New Orleans Saints linebacker Jonathan Vilma's lawsuit will try to make league play defense for a change
New Orleans Saints linebacker Jonathan Vilma is trying to force the NFL to play defense for a change. His defamation lawsuit against NFL commissioner Roger Goodell on Thursday was the strongest response yet from anyone in the Saints organization to the league's bounty allegations.
Vilma is seeking both compensatory and punitive damages to account for the harm done to his personal and professional reputation. Just as significantly, he is trying to force the NFL to reveal the evidence which it has kept secret up to this point in front of an impartial judge.
Obviously we'll have to wait for some legal back-and-forth before it ever gets to that point. The NFL will likely try to have the lawsuit dismissed. But clearly Vilma and attorney Peter Ginsberg are prepared to explore every avenue at their disposal as they challenge the notion that Goodell is the only judge, jury and executioner in this case.
Hopefully Vilma will get his day in court. Or at the very least, hopefully this move will add to the mounting pressure against the NFL and force the league to reveal its evidence to either the players or the public.
Although it's understandable that the league wants to protect its confidential sources, the NFL needs to leave no doubt about why it has handed out the most severe penalties in league history over these bounty allegations - especially against an individual player who was singled out like Vilma.
Although sources have confirmed that there is at least some truth to the NFL's allegation that Vilma offered a $10,000 reward for knocking Minnesota Vikings quarterback Brett Favre out of the 2010 NFC championship game, it has been described as more of a prop than a serious offer. Vilma reiterated in his lawsuit that he never "paid, or intended to pay" any kind of money to knock out Favre or any other players.
It's also likely that the Saints' pay-for-performance program included some form of payouts for "big hits" or "cart-offs" or "knockouts," based on the NFL's statements and various accounts from sources on and off the record. But Vilma again denied those allegations in his lawsuit. And the Saints have repeatedly denied that there was ever any specific intent to harm players on the field.
The NFL, meanwhile, has not offered any form of evidence that proves such intent. The NFL has not revealed how much money actually exchanged hands as a result of cart-off or knockout hits. And the NFL didn't punish a single player for any illegal hits that occurred on the field.
The NFL has painted the Saints -- and Vilma especially -- as the worst offenders in sports history, charging them with putting opponents in harm's way. However, there is little evidence on the field that backs those claims, other than a couple of personal foul penalties against Favre in that NFC championship game. There is no evidence of the Saints trying to injure players with illegal hits - and certainly nothing egregious like stomping players after the whistle.
All of the NFL's claims and punishments against the Saints are for off-the-field infractions. And if they're as severe as the league claims, then we shouldn't be left wondering about or guessing about them.
And Vilma, for one, certainly isn't going to just take the NFL's word for it.
Vilma is seeking both compensatory and punitive damages to account for the harm done to his personal and professional reputation. Just as significantly, he is trying to force the NFL to reveal the evidence which it has kept secret up to this point in front of an impartial judge.
Obviously we'll have to wait for some legal back-and-forth before it ever gets to that point. The NFL will likely try to have the lawsuit dismissed. But clearly Vilma and attorney Peter Ginsberg are prepared to explore every avenue at their disposal as they challenge the notion that Goodell is the only judge, jury and executioner in this case.
Hopefully Vilma will get his day in court. Or at the very least, hopefully this move will add to the mounting pressure against the NFL and force the league to reveal its evidence to either the players or the public.
Although it's understandable that the league wants to protect its confidential sources, the NFL needs to leave no doubt about why it has handed out the most severe penalties in league history over these bounty allegations - especially against an individual player who was singled out like Vilma.
Although sources have confirmed that there is at least some truth to the NFL's allegation that Vilma offered a $10,000 reward for knocking Minnesota Vikings quarterback Brett Favre out of the 2010 NFC championship game, it has been described as more of a prop than a serious offer. Vilma reiterated in his lawsuit that he never "paid, or intended to pay" any kind of money to knock out Favre or any other players.
It's also likely that the Saints' pay-for-performance program included some form of payouts for "big hits" or "cart-offs" or "knockouts," based on the NFL's statements and various accounts from sources on and off the record. But Vilma again denied those allegations in his lawsuit. And the Saints have repeatedly denied that there was ever any specific intent to harm players on the field.
The NFL, meanwhile, has not offered any form of evidence that proves such intent. The NFL has not revealed how much money actually exchanged hands as a result of cart-off or knockout hits. And the NFL didn't punish a single player for any illegal hits that occurred on the field.
The NFL has painted the Saints -- and Vilma especially -- as the worst offenders in sports history, charging them with putting opponents in harm's way. However, there is little evidence on the field that backs those claims, other than a couple of personal foul penalties against Favre in that NFC championship game. There is no evidence of the Saints trying to injure players with illegal hits - and certainly nothing egregious like stomping players after the whistle.
All of the NFL's claims and punishments against the Saints are for off-the-field infractions. And if they're as severe as the league claims, then we shouldn't be left wondering about or guessing about them.
And Vilma, for one, certainly isn't going to just take the NFL's word for it.
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