Washington offensive lineman Trent Williams was fined $7,875 by the NFL this week for slapping Seahawks cornerback Richard Sherman after last Sunday’s Seattle vs. Washington NFC Wild Card matchup.
Sherman said that Williams walked up to him after the game and threatened to hit him. Sherman told him to go ahead, and Williams followed through with his threat by hitting Sherman with an open right hand to his face.
Williams later apologized to Sherman after the incident.
“He apologized and all of that,” Sherman said this week. “It’s done.”
It appears the controversy over the final play between the Seattle Seahawks and the Green Bay Packers has spurred the league and the regular officials to reach an agreement.
According to ESPN’s Chris Mortensen, the NFL and the NFL Referees Association made enough progress in negotiations Tuesday night that the possibility of the locked-out officials returning in time to work this week’s games has been discussed, according to sources on both sides.
According to the report, the two sides have an agreement in principle in hand, and the NFL Referees Association says that its 121 referees have been trained on the new rules implemented last season, have already passed physicals or are prepared to pass physicals immediately.
This is good news for players, coaches and fans that would like the officials to fade to the background of the game, where they belong.
The NFL put out a press release detailing the league’s officials position on not overturning Seattle Seahawks receiver Golden Tate’s 24-yard touchdown catch on the final play of his team’s 14-12 win over Green Bay on Monday night.
According to a statement released by the NFL Players Association, the NFL Management Council and the NFL Players Association determined that the Seattle Seahawks violated the Collective Bargaining Agreement’s offseason workout rules on the prohibition of live contact during one of the team’s organized team activities (OTA days).
As punishment for the violation, the Seahawks have to forfeit two of the team’s schedule OTA practices on Wednesday and Thursday, as well as an additional offseason workout day on Friday.
Seattle's Anthony Hargrove and Richard Sherman chase Arizona quarterback Kevin Kolb. (AP Photo/Ted S. Warren)
League commissioner Roger Goodell was expected to come down hard on anyone who the NFL could prove had a significant role in the New Orleans Saints bounty program.
Saints linebacker Jonathan Vilma was suspended for the entire 2012 season. Former Seahawk defensive lineman Anthony Hargrove, who signed with Green Bay during free agency, was suspended for eight games.
Defensive end Will Smith was suspended for four games, and linebacker Scott Fujita, now with Cleveland, was suspended for three games.
In this Sept. 26, 2010, file photo, Saints defensive coordinator Gregg Williams looks on during an NFL football game against the Atlanta Falcons at the Louisiana Superdome in New Orleans. Williams, the former Saints defensive coordinator, apologized for running a bounty program that targeted opposing players for injuries. In a statement, he says the program was a "terrible mistake and we knew it was wrong while we were doing it." The NFL on Friday said that it had found between 22 and 27 Saints participated in the program over the last three seasons, and that players including quarterbacks Kurt Warner and Brett Favre were targeted. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert, File)
Once again, NFL Roger Goodell shows he’s the boss in today’s decision on discipline for the people involved in the New Orleans Saints bounty scandal.
According to NFL.com, New Orleans Saints head coach Sean Peyton has been suspended a year without pay. New Orleans general manager Mickey Loomis has been suspended eight games, and defensive coordinator Gregg Williams has been suspended indefinitely, with his suspension up for review at the end of the year.
Also, the Saints have been fined $500,000 and will have to give up the team’s second-round picks in the 2012 and 2013 NFL Drafts.
New Orleans Saints defensive assistant head coach Joe Vitt has been suspended six games without pay.
Heavy-handed? I would say it’s a bit on the strong side, but once again Goodell has got the league’s attention that he will not put up with this type of behavior.
New England Patriots football owner Robert Kraft owner, left, is hugged by Jeff Saturday of the Indianapolis Colt during a news conference at the NFL Players Association in Washington, Monday, July 25, 2011, After the NFL Players Association executive board and 32 team reps voted unanimously Monday to approve the terms of a deal with owners to the end the 4-month lockout. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)
The National Football League Players Association made it official this morning, announcing that the league and the players had agreed to a settlement agreement and a new CBA.
The news conference included NFLPA head DeMaurice Smith and league commissioner Roger Goodell standing together at the podium.
“It’s been a long time coming,” Goodell said. “Football is back and that’s the good news.”
Albert Breer of NFL.com has the full report here. The deal is for 10 years, with no opt-out.
Multiple news outlets are reporting that the NFLPA has filed decertification papers in the courts, considered a precursor to allow individual players to file antitrust lawsuits and keep the league from moving to lockout players.
It’s been widely reported that Drew Brees, Tom Brady and Peyton Manning take the lead as players who would participate in such a filing.
This occurred about 15 minutes after NFLPA head DeMaurice Smith issued a short, prepared statement to reporters stating the following:
“How are you? We met with the owners until about 4 o’clock today. We discussed a proposal that they had
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