Bounty Case like "A Few Good Men"

Former NFL Commissioner Paul Tagliabue, against the player's wishes due to conflct of interest, comes into the New Orleans Saints bounty case and the outcome probably surprised everyone.

The outcome of the case reminded me greatly of the famous Tom Cruise and Jack Nicholson movie of 1992 "A Few Good Men."  In the movie, a couple of marines were accused of killing one of their own, because he reported that one of the accused had done something illegal.  Tom Cruise comes on the case and finds that the "code" of Colonel Jessup's (Nicholson) marine base at Guantanamo Bay was that all orders must be followed, regardless.  Colonel Jessup ordered the accused to do a "code red" on the deceased, which was to rough up the whistle blower.  It was discovered that the perpetrators of the accidental killing were ordered by their supreme leaders to commit the illegal act and were "forced" to comply or else they would have been subject to their own discipline for refusing an order--also considered a crime (Keifer Sutherland's character Leuitenant Kendrick famously said)--in their world.

In the Saints case, Paul Tagliabue found similar things to the 1992 movie plot.  The Saints players had indeed done something wrong, but due to the undue influence of their superiors, they were compelled to oblige and take part.

Life imitating art as they say.  Now the fallout from the defamation of character lawsuit of Jonathan Vilma against current NFL commissioner Roger Goodell will be interesting and we will see if any of the other players wants their own form of vengeance, as all could make the case for loss of income and injury to their careers in different ways.  I haven't figured out what movie or book plot this situation will come from, but I will be brushing up on my John Grisham thrillers!

Should Rookies Get Paid High Salaries?

The argument has been made for many years by many people, saying that rookies should not get the big money before doing anything for their respective teams. This seems to have some validity on the face of it, but with just a little bit of thought, it is obvious that they indeed deserve every penny that the system will give them.
In America people look for jobs at any company they choose and negotiate a salary. The more impressive your resume, the more money you can command on the open market and in times of lower unemployment, some companies even give signing bonuses to top talent--BEFORE they work for the company (Tom Cruise in "The Firm").
In pro sports there is a draft system, not allowing players to negotiate freely on the open market to the highest bidder. No, Matthew Stafford had to play for the Detroit Lions this year or sit out. Andre Smith sits at home waiting to play football for the Cincinnati Bengals, but they can decline to "play ball" in the competitive marketplace and deny his ability to earn a salary even though other teams would pay him, but he cannot negotiate with anyone but the tight-fisted Bengals.
Same for the flame-throwing baseball player that signed minute before the deadline or he was out of pro baseball for the year. This is not a fair system and that is why there are collective bargaining agreements between owners and player's unions.
We are paid on potential. You can't price-fix in the U.S.A. The NFL has already been sued of price fixing. On the open market or in the closed market, what you might do in the future (based on previous work like college games) is just as valuable to your future employer's sales and marketing teams as the proven pro. Actually many times the next newest star is more valuable.