OT - Saint's Vilma sues Roger Goodell
"Suspended Saints linebacker Jonathan Vilma filed a defamation lawsuit Thursday against NFL commissioner Roger Goodell, claiming the league's top executive made false statements that tarnished Vilma's reputation and hindered his ability to earn a living playing football."
This will be interesting if for no other reason than that Roger Goodell will be forced to show whatever evidence he has gathered. /popcorn.
I kind of doubt that Goodell and the NFL would have made these suspensions without covering the bases and making sure they would have a strong case if it came down to a law suit. This is evidenced by the fact that he hired former federal prosecutor Mary Jo Williams to review the evidence and gauge how it would hold up in court.
I have little/no knowledge involving the law though. What do our MGoLawyers think?
I never use to even care about the Saints but anymore I cant stand that whole organization and its payers.
Couldn't happen to a nicer guy...
/s
And I agree... I have to get one of those human-sized bags of movie theatre popcorn every time the NFL puts up this fascade of "player safety" and "protecting the shield".
EDIT: Double post... you have my condolences for the lost seconds of your lives scrolling past.
is the fact that they kept on doing it when the NFL found out and did whatever they could to lie their way out of it. I guarantee if they came clean from the beginning and made amends, they get minor suspensions and the coaches, aside from greg williams, miss no time. In the end, if they figure out a deal with brees, they're still one of the top teams but their morale took a massive hit.
This lawsuit has absolutely no chance of winning. I'd be shocked if it survived a motion to dismiss.
Vilma is a public figure, so to win a defamation suit, he has to prove that Goodell acted with actual malice (i.e. he knew the statements were false, or acted with reckless disregard for the truth). There's no way he can establish that.
That sounds pretty informed. Are you a pro or just hooked on Law & Order?
But mostly I stayed at a Holiday Inn Express last night.
I can't stand Goodell. It would be nice to see him lose some money for once instead of the other way around. Football is a violent sport and players are compensated for this. It's the same reason the guy that works on high voltage or coal miners are paid well, it's dangerous. You know the risk but the money out weighs the risk.
Did I miss something? Is Goodell somehow making extra money off this Saints saga?
Also, football players are compenstated because they can play football...not because it's dangerous.
No the players that receive the fines lose money, it would be nice to see the roles reversed. Yes that is the main reason but the amount is also greater because of short career spans. Players wouldn't hold out for a few million if they could play until they were 63. Injury and just natural body break down is part of all athletics.
Quite the hurdle there
I don't know. Bettman is way more serious about head injuries and player safety, but insists on the ridiculous idea of hockey in places where no one cares, so I'll give that to Goodell. Don't know enough about the NBA to comment. And I've never really understood why everyone hated Bud Seilig.
On Selig, the man did basically put his head in the sand regarding steroids for a good decade or so. Also, thanks to his initiative, home-field advantage in the World Series comes down to which league won an exhibition game in July.
Is this real? He's fining guys who make illegal hits and lead their helmets. Football is a dangerous sports, it doesn't need to be made more dangerous with dumbass actions. Don't want a fine? Don't lead with your helmet.
Some hits are clearly worthy of a fine but football is fast paced and some of these fines are bullshit. If I am a safety trying to tackle a RB, I must get lower than the RB to have a chance to take him down. So I must lower my striking point in order to do this causing me to lower my head. The RB knows if he gets lower he can run me over, we both react in a split second and you have helmet to helmet contact. As long as football is played this will happen.
Sorry when we have a sports league where participating is esentially signing an agreement to die at 55 and lose brain function at 45 in exchange for some pussy and a million bucks we are WAY beyond being able to shrug and say "ehh shit happens"
Corporations/industries often fail to disclose risks, attempt to prevent or mitigate risks, train their employees, or provide the necessary personal protective equipment. Coal mining is an excellent example. The Massey explosion in 2010 could have been prevented, but Massey deliberately falsified safety reports. Best industry practice following a high potential hurt near miss in one mine would be to have an immediate safety stand down in all mines, to communicate what happened and the root cause determined by the incident investigation. Dozens of people died because the company deliberately failed to disclose. It is true that you assume some risk in taking those jobs, but the employer must disclose and if a risk increases, take steps to prevent or mitigate it or they are negligent.
In football, there is an assumed risk that you can be injured, under the assumption that the opponent's intent (on defense) is to stop the advancement of the football. If the opponent's intent changes to deliberately injure you, the risk has increased. However, that increased risk was not disclosed. If the NFL knew the risk had increased, they would have the responsibility to implement preventative and mitigative measures to decrease the risk (either the probability, consequence, or both) to the previous level. There is a name for this in HSE: management of change. As employees of the NFL, each member of the Saints had the obligation to report that the working conditions had changed and that there was an increased risk of injury. If that is not part of labor union policy or NFL policy, then they have a shitty safety management system and have a gaping hole leaving them liable in lawsuits.
In any other industry, if you or your coworkers deliberately engaged in actions that increased the risk to others, you wouldn't be suspended but terminated. Moreover, if you observed a change in condition that increased risk but did not speak up, you could be terminated if that increased risk had high potential. Most large corporations have this encoded in their HSE policies. NFL players are professionals. There is no reason we should not hold them to the same professional standards that you are I are held to.
When you pretty sure you're going to lose the appeal on your discipline, you sue your employer. This generally doesn't work, mainly because your employer would settle in a cold minute if they didn't actually have a case unless management was a dim bunch.
When represented employees like those in the NFLPA grieve discipline, and someone such as myself in management denies the grievance, it sometimes goes to a hearing and this is where you basically have to show your hand to either Labor Relations (whatever the equivalent is in the NFL) or an arbitrator or, if you really have someone itching for a fight, the NLRB (THAT one was exciting).
Anyway, if I am Goodell and made such allegations without voluminous documentation to support the case, I would end up being the guy in hot water. Even in the corporate world, Legal keeps an ear to Labor and Employee Relations, and I don't doubt Goodell had someone go over what the league had just in case. We do that too sometimes.
To be fair, this also represents a failure within the management of the Saints and any punishments doled out by ownership, up to and including terminations, are probably appropriate in some cases.
I understand Vilma's reaction. His boss got warned and ignored it but he didnt and they are both facing the same one year ban. Why didn't he get a warning like the coaching staff apparently did? And why exactly did the coaching staff get a warning in the first place - why wasnt this dealt with immediately once uncovered?
I think his complaints have merit.
So...he's filing a lawsuit against the guy was the NFL's lead counsel before he became commissioner. Uh-huh....
Yeah, Goodell is hindering Vilma's ability to make a living. This coming from a guy who ran a program whose sole intent was to hinder other people's ability to make a living by injuring them. Fucking hypocrite.
I think Vilma has a valid case. He followed the orders of his superiors.
Who ordered the Code Red?
Goodell is a tool, but he did get this one right. As for Vilma, he is pretty much throwing an aerosol can onto an open flame here. Every player he hurt the last few years could decide to sue him if litigation becomes the norm for this issue.
Next Vilma should sue the University of Miami for not educating him beyond the level of stupidity it takes to file this suit.
helmet-to-helmet hits in College Football, I wonder if the NCAA will impose some form of punishment at some point to those who are found guilty of deliberately leading with the helmet/making contact with head?