After hearing appeals of the four players suspended in connection with the New Orleans Saints bounty scandal, the NFL brought in 12 reporters, including Peter King of SI.com, Mike Freeman of CBS Sports and Bob Glauber of Newsday.com to view evidence collected against the Saints. According to several media reports, what the league presented was "explosive, compelling, and quite damning."
"First, [a] good chunk of the NFL's evidence came from Saints own computer system," Freeman wrote on Twitter. "[Former Saints defensive coordinator] Gregg Williams was clearly the biggest source for NFL but [there's] no question [the] league has many other sources. Owner [Tom] Benson was cooperative with the league granting investigators access to Saints computer system. Saints kept bounty info on [their] computer system. Williams told investigators he was 'rolling the dice with player safety and someone could have been maimed.' Saints used Dog the Bounty Hunter as motivation."
This came just after Scott Fujita and Jonathan Vilma proclaimed their innocence earlier in the day, and lawyers ripped the league for not providing evidence for the punishments indicted.
Here is what Peter King tweeted:
"NFL just showed reporters evidence in Saints case, incl[uding] allegation of $35k bounty, not just $10k, to knock Favre out of '09 NFC title game. NFL also showed evidence on ledger that S Roman Harper once was due $1000 for knocking NYG RB Brandon Jacobs from a game. The $35k bounty on Favre, the league claims, included a $5000 pledge from current interim Saints coach Joe Vitt.
"The NFL's charges are explosive, compelling," King continued. "Twelve reporters just heard the league's evidence. To clarify, the 12 reporters were told they were getting the same presentation the players got earlier in the afternoon."
Read more on the Saints bounty scandal at SB Nation Atlanta.