Admittedly, I've been a bit out of the loop lately. There has been little opportunity to keep up with all the recent twists and turns of Bountygate between work and the constant eating and pooping of my newborn son. So I want to make sure I had all my facts straight...

Are you telling me that NFL players can't be punished for anything that happened prior to the 2011 season, when the league entered into a new CBA?

Are you telling me that even if it were possible to punish the players, Roger Goodell isn't the person responsible for punishing players involved in a pay-for-performance program, and that the responsibility lies instead with a dude named Stephen Burbank, who is the System Arbitrator?

And are you telling me that any alleged acts of on-field misconduct under the new CBA (2011-present) would actually go to a designee of the commissioner - again, not Roger - and that any subsequent appeals would instead go to hearing officers Art Shell and Ted Cottrell?

I'm just trying to make sure I'm understanding this correctly. So please tell me if I'm wrong. Because if all of this is accurate, then wouldn't that mean Goodell has completely overstepped the boundaries of his power in dictator-like fashion?

I've never really been on the "Hate Goodell" bandwagon like many other Saints fans, but if all of this is true, then I would kinda hope this whole thing blows up in his face, making him look so foolish that it permanently ruins his reputation past the point of recovery and spells his inevitable doom as commissioner. But only if it's true.

I think it's time somebody stepped in and force the NFL to put all their cards on the table so we can finally end this ridiculous back and forth dance of bull$#!+ and see just what the hell is what. Best hand wins.