Essendon COLA-style player settlements and the almost limitless ability to sign coveted free agents and retain players

[GuzzLG]

Essendon also paid Ryder Monfries Hibberd and Melksham outside the cap allowing Port and Melbourne to target those juicy free agents.

 

[Great8]

Hasn’t helped us one bit so maybe we need a few PP’s to get us to be competitive

 

[Shane Heard]

lol what

i was referring to how they manage to re-sign/sign players on big $$$ too then. according to colin young they were going to find it tough to keep all of Yeo, McGovern and Gaff. then they end up keeping Gaff and then are after kelly on big money.

Well we all know McGov got a very generous partnership in a building company that just happens to pay a very nice wage to supplement his footy money.

That’s smart by WC. Salary caps are just silly little things that pretend to keep everyone on the straight and narrow.

That’s footy.

 

[Freomaniac]

To be honest now days, you have to be really bad to breach the salary cap now days. The current salary cap is what? 13 million? thats $250,000 a week.

divide that by 40 is $6250 a week, thats $325,000 a year.

 

[Buzzasto DaSilva]

Essendon also paid Ryder Monfries Hibberd and Melksham outside the cap allowing Port and Melbourne to target those juicy free agents.

Monfries left before the drugs saga you goose.

 

[The Warlord]

It’s called compensation payments for a reason.

It’s compensation for the absolute trauma inflicted on innocent players.

How else was it all going to be?

We’re just lucky the fans didn’t abandon the club in droves and lost more money.

You want to rehash the whole thing every year? Go ahead. But 99% of the footy world just wants to move on from it all.

You forget that the saga put the entire league itself in jeopardy. The reputation of the game itself. Millions of dollars ..tens of millions of dollars in league sponsorship and advertising were potentially at risk.

It was the most serious problem the league has faced in its 150 year history.

There was only one way to go about it.

It’s not pretty but it was sorted out behind close doors where it ought to be.

Well, no, they tried that but WADA came in over the top.

 

[The Warlord]

How many drug cheats are still on the list? With every retirement, de-listing, trade and contract expiration this advantage becomes less and less. I dare say it is close to being a none issue these days.

Hurley, Hooker, Heppell, Bellchambers with Myers retiring.

Hurley and Heppell would command decent salaries as free agents. You'd think in their top five players.

So if the Bombers were able to effectively fund a contract extension through the compo, then boom, that's how they afford Shiel and Jack Martin.

 

[The Warlord]

The competition is rigged and currently it is not in the AFL's interests for Essendon to win a premiership. What OP states is true but irrelevant in the grand scheme of things. The outrage is misdirected.

Turn it up, they would love nothing more. Maybe GWS.

 

[BEEG]

#standbyessendon

 

[BOMBERS 4 LIFE!!!!]

Turn it up, they would love nothing more. Maybe GWS.

If we do win a flag it will be pretty special considering what the club went through

 

[The Warlord]

If we do win a flag it will be pretty special considering what the club went through

If you do I want WADA testers in the rooms.

Because of "what you went through".

 

[Black white]

I just hope the players aren't blowing their cola on James Hird Tanning solutions.

 

[Loken]

I just hope the players aren't blowing their cola on James Hird Tanning solutions.

They are much smarter than that.

They've set up a combined gambling and clenbuterol store outside the Collingwood Holden Centre.

Much more money in that.

 

[Linda Lovelace]

And you and others have been told countless times...

The settlements were negotiated by the players lawyers.

So what you’re saying is, the players were told “you get $xxx, but if you’ll stay at Essendon, you get more”?

Right. Think about about it.

And as I've probably told you multiple times that your point about it being negotiated by lawyers is some weird distinction that doesn't make any sense. Lawyers work for their clients. And negotiations are defined by leverage and in this instance leverage in settlement talks cannot be separated from leverage in playing contract negotiations.

