This only adds to my distrust of Roger Goodell and the league douchebags who are only out to cover their own asses. Collective bargaining agreement or not, these guys were NOT using steroids and should NOT be suspended for this. Neither should Garrett Hartley be suspended for the stupid choice he made. I love the game of football, but I hate the way some choose to run it.

This has to be the biggest joke

Either all 4 guys should be suspended or none. This definitely is not right.

Would the league pursue the same course of action and punishment if this happened to players on a larger market team like the Cowboys or Patriots? Maybe or maybe not. I’m just thinking about the bad PR hit the league will take as a result of this from Saints fans. Maybe they don’t really care because our fanbase just isn’t as large as other teams. The punishment doled out in 2007 to the Patriots for videoing signals (the league tried very hard to not let that video get out, by the way) seems like a mere slap on the wrist compared to suspending players for 4 games for taking a weight loss supplement tainted with unlisted ingredients. This blows!

I can say this completely without bias: this decision is completely illegitimate. If the NFL is going to allow state laws to remove penalties from certain players, it really is a poor organization. If the NFL can’t operate as a centralized agency, I don’t get what legitimacy their “rulings” have. Either the Williamses should be suspended, or Grant’s/Smith’s suspensions should be overturned.

It makes ABSOLUTELY NO sense that, by virtue of playing for a different team in a different state, you aren’t subject to the same rules as everyone else.

should immediately push a law through legislature that bans victory by opposing professional sports teams on state soil. That way, if we happen to lose a game at home, we could just overturn it.

First I don’t get why Grant didn’t serve his suspension while on IR which was an option. Then he could have been appealing to get his pay back rather than to not be suspended, and wouldn’t have hurt the team if he lost the appeal. Selfish decision to me.

Second, I can’t stand this zero tolerance setup that places use these days. NFL just points to that policy as the end all be all. Every situation isn’t black and white. If the policy is to prevent drug and steroid abuse, shouldn’t you have to actually be using something? If this masks test results order a better test to clarify. Reminds me of schools who expel students for having an asprin as if they had a crack rock. These zero tolerance policies usually do more damage to the unintended targets than the actual targets.

Last, could the players now sue under some equal protection type deal? Other players are now being treated differently for the same offense.

jeffduncantp It’s a tricky situation for NFL. They believe they will ultimately win the Vikes case. In their minds, Vikes are prolonging the inevitable.

A few more appeals yet to go.

Goodell’s mouthpiece:

“The real losers today are the players on 31 other clubs, who no longer live under the same rules as players on the Minnesota Vikings — a result of the NFL Players Association’s failure to stand behind the program it negotiated with the league, and for which it has properly claimed credit with fans and before Congress,’’ NFL spokesman Greg Aiello said in an email to The Times-Picayune. ”The most respected program in sports has been put in jeopardy by the NFL union’s silence and today’s ruling.’’

Yeah I’m pretty sure that they’re gonna appeal.

he would have lost all that salary money for 4 weeks. He held onto the hope that the league would be reasonable and reneg on the suspension in light of the situation. I can’t blame him, especially under the circumstances. We should get every CSC memeber here to bombard Goodel with complaints and additionally we should attempt to get other SB nation mmbers to side with us- we have rightgeousness on our sides and I think alot of people are already fed up with Goodell- if everyone really knew the details and facts oif this situation, they would not side with the NFL brass on this issue. Especially if the Minnesota players get off.

I hope and pray we see a lawsuit against Goodell over this. This boils down to blatantly having a different set of rules for different teams. Plain and simple, this is an uneven playing field. I think there is a pretty good argument that the Saints are losing money if they lose any of the games Smith and Grant are suspended. I think its safe to say sponsorships come faster for teams with more wins. In my mind, not allowing the Saints to compete under the same rules the Vikings are playing under makes Roger Goodell responsible for any possible lost money, right?

If state law is going to be allowed to give teams unfair advantages I saw we petition the Louisiana state legislature to pass a bill mandating the home team be spotted 20 points in all professional sporting events played in the state. If the word “fairness” is being tossed out the window we might as well take advantage of it, right?

put the screws to us anytime he wants. We could start out 5-0 and he could get vindictive (and try to quash a small market team like us) and see if he could upset the apple cart by suspending Grant and Smith then. Or, he could wait until Nov when we are tied for winning the division and about to play some key games, and screw us then. This all reeks and should have been finalized in the offseason. I say, if they couldn’t do it all during this past offseason, they should finalize it next offseason. To mess with a team during its regular season, esapecially when this dates back to the preseason BEFORE the 2008-09 season is bullshit. They should all get probation under the circumstances. And we should all start a drive to get rid of Goodell.

From what I understand, the suspensions are to start next week. I really think the Saints should request that at least ONE of the two start THIS week. Then, at least they’d be at half strength for the Giants game.

this is true..

THen whenever MINN plays an away game they should be suspended for the first 4 of those

IF they cant suspend them in MINN>. then you get them when they are out.

Course.. I dont think anyone should be suspended for it but if you are going to get some you need to get them all.