breaking news !!!!!!!! Greg Williams won't coach this season for the Rams.

[general counsel]

I think the penalty is fair. He will be back in a year. Intentionally injuring players is unacceptable on any level.

ramming speed to all

general counsel

[RKDfan]

Another thought i just had.. does this mean spags will be a head coach again???

He's too conservative for that offense. Would be nice to see him get another opportunity to coach though.

[Rammed]

Im guessing Spags is HC again.....

[Nick]

Another thought i just had.. does this mean spags will be a head coach again???

Perhaps for the six games that Joe Vitt is suspended for. I wouldn't rule it out at this point.

[RebelYell]

Indefinitely = For an unlimited or unspecified period of time.
Don't see the big deal with using the term.

With the league placing significant financial penalties on illegal hits, it was unavoidable. Since bounty programs are illegal, every time they talked it up or paid out money, they broke the rules. Rules are in place to avoid financial incentives for illegal hits. Williams had done this in at least 3 cities, had been told to stop by the NFL and refused even though he knew it was against the rules. If Williams is only gone a year, he's lucky. He should be gone longer.

[HUbison]

Jim Thomas reporting that Dave McGinnis is the likely successor at defensive coordinator, but don't rule out DB coach Chuck Cecil.

https://twitter.com/#!/jthom1/status/182516544683778048

And now I'm worried. Any Titans fan will most likely agree that Chuck Cecil is not a good choice for DC. But, of course, that is a decision Fisher has made once already.

[AvengerRam]

For those who think the penalty is too harsh, let me put my lawyer hat on for a moment...

When players injure other players in the normal course of a game, there can be no liability, because it is merely a result of the risk assumed by every player who takes the field.

When players injure other players deliberately and with illegal hits, on the other hand, there is a potential of tort claims against the player responsible. The tort liability can also fall on the team, if it is demonstrated that it was aware of the tortious conduct, and either supported or condoned it.

That same principle could ultimately be applied to the league. The NFL has a duty to supervise the game and take reasonable measures to prevent foreseeable harm. There lies the motivator for this action. Anything other than a "zero tolerance" response to this "bounty" system could be used as evidence of negligence, both with respect to past claims and future harmful acts deemed to be outside the rules.

So, while it is easy to paint Goodell as a power-hungry dictator, from a risk management standpoint, he really had little choice but to lower the boom.

[HUbison]

Intentionally injuring players is unacceptable on any level.

That's what football is, GC. The cleanest player to ever set foot on the field still went into every single play with the intent of physically dominating his opponent. Injuries are nothing more than a by-product of that domination.

[Slug]

That's what football is, GC. The cleanest player to ever set foot on the field still went into every single play with the intent of physically dominating his opponent. Injuries are nothing more than a by-product of that domination.

There is a line between physical dominance and intentionally attempting to cause an injury. Players want to make a statement to the opposing team. Players want to get on ESPN's top ten plays or "Jacked Up!" or something. Players, generally, don't want to end other players' games, seasons, or careers. It's a sad locker room atmosphere that creates that desire in players, imo. The Saints are getting what they deserve. It sucks that you guys are getting hit with collateral damage.

[Fat Pang]

I just attempted to post my disgust at the double standards of Mr Goodell on the NFL website as a comment on the main article.

I hate to sound like a conspiracy theorist, but my response was refused on the grounds of 'Offensive language'. As many of you may be aware from my time on these boards, I don't ordinarily indulge in such linguistic shortcuts and the only word I could remember that I used was that may be considered remotely offensive was 'garbage'.

So why was a comment refused?

Goodell has essentially dared Williams to challenge him at the risk of further draconian punishment in his imposition of an open-ended sentence that has next to no precedent in common-law. Either you ban him for life or you don't, the only reason you wouldn't is that you expect the recipient of such an order to accept it on the basis that he expects 'indefinite' to mean a year or less, dependent on behaviour and he believes a challenge to attract a harsher punishment.

If I'm Williams I have to challenge this.

[PacFish]

The Saints thing is morally dubious but with regards to helping the team it's nothing on what the Pats did. Way too harsh in my opinion. Effectively a death sentence on all involved.

[Vis]

If I'm Williams I have to challenge this.

If I'm Williams, I resign and let the Rams move on.

[sb2sb2sb]

Yeah Williams was the head of everything. I doubt he will challenge it. I think he will take it and leave.

My guess is Dave McGinnis will be the DC? I would rather it be him than Cecil

[OldSchoolRamFan]

As much as I hate that the Rams are feeling the repercussions of what happened. I think the penalties were appropriate and can easily be justified. This is not a criminal sanction so therefore is not really a sentence, so common law does not play into the equation. All the talk of this being a brutal game and the intent being to dominate your opponent is immaterial. Bottom line is that when players are rewarded, not for just making good hits, but for the results of illegal hits, or even legal hits where injury was the incentive, the NFL has decided to lay down the hammer. There is nothing to challenge. The business entity has decided the punishment for violating player safety.

[RamsFanSam]

If I was Williams, I would first hire a good attorney and appeal this. Second, I would launch a media blitz about how Goodell let his friend, Belicheat, get by with YEARS of cheating before he recieved a slap on the wrist. Then I would begin letting the media see hits from the players in the past that were illegal - I believe we have a few members here (past and present) that can prove the Pats cheated and made dirty hits on the Rams in SB 36. Then - I would let the media know I was dumbfounded as to the reasons Goodell would hand out such harsh punishment to Payton and Williams (and others involved) but let his buddy, Belicheat, off with such a light "punishment".

In a case like this, the media CAN be your friend.

Now - my question: What about William's contract? What happens with the money he was supposed to be paid for the year, do the Rams have to pay him, or does the cash stay with the Rams?