NFLPA and NFL to meet over New Orleans Saints bounty scandal - NFL News
The players union National Football League Players Association (NFLPA) has accepted an invite by the National Football League (NFL) to meet and decide over punishments to be given to players involved in the New Orleans Saints bounty scandal.
NFLPA had earlier requested the league to turn over evidence regarding player involvement in the bounty scandal so that a complete and thorough evaluation could be made.
The league though asked the union to meet them and review the confidential reports developed on the bounty scandal by the NFL.
The Saints are alleged to have run an illegal bounty program with a pool reaching a maximum of $ 50,000.
All bounties were limited to the defensive line led by ex-defence coordinator Gregg Williams with players able to earn around $ 1,000 to 1,500 for knocking out or severely injuring targeted opponents.
The NFL has already announced the hefty punishments for the franchise’s front office staff involved in the illegal program and is mulling over the punishments to be faced by the 22 to 27 players allegedly involved in receiving and paying bounties.
The NFLPA though is expected to not provide any particular disciplinary action leaving all such decisions in the hands of the league.
According to NFLPA’s assistant executive director, George Atallah, the union is just looking to ensure that all players receive a due process from the NFL.
"We haven't ruled out anything, Right now, we are focused on obtaining the right information and making sure players have a fair due process."
NFLPA director DeMaurice Smith had earlier said that the union had not received any specific evidence of player involvement from the league and urged the league to hand over its reports so that the union could undertake its own investigations.
"As of yet, they haven't turned over anything that we would consider to be direct evidence of player involvement in a 'pay to injure' scheme that we could consider for discipline,"
Adding further he said that.
"As of yet, they haven't turned over anything that we would consider to be direct evidence of player involvement in a 'pay to injure' scheme that we could consider for discipline,"
The meetings will take place this week and will likely be followed by the announcement of punishments to be faced by the New Orleans Saints playing staff.
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