The scenario you mentioned likely happened - both club and player managers would have been negligent not to do it. It's not against the law and the AFL had no oversight other than the 'don't take the piss rule'. But it didn't even have to happen this way.

Imagine a scenario where Essendon outright refused to settle with any player and forced it to go through the courts. All the players would have walked. And once you realize this, then you realize that it was impossible to separate settlements from contracts.

Likewise, if Essendon tried to low-ball them players would have walked. And if the settlement offer was generous, that's more likely to make the player want to stay. Fundamentally, these negotiations had to overlap.

 

[Toump Ass]

Sometimes I almost forget how spineless the AFL are. Stephenson match-fixing and Collingwood being allowed to negotiate a "9 and a bit" match suspension just in time for finals. Multiple clubs retaining premierships for years they breached the salary cap. Essendon being penalised "for governance issues" instead of for giving their players performance enhancing drugs, then being allowed to keep the number one pick in the draft when they couldn't field a clean team. Melbourne fined for "not tanking" and then being handed back the fine (with interest) so they could replace their coach, while the actual coach who did tank was supended despite having moved to a different club (lol Adelaide). Eagles allowed to field half a side full of pill heads and coke addicts.

It's pretty average really.

But yeah back on topic, the thing that shits me most about the Essendon saga was keeping pick 1. That just made no sense.

 

[Upgrayedd]

If we do win a flag it will be pretty special considering what the club went through

A Systematic doping regime? Not special. just a black stain on the league

Im sure you will be cheering for TJ Dillashaw's return to MMA as well.

 

[Shane Heard]

To put in perspective how the AFL compares to the biggest sporting league in the world..just take a look at these horrendous scandals that have happened to the NFL over the years.

And these are just a few of hundreds more incidents.

We’re like a kindergarten naughty compared to this stuff...

The Patriots were found guilty of illegally videotaping the New York Jets’ defensive signals during a 2007 game. Head coach Bill Belichick was fined $500,000, the franchise was fined $250,000 and it lost a 2008 first-round draft pick. The incident gave Belichick and the Pats a reputation for using shady tactics.

Former New England Patriots tight end Aaron Hernandez was convicted of first-degree murder on April 15, but his saga is not over. He has another pending case, in which the former New England Patriots star is accused of gunning down two people in 2012 at a South Boston stoplight, and this case is thought to be much stronger than the one that just concluded.

Tom Brady's four-game suspension for his role in using underinflated footballs during the AFC championship game was overturned by a judge, which is a bad look for NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell. The four-time Super Bowl-winning quarterback was suspended by NFL executive Troy Vincent in May following the release of the Wells investigation report. The Patriots were fined $1 million and docked a pair of draft picks. The team didn't appeal its penalty, but Brady and his lawyers made their case during a 10-hour appeal hearing on June 23.

The Kansas City Chiefs linebacker rocked the sports world in December 2012 when he killed his girlfriend, then drove to the Chiefs training facility and shot himself. The incident sparked national debate about gun laws, and Belcher's family had his body exhumed to have his brain studied. In 2014, a report was released stating that Belcher had suffered from chronic traumatic encephalopathy, a degenerative disease that has been linked to head trauma and diagnosed in former NFL players.

New Orleans coaches and players were accused of offering bounties to knock opposing players out of games between 2009 and 2011. The scandal further damaged the league at a time when player safety already was being called into question. Among the punishments that resulted from a league investigation, Saints head coach Sean Payton and defensive coordinator Gregg Williams both were suspended for the entire 2012 season

The star running back was deactivated by the Minnesota Vikings for Week 2 of the 2014 season after being indicted on charges of reckless or negligent injury to a child, resulting from whipping his 4-year-old son with a switch. The team reactivated him, but just two days later he was placed on the NFL’s Exempt/Commissioner’s Permission list — effectively banned from football indefinitely. Two months later, after Peterson pleaded 'no contest' to a lesser misdemeanor charge of reckless assault, the NFL announced Peterson was suspended until April 16. Peterson has rejoined the team and restructed his deal for a reported $44 million

The Baltimore Ravens running back was suspended two games by the NFL in 2014 after he was arrested and charged with assaulting his then-fiancee; video showed him dragging her unconscious body out of a hotel elevator. When another video that showed Rice punching his now-wife was released, Rice was cut by the Ravens and the NFL suspended him indefinitely. The NFL investigation was botched so badly that commissioner Roger Goodell was shamed into a public apology and forced to overhaul the league's domestic violence policy. Rice is still looking for a second chance in the league.

