Hypocrisy Knows No Bounds

Roger Goodell laid out some tough punishments for “Bounty Gate” earlier today. Sean Payton is done for the year, Gregg Williams may never coach in the NFL again, and even Saints GM Mickey Loomis got suspended. But something just as puzzling is going on during the aftermath of these punishments.

An employee of the NFL is targeting an individual, attempting to reveal them as the person that notified the league of BountyGate in the first place. Warren Sapp, who is an “analyst” for the NFL Network, has accused former Saints player Jeremy Shockey as the alleged leak in “Bounty Gate”. Lets assume this is accurate for the moment (and I’m not so sure it is), what is going on here? This is tantamount to retaliation.

Here’s an analogy for you.  An executive (the Saints) were doing something clearly against the rules of their business (the NFL). Lets say the executive was sexually harassing other employees. The business (NFL) finds out, and punishes the executive (Saints). An employee (Warren Sapp, NFL Network) attacks the whistleblower, who happens to be another employee (Shockey, Player) for snitching. That is the definition of retaliation.

An employee of the NFL, Warren Sapp, specifically targets the person he thinks is a whistleblower. First, if incorrect, Sapp has libeled Jeremy Shockey. Second,  if the NFL is serious about cleaning up the game, Warren Sapp has to be terminated immediately. This isn’t about freedom of speech. This is about someone that is compensated by the NFL, that TARGETED someone he perceived to be the whistleblower in this case.

Sorry, Warren. This is the business world, welcome to it. You can’t RETALIATE on a whistleblower.

{Edit: Wanna give props to Mike Florio of ProFootballTalk.com. Didn’t realize he penned an article very similar to mine, but his was up first. So check his out, as well.