.
Those players and Vilma all were on the Saints roster when then-defensive coordinator Gregg Williams, by his own admission, ran a pay-for-pain operation that handed out cash bonuses for big hits on targeted opponents.
But the players dispute the league's contention that they were involved.
"The NFL's investigation has been highlighted by sensationalized headlines and unsubstantiated leaks to the media. I have yet to see anything that implicates me ... not in the last three months and not today," Fujita said. "The NFL has been careless and irresponsible, and at some time will have to provide answers."
The NFL turned over some evidence to the four players and the union on Friday as required by the collective bargaining agreement. That information included some 200 pages of documents, with emails, power-point presentations, even handwritten notes, plus one video recording. But a ledger that reportedly documents payments of $1,000 for plays called "cart-offs" and $400 for "whacks," as well as $100 fines for mental errors, was not in the material.
The NFL Players Association released a statement Monday afternoon providing links to 16 exhibits the league planned to use against the players in the hearing. The NFLPA said the documentation, which includes ledgers of payouts, power-point slides that include phrases such as "bounty $$$" and emails, "can hardly be characterized as hard evidence."
Saints Bounty Scandal
An NFL investigation found that the New Orleans Saints operated a bounty system rewarding between 22 and 27 players for hard hits and injuring opposing players. ESPN.com Topics brings you full coverage of this developing story. Profile �
NFLPA outside counsel Richard Smith also released a statement Monday afternoon criticizing Goodell and the league's investigation. In the statement, Smith charges the NFL with running a "sloppy investigation" and withholding evidence from the players while using the media "to support the discipline and tarnish the reputations of players before any hearing ..."
"In this matter, the conduct of the Commissioner and his representatives has undermined the fundamental process contemplated by the Collective Bargaining Agreement. Through this abuse, these players have been denied any semblance of due process and fairness.
"At a time when some question the safety and integrity of the game, the failure by those charged to act responsibly and fairly have challenged our collective faith and confidence in the league," Smith said in the statement.
Previously, Goodell suspended Saints coach Sean Payton for the season and assistant coach Joe Vitt for six games. Saints general manager Mickey Loomis got eight games, while Williams -- now with the St. Louis Rams -- was suspended indefinitely.
The NFL's investigation of the Saints found Williams ran a system for three years under which payouts were set on specific opponents, including Brett Favre and Kurt Warner. The program was in effect from 2009, when New Orleans won the Super Bowl, until last season.
Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.
Source: http://espn.go.com/nfl/story/_/id/8067010/nfl-hears-bounty-appeals-players-cry-foul
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