He was never charged with a crime, but Pittsburgh’s star quarterback was suspended for six games (reduced to four) in 2010 for violating the league’s personal-conduct policy. Roethlisberger was investigated after being accused of sexually assaulting a 20-year-old female — the second such accusation against him in a two-year period, which led to him being nicknamed 'Rapelisberger' by critics. Big Ben was one of the league's most high-profile QBs, coming off a second Super Bowl title, and the NFL was forced to address his pattern of troubling off-the-field behavior

Before former Pro Bowl safety Dave Duerson (pictured) killed himself with a gunshot to the chest in 2011, he texted his family asking them to have his brain studied for the effects of concussions and head trauma. Research revealed Duerson indeed had suffered from chronic traumatic encephalopathy, the degenerative disease that has been diagnosed in more and more former NFL players. The league had long maintained that it provided for former players and denied that it failed to protect their health. But following the suicide of former Chargers star Junior Seau in 2012 and the increasing number of lawsuits by former players, the NFL reached a $765 million concussion settlement in 2013. In 2014, a U.S. District judge refused the settlement on the grounds that it was inadequate


The Baltimore Ravens linebacker pleaded guilty to obstruction of justice in connection with the still-unsolved murder of two men who were stabbed to death during a fight involving Lewis and his friends in Atlanta after Super Bowl XXXIV in January 2000. Lewis was fined $250,000 by the NFL but never suspended. Critics still call Lewis a tainted legend; some call him worse.


The star quarterback of the Atlanta Falcons pleaded guilty to felony charges in 2007, after being exposed as the head of a dog-fighting ring based in his Virginia hometown, and served 21 months in prison. Vick returned to the NFL in 2009 amid much public outcry from animal rights activists

A five-time Super Bowl winner as San Francisco 49ers owner, DeBartolo was suspended for the 1999 season after pleading guilty to a criminal charge connected to the corruption case against a former Louisiana governor. He relinquished control of the 49ers a year later.

Cincinnati had a major role planned for Wilson against San Francisco but was forced to leave him off the roster when the running back suffered a drug relapse the night before the big game. The Bengals lost, 20-16, and Wilson was banned from the NFL for life as a three-time offender.

Robbins went AWOL the day before the Super Bowl, forcing the Raiders to replace their Pro Bowl center against Tampa Bay. Oakland lost, 48-21. Robbins, who reportedly had stopped taking his medication and gone partying in Tijuana, Mexico, was diagnosed with bipolar disorder. He played one more season before being cut for failing a PED test.

Several Cowboys players used a rented house for illicit acts during the team’s 1990s Super Bowl heyday. The excesses caught up with wide receiver Michael Irvin. He served a five-game suspension in 1996 following a no-contest plea to a drug charge


The Dallas Cowboys nose tackle was driving under the influence when he crashed his Mercedes in December 2012, killing teammate Jerry Brown. It wasn't the first case of DUI manslaughter to rock the league — see Leonard Little and Donte Stallworth — and the incident further damaged the NFL's reputation for being unable to control its players' behavior, as the league has been plagued by offseason arrests in recent years. Brent was sentenced to 180 days in jail and rejoined the Cowboys in 2014.


