As a lover of sports history, I practically live in a world of "what ifs." For example, what if Mickey Mantle had stayed healthy for the whole 1961 season? What if Ryan Leaf had 10 more seconds in the 1998 Rose Bowl? What if the Penn State leadership had followed up on the Jerry Sandusky allegations a decade ago?
And what if the NFL decided to adopt discipline guidelines like the NCAA has for dealing with scandalous situations? In light of the recent NCAA sanctions handed down to Penn State stemming from the Sandusky scandal, it is worth a look at what the NFL might be able to do in similar situations with similar punishments.
Of course, the most prevalent NFL scandals currently involve the New Orleans Saints. Not to pick on them, but let us use them as an example of how things could be different if the NFL had a discipline program for wayward teams like the NCAA does. We all know about the ongoing bounty case and the allegations of wire-tapping in the Superdome by general manager Mickey Loomis, which hasn't had much attention in a month or so. But the bounty case is fresh in everyone's mind because of ongoing litigation.
We also all know that several Saints players and coaches have received varying degrees of suspensions based on their involvement in the scandal. Head coach Sean Payton and linebacker Jonathan Vilma received the brunt of the blow with season-long suspensions. Three other players and two coaches will serve time away from the field for differing numbers of games.
While many applaud these suspensions, are they really enough to deter other players or their organizations from clandestinely implementing similar programs? Heck, Pittsburgh Steelers linebacker James Harrison has been outspoken about his desire to bash opponents in the head regardless of how many fines or suspensions he receives. Sounds like the helmet-to-helmet rule is really effective, doesn't it?
Generally, suspensions and fines only hit players and coaches in the pocketbook, which have too much padding anyway due to inflated salaries. Sure, they hate the time away from the game and maybe it affects them physically a minute amount, but these types of disciplines aren't hard-hitting enough to make a lasting impact. If a player has invested his millions wisely, missing a year wouldn't hurt him that bad financially. I'm sure most of them live off the interest in their bank accounts anyway.
So, what the NFL should do it adopt a policy where a team gets penalized in two areas where it would really count — the postseason and the draft.
What if the NFL's discipline for the Saints included a two-year ban from the playoffs? That would be the equivalent of a college team getting banned from bowl games for a couple years. How would that affect a team? Could you imagine if the Saints went 12-4 this year, but had to sit out the postseason? What would make Jonathan Vilma more upset: missing a season or playing a season with no reward at the end? The latter would be devastating.
Of course, the naysayers would argue that a team would only play half-hearted all year, coaches would give more time to second and third string players and maybe games would even be thrown to keep a team from having a successful season. But then the NFL could have a version of the NCAA's "death penalty" where if a team couldn't prove that it put forth its best effort to play competitively, then it would have its franchise suspended for a season, or the post-season ban would be lengthened. I'm sure the legality of that could easily be challenged, but it's a thought.
The other hard-hitting discipline the NCAA has is scholarship reductions. Obviously, the NFL doesn't hand out scholarships, but what if the league translated that to draft picks? To go along with the two-year playoff ban, maybe the Saints would also lose their first and second round draft picks for those two years. Then Sean Payton and front office would be forced to try and keep a winner on the field using veterans and the free-agent market. While that may not be such a difficult task to accomplish, what veteran or young hopeful would want to go to a franchise that couldn't play in the postseason? That, too, would be devastating.
I'll admit that the NFL tries its best to curtail unsportsmanlike and downright vicious play by on-the-field legislation. But until it makes rules at the top that put fear into GMs and coaches around the league, nothing will change.
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