News: NFL Network suspends Brian Baldinger for suggesting bounty on Zeke

[tyke1doe]

Agreed...they will see over the next six months that no one misses him and then he will just be let go. Hope it was worth it for him.

The thing about it is this: Each year, NFL Network (and other NFL shows, for that matter) audition new talent. There are a number of ex-players who want these spots. They're heavily coveted. You have Brett Favre and long-time retirees as well as recent retirees like Peyton Manning itching to get into these commentator spots. So when they go vacate, it's almost like "next man up."

Baldy aint all that to where his seat can't be filled. Major career blunder on his part.

 

[Proof]

The people sticking up for Baldinger do so at their own ignorance. The league's not about to go to court in the future and allow this situation into evidence. Hey, we're serious about player safety. Really? Then why did you allow one of your own employees advocate a bounty on a player without any repercussions?

No lawyer on the planet would advise the NFL to let this slide. He could have easily been fired. 6 months is plenty of time to get that pinky fixed and rehabbed. It's win/win.

pretty much. it's not soft / pc society, it's billion dollar corporate culture.

 

[Oh_Canada]

I think you are wrong and being overly sensitive. This was him doing a character on philly radio during Dallas week.

Rick Walker who works for the Commanders and is part of their radio broadcast had a video saying beat Dallas or die before the game in week 2. Thats just as dumb as baldinger doing a character.

Are you ok? I know you must be

nope. But what baldinger did on the radio had nothing to do with his TV work.

When he wasn't introduced on the show was it as a character of a philly fan or current NFL network analyst? My guess is the ladder which means he is representing the league.

 

[T-RO]

Those of you thinking this is just political correctness either weren't around 25 years ago or aren't remembering it very well.

The "Bounty Bowl" was a big deal...created a huge and justified indignation. People weren't OK with it at all.

And those Philly fans really are mental...and can be easily incited to violence and nonsense. There are mindless animals in that city.

I argue that anything and everything must be used to suppress them and cage them in. Football superiority, legal action, electric cattle prods.... You treat them as the rabid animals that they are...and you don't let up.



This from Wikipedia,

• During Bounty Bowl II at Veterans Stadium, Philadelphia Eagles fans threw snowballs, chunks of ice, and various other objects at Dallas Cowboys players and officials as revenge against accusations by Cowboys coach Jimmy Johnson that Eagles coach Buddy Ryan had placed a "bounty" on the head of Cowboys placekicker Luis Zendejas during the teams' previous meeting. Back judge Al Jury and Cowboys punter Mike Saxon were both knocked to the ground by a barrage of snowballs, CBS broadcasters Verne Lundquist and Terry Bradshaw had to dodge snowballs aimed at the broadcast booth (at one point, with the cameras focused on them, Bradshaw took one and threw it against the wall so viewers could see just how dangerous the snowballs were, while at the end of the game Lundquist claimed on-air that a recent root canal surgery had been more pleasant than broadcasting the Eagles[49]), and Johnson was booed, pelted with various objects and subject to beer pouring as he was escorted from the field by Philadelphia Police officers at the end of the game.[50] The Eagles upgraded security at the stadium and banned beer sales for their last home game of the season.

 

[dragon_mikal]

People still haven't realized that just because you can say something doesn't mean you should.

Yea in this country you have a right to say pretty much anything you want but you also are going to have to take responsibility and reap what you sow if what you say is stupid.

Better to keep your mouth shut and be thought stupid than to open it and remove all doubt.

 

[Plankton]

I don't think that this is a difficult concept to grasp.

The league is under siege from its former players for not being forthcoming about the effects of concussions, and they have been sued by thousands of those players for not informing them of potential side effects. You had a team busted for running a bounty program where their head coach was suspended for a season, and his DC was for longer than that.

With them facing lawsuits, and erosion of their future talent pool due to safety concerns, people expect them to just shrug off an on-air analyst from their owned/operated network advocating placing a bounty on a player? Whether it was "role playing" or whether he was completely serious, they can't just let it go, or they are opening themselves up to a huge issue with these lawsuits.

Baldinger is an idiot. Plain and simple. When you say dumb things, and it is caught on tape, don't be surprised when there are consequences.

 

[Philmonroe]

Sure but the punishment doesn't fit the crime..


Just more proof of how soft our society is.

I agree and @Doomsday you can't be serious with the "what about the kids" angle?

