New York City, NY – The NFL and the NFL Players Association are getting together with the major players in the Saints’ “bounty” scandal to discuss possible sanctions against individual players. New Orleans Saints quarterback Drew Brees, NFLPA executive director DeMaurice Smith and ex-Saints Line Backer Scott Fujita are all going to be in the room. Fujita is one of the main focuses of the investigation.
The NFL has already acted against the Saints as a team and have also gone after head coach Sean Payton general manager Mickey Loomis, assistant head coach Joe Vitt, and former defensive coordinator Gregg Williams.
The league has yet to react to the Saints players but they are not expected to sweep this one under the rug. Jonathan Vilma is expected to be dealt with the harshest among Saints players. Sources are telling the media that Vilma is expecting to be suspended for up to 8 games.
Steve Gleason, the former Saint stricken with ALS, invited filmmaker Sean Pamphilon into a defensive meeting on the night before the team’s NFC Divisional Playoff game vs. the San Francisco 49ers. Pamphilon recorded Gregg Williams’ speech calling for Saints players to target 49ers players’ injuries.
The union was aware of the tape before it was released by Pamphilon, and issued a statement Monday confirming that, saying,
“The NFLPA was aware of the existence of the Gregg Williams audio prior to its release. We learned of the tape as part of our effort to obtain any and all information related to an alleged pay-to-injure scheme. We had no control of the content and did not make a determination on the method of its release. To date, the NFL has not provided the NFLPA with detailed evidence of the existence of such a program.”