Two of the NFL’s top players were suspended for the 1963 season after betting on NFL games and associating with gamblers. Both were reinstated the following season and continued their careers. Hornung was voted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1986, while Karras had a film and TV career after football


he New York Giants wide receiver accidentally shot himself inside a New York City nightclub, which led to him being charged with criminal possession of a handgun and a 20-month stint in prison. The 2008 Giants unraveled after the incident and lost in the second round of the playoffs without their star wide receiver, who was released before the 2009 season.

Before Robert Mueller investigated Russia’s alleged interference in the 2016 US presidential election, he investigated the National Football League’s handling of the Baltimore Ravens’ Ray Rice, who in 2014 knocked out his then-fiancee at an Atlantic City casino. Mueller issued a 65-page report in January 2015, offering a number of steps the league could have taken to investigate the incident and those it could take in the future. Almost four years later, it’s debatable whether the NFL heeded any of Mueller’s advice, a state of affairs that has been highlighted by high-profile cases in the past month. And the reasons for the NFL’s inaction point back to profit and apathy.

Perhaps the most striking case is that of the Kansas City Chiefs’ Kareem Hunt, who was caught on a video published by TMZ last week shoving and kicking a 19-year-old woman. The Chiefs and the NFL had known about the incident (which was not domestic violence as the woman in question was not Hunt’s partner) since it had occurred in February, but the player had not faced any discipline. The Chiefs took Hunt at his word that he had nothing to do with it, while the NFL did not speak to Hunt or the woman he assaulted and told the Chiefs to stop pursuing video. It was only after the video surfaced on TMZ that the NFL placed him on the exempt list (players on the list cannot practice with their teams but are still paid) and the Chiefs cut him loose. Hunt was one of the most effective running backs in the league, and it’s not outlandish to wonder whether the Chiefs would have stuck with a less talented player for so long

June: NFL wide receiver Andre "Bad Moon" Rison and his girlfriend, Lisa Lopes of the hip-hop group "TLC" were involved in an altercation that ended with Lopes accidentally burning down Rison's Georgia mansion. Later, Lopes' lawyer claimed that she was physically abused. Rison admitted that he slapped her -- "not to hurt her, but to calm her

1996

January: Cincinnati Bengals defensive lineman Dan “Big Daddy” Wilkinson faced a charge of hitting pregnant Shawnda Lamarr during a domestic dispute. Despite Lamarr's objections, the case went to trial and Wilkinson pled no contest to a misdemeanor charge.

February: Minnesota Vikings quarterback Warren Moon was found not guilty of spousal abuse involving his wife, Felicia Moon. He was accused with striking and choking his wife, but was acquitted after she took the blame for the incident.


April: The St. Louis Rams selected standout running back Lawrence Phillips with the sixth pick in the 1996 NFL Draft despite the fact that he had recently been charged in a domestic violence confrontation involving his girlfriend. Phillips lasted just 25 games with the Rams and would later face similar charges in 1997 and 2005. He is currently serving a 31-year sentence in a California prison


September: NFL legend Jim Brown is found guilty of vandalism for smashing his wife's car window with a shovel during a heated domestic dispute. He was sentenced to three years' probation and 400 hours of community service. Initially, Brown was charged with threatening to kill his wife, but she would ultimately recant that accusation

ovember: Carolina Panthers wide receiver Rae Carruth was arrested for his involvement in the drive-by shooting that left pregnant girlfriend Cherica Adams in a coma. Doctors were able to save her unborn child, but died of her injuries. Carruth is alleged to have targeted Adams because she refused to abort her baby. In 2001, he was found guilty of conspiracy to commit murder and sentenced to 18 to 24 years in prison.

August: Newly signed Miami Dolphins wide receiver Chad Johnson allegedly headbutts Evelyn Lozada, his wife of one month, during a domestic dispute. The Dolphins opted to cut Johnson after his arrest, but he never received a punishment from the NFL. Johnson hasn't played in the league since.

December: Kansas City Chiefs linebacker Jovan Belcher fatally shoots girlfriend Kasandra Perkins nine times after a heated argument, then commits suicide in front of the franchise's head coach and general manager. Belcher and Perkins had an infant child

 

[Egga]

To put in perspective how the AFL compares to the biggest sporting league in the world..just take a look at these horrendous scandals that have happened to the NFL over the years.

