In an announcement today NFL commissioner Roger Goodell upheld the penalties against the coaching staff of the new Orleans Saints. The story broke, the charges investigated,the penalties handed out and now the sentences being served. Coach Sean Peyton will start seving his one year suspension April 16th. This should be the end of the whole mess, but it is really only the beginning.

What is next?

league sources around the NFL are saying that Mr. Goodell my announce sanctions against players involved in this mess this week and the players could be in the dozens.This could reshape the season for many teams.

How severe the sanctions is anybody's guess, but if it is anything like the coaches received, it could create quite a mess on a teams roster. Most think it will be wide spread among many teams and this will be Mr. Goodell's message to all players that the days of breaking the rules will be over or the penalties will be severe.

Too Severe?

Many people believe that bounties have been in the NFL since its inception, and why the surprise and harshness by Mr. Goodell. While bounties have been around, they were not organized and usually consisted of side bets and challenges, and more geared at performance than injuring other players. The severity of the penalties in in direct connection with Goodell being lied to by the Saints and after being warned to knock it off his message was ignored.One has to agree that everyone is listening now.

Will players appeal?

The players union and the NFL have been discussing what kinds of penalties will be issued to the players, and the union is expected to fight for its players. The NFL and the Players Union have lost any warmth they might of had between each other since the lockout and this could lead to some interesting angles to watch for.

Can I expect it to effect my team?

Nobody can really say if the penalties Mr. Goodell announces will be on Saints players only, or if this will be league reaching. I can only hope this does not turn out to be so widespread that it effects the up coming seasons quality of football.The fans spend all the money to make this game possible, and they deserve the best in return, but I hope they understand that Mr. Goodell is doing his best to make this sport as fair and safe as possible, and that there is no room for bending the rules, or completely ignoring them.

This looks to be a very interesting story to follow. I always missed having a lot of football news in the off season, but this kind of news I could probably do without.

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