 

[Zimmy Lives]

Why? They suspended Greg Williams indefinitely..

Because they hired the guy knowing he was known for his highly abrasive opinions. They should have known what they were getting.

 

[dragon_mikal]

I agree and @Doomsday you can't be serious with the "what about the kids" angle?

As a father kids absorb pretty much anything and everything they see and hear which is why I keep them away from social media in general and monitor pretty much everything they watch.

There are a lot of little jerks running around because parents don't give a damn about what their kids do or see.

Won't apologize for caring.

 

[JDSmith]

So a commentator who has nothing to do with the team strategy deserves to be suspended 6 months for just suggesting a bounty when actual coaches who had actual bounties only got suspended a year?

Come on.

It's amazing how many people don't see the difference. As if Baldy saying that in a bit on a Philly radio show is remotely the same as a coach saying it.

Baldy doesn't tell the players what to do, and he's not paying any bounties.

 

[JDSmith]

As a father kids absorb pretty much anything and everything they see and hear which is why I keep them away from social media in general and monitor pretty much everything they watch.

There are a lot of little jerks running around because parents don't give a damn about what their kids do or see.

Won't apologize for caring.

My kids were in school when he did the bit on Philly radio. The kids in Philly were in school too.

I care, and my kids know real from make believe, so even if they heard it I am not overly concerned that they'd be tainted by it.

 

[T-RO]

If you think it's just trashing talking in Philly...and they don't mean it...you don't know what you are talking about.

A little history lesson:

 

[JDSmith]

If you think it's just trashing talking in Philly...and they don't mean it...you don't know what you are talking about.

When did they make Baldinger a coach? I guess that will make the suspension from the NFL network easier on him, at least he has his coaching gig in Philly.

Maybe I'm misunderstanding, but if Baldinger isn't a coach it's an entirely different situation than the bounty put out on Zendehas and Troy.

 

[Philmonroe]

As a father kids absorb pretty much anything and everything they see and hear which is why I keep them away from social media in general and monitor pretty much everything they watch.

There are a lot of little jerks running around because parents don't give a damn about what their kids do or see.

Won't apologize for caring.

Sounds good. News flash vast majority of kids aren't watching nfln and secondly most don't know what a bounty is. Those things kind of make what your saying not make sense in this instance. Nobody asked you about apologizing for caring but whatever moral guise that makes you feel better about your bogus stance on this issue go with it.

 

[Hoov]

Totally disagree. What he said crossed the line and was irresponsible.

The league has made it a priority to protect players and now you got a commentator on your own network talking about bounties for hurting a player.

It also sends a terrible message to kids watching.

That's really the point IMO.

With the concussion law suit, the rule changes and all the emphasis on player safety and the league trying to put out an image that it cares about its players - any talk of a bounty directly contradicts everything they are saying - and there has already been a precedence with the saints and their defensive coordinator and that whole bounty situation.

Now even through it could be argued that Baldy was just joking around - lets say that Zeke did take a really hard hit or cheap shot and was injured - or even if injured with a legal hit - everyone would be saying its because there was a bounty on him and things could have escalated.

 

[John813]

I don't see this as being PC, or over sensitive.

The NFL has gone through rounds of bounty scandals, with the latest one being the Saints a few years ago.
And Goodell laid down some tough suspensions on the Saints.

An NFL employee went on the radio, character or not, and said bounty and a players name.

While I think it could of been less, suspension wise, I'm sure the NFL doesn't want anyone associated with them talking about putting a bounty on a player.

 

[T-RO]

Pen them in. Cage them. Imprison them. Censor them. Fine them. Fire them. Silence them.

They are Eagles. Beat them down. Then beat them some more. Don't let them up.

Civilization's survival and success requires beating down such creatures.

 

[T-RO]

When did they make Baldinger a coach? I guess that will make the suspension from the NFL network easier on him, at least he has his coaching gig in Philly.

Maybe I'm misunderstanding, but if Baldinger isn't a coach it's an entirely different situation than the bounty put out on Zendehas and Troy.

Philly's streets are perpetually wet with gasoline. We don't need Baldinger playing with matches.

 

[JDSmith]

Philly's streets are perpetually wet with gasoline. We don't need Baldinger playing with matches.

Wow, I can't believe how many times I've been there and made it out alive. I had no idea how dangerous it was. I wasn't even wearing body armor.

 

[Manwiththeplan]

I think 6 months is a bit much