And these are just a few of hundreds more incidents.

We’re like a kindergarten naughty compared to this stuff...

The Patriots were found guilty of illegally videotaping the New York Jets’ defensive signals during a 2007 game. Head coach Bill Belichick was fined $500,000, the franchise was fined $250,000 and it lost a 2008 first-round draft pick. The incident gave Belichick and the Pats a reputation for using shady tactics.

Former New England Patriots tight end Aaron Hernandez was convicted of first-degree murder on April 15, but his saga is not over. He has another pending case, in which the former New England Patriots star is accused of gunning down two people in 2012 at a South Boston stoplight, and this case is thought to be much stronger than the one that just concluded.

Tom Brady's four-game suspension for his role in using underinflated footballs during the AFC championship game was overturned by a judge, which is a bad look for NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell. The four-time Super Bowl-winning quarterback was suspended by NFL executive Troy Vincent in May following the release of the Wells investigation report. The Patriots were fined $1 million and docked a pair of draft picks. The team didn't appeal its penalty, but Brady and his lawyers made their case during a 10-hour appeal hearing on June 23.

The Kansas City Chiefs linebacker rocked the sports world in December 2012 when he killed his girlfriend, then drove to the Chiefs training facility and shot himself. The incident sparked national debate about gun laws, and Belcher's family had his body exhumed to have his brain studied. In 2014, a report was released stating that Belcher had suffered from chronic traumatic encephalopathy, a degenerative disease that has been linked to head trauma and diagnosed in former NFL players.

New Orleans coaches and players were accused of offering bounties to knock opposing players out of games between 2009 and 2011. The scandal further damaged the league at a time when player safety already was being called into question. Among the punishments that resulted from a league investigation, Saints head coach Sean Payton and defensive coordinator Gregg Williams both were suspended for the entire 2012 season

The star running back was deactivated by the Minnesota Vikings for Week 2 of the 2014 season after being indicted on charges of reckless or negligent injury to a child, resulting from whipping his 4-year-old son with a switch. The team reactivated him, but just two days later he was placed on the NFL’s Exempt/Commissioner’s Permission list — effectively banned from football indefinitely. Two months later, after Peterson pleaded 'no contest' to a lesser misdemeanor charge of reckless assault, the NFL announced Peterson was suspended until April 16. Peterson has rejoined the team and restructed his deal for a reported $44 million

The Baltimore Ravens running back was suspended two games by the NFL in 2014 after he was arrested and charged with assaulting his then-fiancee; video showed him dragging her unconscious body out of a hotel elevator. When another video that showed Rice punching his now-wife was released, Rice was cut by the Ravens and the NFL suspended him indefinitely. The NFL investigation was botched so badly that commissioner Roger Goodell was shamed into a public apology and forced to overhaul the league's domestic violence policy. Rice is still looking for a second chance in the league.

He was never charged with a crime, but Pittsburgh’s star quarterback was suspended for six games (reduced to four) in 2010 for violating the league’s personal-conduct policy. Roethlisberger was investigated after being accused of sexually assaulting a 20-year-old female — the second such accusation against him in a two-year period, which led to him being nicknamed 'Rapelisberger' by critics. Big Ben was one of the league's most high-profile QBs, coming off a second Super Bowl title, and the NFL was forced to address his pattern of troubling off-the-field behavior

Before former Pro Bowl safety Dave Duerson (pictured) killed himself with a gunshot to the chest in 2011, he texted his family asking them to have his brain studied for the effects of concussions and head trauma. Research revealed Duerson indeed had suffered from chronic traumatic encephalopathy, the degenerative disease that has been diagnosed in more and more former NFL players. The league had long maintained that it provided for former players and denied that it failed to protect their health. But following the suicide of former Chargers star Junior Seau in 2012 and the increasing number of lawsuits by former players, the NFL reached a $765 million concussion settlement in 2013. In 2014, a U.S. District judge refused the settlement on the grounds that it was inadequate


The Baltimore Ravens linebacker pleaded guilty to obstruction of justice in connection with the still-unsolved murder of two men who were stabbed to death during a fight involving Lewis and his friends in Atlanta after Super Bowl XXXIV in January 2000. Lewis was fined $250,000 by the NFL but never suspended. Critics still call Lewis a tainted legend; some call him worse.


