The NFL and Commissioner Roger Goodell didn’t just lower the hammer on the Saints, they slammed it repeatedly like a game of whack-a-mole.   

Head coach Sean Payton was suspended for next season while former defensive coordinator Gregg Williams was suspended indefinitely.  Assistant coach Joe Vitt was also suspended for six months, as was general manager Mickey Loomis.  

This is the NFL equivalent of the death penalty. The punishment is entirely too harsh because the league only takes action when necessary to protect itself.

A few years ago, the NFL created new conduct policies to keep players and teams from making the NFL look bad. 

However, the suspensions and punishments lack uniformity.  

Back when the Patriots were proven cheaters by deliberately taping their opponent’s signals, the only punishment was a fine and forfeiture of one of their two first round draft picks.  

The Saints, however, got suspensions and lost a second round draft pick in the next two drafts.

Donté Stallworth killed a man while driving intoxicated and got a year suspension.  

Last time I checked, Sean Payton and Joe Vitt didn’t kill anyone, and they had their players do what they are paid to do, which is hit.   

The only reason the Saints were targeted was because the NFL wants to promote their sudden and half-hearted commitment to player safety. 

The NFL touts player safety, but watched for years while players compromised their future health. 

Countless players suffered concussions and some were paralyzed permanently from violent hits to the head, but no one ever cared until a bunch of former players decided to sue the league for their negligence.  

Furthermore, the NFL likes to only protect its golden geese, especially quarterbacks. 

No one cared that quarterbacks got hit below the knees until God’s gift to mankind, Tom Brady, missed a whole season with a knee injury.

Suddenly, the NFL changed the rules, which I’m sure was in the interest of “player safety” and not the profits lost from reduced ratings from his absence.   

This same philosophy is what really drove the NFL to punish the Saints.  

The Bountygate investigation began during the same playoffs in which the Saints won the Super Bowl.  

Although Goodell would never admit it, he knows that the only reason the investigation started is because the NFL’s favorite gunslinger, Brett Favre, was targeted below the knee, and likely knocked him and the Vikings out of the Super Bowl.  

This punishment is nothing more than payback from the league for not getting what it wanted, while promoting its stance that it is dedicated to making the game safer.

The saddest part about this whole mess is that it is turning into a media circus.  

Everyone is trying to capitalize on the scandal by getting their names in the news. 

Former defensive lineman Warren Sapp, for example, is parading around claiming that it was former Saint tight end Jeremy Shockey that snitched on his former team.  

Meanwhile Senator Dick Durbin has suggested a congressional hearing over Bountygate.  

All of these publicity stunts are unnecessary and detract from the real issue.  

I’m not saying that paying players to hurt opponents is fair or right, but I am saying that making an example of the Saints is wrong.  

There are plenty of other teams that do the same thing whether publicly known or not. 

The NFL couldn’t care less about the safety of its players as long as the league is making money and Goodell gets to puff out his chest in triumph. 

The application of the rules is arbitrary and inconsistent at best.

The Saints nor the fans deserved this harsh of punishment.