via NFL.com
 
New Orleans Saints linebacker Jonathan Vilma has been suspended for the 2012 season, the NFL announced Wednesday, as it handed down player discipline for the team’s pay-for-performance “bounty” scandal.
Three other players — Scott Fujita, Anthony Hargrove, Will Smith — also were notified that they have been suspended without pay for conduct detrimental to the NFL as a result of their leadership roles in the “bounty” program that endangered player safety over three seasons from 2009 to 2011.
“It is the obligation of everyone, including the players on the field, to …

By Mark Walker, North County Times

Former pro football great and Oceanside sports legend Junior Seau is dead from an apparent self-inflicted gunshot, found deceased at his beachfront home with a wound to the chest. He was 43.
Police Chief Frank McCoy said authorities received a call about the shooting at 9:35 a.m. from Seau’s girlfriend.
She told police she returned to the residence at 604 The Strand after working out at a gym and found him unconscious in a bedroom with a handgun lying nearby, the chief said. The fire department responded, but efforts to …

By: Rick Stroud, Tampa Bay Times

 
As Bucs coach Greg Schiano was preparing for the NFL draft, his thoughts kept drifting to Rutgers defensive tackle Eric LeGrand, who was paralyzed during a game in 2010 against Army.
“Leading up to the draft, I couldn’t help but think that this should’ve been Eric’s draft class,” Schiano said.
So on Tuesday, the Bucs signed LeGrand to a contract as a gesture by Schiano.
“This small gesture is the least we could do to recognize his character, spirit, and perseverance,” Schiano said. “The way Eric lives his life epitomizes what we are looking …

Written by Nick Canepa, the San Diego Union-Tribune

 
“To accomplish great things, we must dream as well as act.”
— Anatole France
Dreamers dream for a living. Sometimes it works. But when your reveries produce thoughts of starting up a new professional football league, dreams tend to become delusional and eventually morph into cold-sweat-uh-oh-I’m-going-broke nightmares.
Jaime Cuadra is one such dreamer. And he fully intends to act on it and live it.
Cuadra, 52, is all San Diego. He came to this country from Nicaragua as a baby, attended El Cajon Valley High and received …

Written By: JD Kruger
TGP Owner & Editor
In what appears to only be the first round of punishment in regards to the New Orleans Saints bounty scandal, the league offices sent a clear message that they would not be tolerated this sort of behavior.
Saints head coach Sean Payton has been suspended for the year without pay. General Manager Mickey Loomis has been suspended for half the season, and former defensive coordinator Gregg Williams has been told that he must stay away from the league for an indefinite amount of time.
The Saints …

Written By: JD Kruger
TGP Owner & Editor
A few short months ago, it was thought that Eagles WR DeSean Jackson was headed out of town.
His attitude was dismal and lackadaisical. He was lazy, and rarely put forth the effort required to become a great football player. Jackson voiced concern over running certain routes, normally ones that focused on him going across the middle, in fear of getting hurt. He was wary and afraid of taking the big hits that we so often witness in the National Football League.
DeSean Jackson wanted to …

 
Written By: JD Kruger
TGP Owner & Editor
The market wasn’t nearly as kind to Matt Flynn as he had hoped before the free agent period started.
Matt Flynn signed a three year contract with the Seattle Seahawks for a reported $24 million.
The deal with Seattle comes after garnering little interest on the open market. Seattle was the most interested suitor, and Miami joined in late after they were ruled out of the chase for QB Peyton Manning. The Cleveland Browns also showed some interest, but it was minimal.
The Seahawks have been pushing …

Written by: Jason La Canfora
Peyton Manning is driving his free-agency process himself, directly dealing with team officials, and hasn’t given a firm timetable on a decision, according to sources with knowledge of the process.
The four-time NFL MVP quarterback has worked out for three teams — the Titans, Broncos and 49ers — and, according to sources, looked good at his workouts.
“I wouldn’t say he’s all the way back, but definitely he’s on the way back,” said one source with a working knowledge of the process. “You could really see (how close …

Written By: Huffington Post
During an emotional press conference, Peyton Manning bid farewell to the Indianapolis Colts and the fans of the franchise. Colts owner Jim Irsay began the press conference by addressing the franchise’s decision to part ways with the four-time NFL MVP, a move hastened by a March 8 deadline to pick up the option on Manning’s contract and pay a hefty bonus.
“I have been a member of the Colts nearly my whole adult life,” Manning reflected. “But nothing lasts forever…”
Both Manning and Irsay suggested that this outcome was forced …

Written By: Jarrett Bell | USA Today
When Roger Goodell metes out what is expected to be harsh punishment for a New Orleans Saints bounty system that represents perhaps the most blatant violation of football ethics under his watch, the NFLcommissioner might borrow that phrase from the book of aggression authored by former defensive coordinatorGregg Williams.
It was Williams who boldly declared during the Saints’ march to a Super Bowl crown during the 2009 season that his players would deliver “remember me” shots to opposing quarterbacks as a statement of their intimidation.
According to findings of an NFL …