The latest twist in the Saints' bounty scandal arrived Monday morning, when the meeting between NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell and all four suspended Saints players was cut short.
There is a lot of confusion in this bounty case, but one thing looks clear: Jonathan Vilma is waging a different war than Scott Fujita, Anthony Hargrove, and Will Smith.
Those three men released a statement before the appeal that said they not approve of the manner in which the proceedings were being held and suggested that they wouldn't participate in the hearings. Vilma was not involved in their statement.
Steve Wyche reports that Fujita, Hargrove, and Smith will return when the bounty case reconvenes Monday afternoon at 1:45 p.m. ET. Vilma's attorney Peter Ginsberg says his client won't return. Ginsberg called the entire process a "sham."
I'm not a lawyer, so I won't pretend to know exactly what all of Monday's legal wrangling means. I do know Vilma is the only player suing Goodell for defamation. His decision to not return to the hearing on Monday looks like grandstanding.
Right or wrong, Vilma is conducting a fight apart from the other three suspended players.
