Vilma Unhappy With Hearing And Process

New Orleans Saints linebacker Jonathan Vilma had an appeal hearing with NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell Monday morning and apparently it did not go well. The meeting only lasted an hour and he denied having a role in New Orleans’ bounty program and on his way out of the building he said that that the process is not fair. The NFL, according to Vilma’s attorney Peter Ginsberg, said the NFL requested an adjournment to this afternoon but they refused.

"“Roger Goodell has taken three months to tear down what I built over eight years,” Vilma said. “It’s tough to swallow. I have been linked to a bounty, and it simply is not true.”“I don’t know how I can get a fair process when he is the judge, jury and executioner. You’re assuming it will be fair, but it’s not.”"

The other three players who were suspended by the NFL will have their appeals heard today as well. They all arrived with their lawyers together while Vilma and Ginsberg arrived separately. The players union has recently lost two grievances in which they were challenging Goodell’s authority to discipline those involved in the bounty scandal.

Will Smith, Anthony Hargrove, and Scott Fujita said they were attending the hearings because they felt the league “would attempt to publicly mischaracterize our refusal to attend.”

"“Shame on the National Football League and Commissioner Goodell for being more concerned about ‘convicting’ us publicly than being honorable and fair to men who have dedicated their professional lives to playing this game with honor,” the three players said in a joint statement."

They also released a statement earlier explaining while they were attending the hearings. And everyone involved remains adamant about their innocence.

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