In a not so quite surprising move, Pittsburgh Steeler James Harrison is standing behind Jonathan Vilma in his defamation lawsuit against NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell, win or lose. James Harrison is a violent player who often draws the ire of Roger Goodell has been fined numerous times for large sums of money including $125,000 during the 2010 season.
"“It is really a win-win, whether he wins the case or if he loses it,” Harrison said Wednesday after an organized team activity. “If he loses it, it shows that Goodell does have too much power and if he wins it, it opens up the floodgates.”"
Harrison is referring to the defamation lawsuit Vilma filed in court in U.S. District Court in New Orleans last week. Vilma filed the lawsuit claiming Goodell made statements tarnishing his reputation and consequently hindered his ability to earn a living. Jonathan Vilma was the only player in bounty gate to be suspended for an entire season, and the basis of the lawsuit is his belief that Goodell and the NFL lack evidence. Vilma and others say they haven’t seen any evidence to justify their penalties. Roger Goodell said the NFL will make the evidence from bounty gate public.
"“He only gave the team a half-million dollar fine and two second-round draft picks, and that’s a billion-dollar organization,” Harrison said. “But yet you take a whole year’s pay away from the guy that is below him and you take a whole year’s pay away from the head coach. But the actual team themselves, you slap them on the wrist.”"
That is a valid point considering Sean Payton was slated to make around $7.5 million and Jonathan Vilma was set to earn $1.6 million in the 2012 season. One can’t see the point of Vilma’s argument when he alone was fined 3 times what the New Orleans organization was.
Harrison also expressed his concern that the NFL Players did not push to have more checks of Goodell’s power set in place and pointed out that the Pittsburgh Steelers were the only team to vote not in favor of the Collective Bargaining Agreement.
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