The star quarterback of the Atlanta Falcons pleaded guilty to felony charges in 2007, after being exposed as the head of a dog-fighting ring based in his Virginia hometown, and served 21 months in prison. Vick returned to the NFL in 2009 amid much public outcry from animal rights activists

A five-time Super Bowl winner as San Francisco 49ers owner, DeBartolo was suspended for the 1999 season after pleading guilty to a criminal charge connected to the corruption case against a former Louisiana governor. He relinquished control of the 49ers a year later.

Cincinnati had a major role planned for Wilson against San Francisco but was forced to leave him off the roster when the running back suffered a drug relapse the night before the big game. The Bengals lost, 20-16, and Wilson was banned from the NFL for life as a three-time offender.

Robbins went AWOL the day before the Super Bowl, forcing the Raiders to replace their Pro Bowl center against Tampa Bay. Oakland lost, 48-21. Robbins, who reportedly had stopped taking his medication and gone partying in Tijuana, Mexico, was diagnosed with bipolar disorder. He played one more season before being cut for failing a PED test.

Several Cowboys players used a rented house for illicit acts during the team’s 1990s Super Bowl heyday. The excesses caught up with wide receiver Michael Irvin. He served a five-game suspension in 1996 following a no-contest plea to a drug charge


The Dallas Cowboys nose tackle was driving under the influence when he crashed his Mercedes in December 2012, killing teammate Jerry Brown. It wasn't the first case of DUI manslaughter to rock the league — see Leonard Little and Donte Stallworth — and the incident further damaged the NFL's reputation for being unable to control its players' behavior, as the league has been plagued by offseason arrests in recent years. Brent was sentenced to 180 days in jail and rejoined the Cowboys in 2014.


Two of the NFL’s top players were suspended for the 1963 season after betting on NFL games and associating with gamblers. Both were reinstated the following season and continued their careers. Hornung was voted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1986, while Karras had a film and TV career after football


he New York Giants wide receiver accidentally shot himself inside a New York City nightclub, which led to him being charged with criminal possession of a handgun and a 20-month stint in prison. The 2008 Giants unraveled after the incident and lost in the second round of the playoffs without their star wide receiver, who was released before the 2009 season.

Before Robert Mueller investigated Russia’s alleged interference in the 2016 US presidential election, he investigated the National Football League’s handling of the Baltimore Ravens’ Ray Rice, who in 2014 knocked out his then-fiancee at an Atlantic City casino. Mueller issued a 65-page report in January 2015, offering a number of steps the league could have taken to investigate the incident and those it could take in the future. Almost four years later, it’s debatable whether the NFL heeded any of Mueller’s advice, a state of affairs that has been highlighted by high-profile cases in the past month. And the reasons for the NFL’s inaction point back to profit and apathy.

Perhaps the most striking case is that of the Kansas City Chiefs’ Kareem Hunt, who was caught on a video published by TMZ last week shoving and kicking a 19-year-old woman. The Chiefs and the NFL had known about the incident (which was not domestic violence as the woman in question was not Hunt’s partner) since it had occurred in February, but the player had not faced any discipline. The Chiefs took Hunt at his word that he had nothing to do with it, while the NFL did not speak to Hunt or the woman he assaulted and told the Chiefs to stop pursuing video. It was only after the video surfaced on TMZ that the NFL placed him on the exempt list (players on the list cannot practice with their teams but are still paid) and the Chiefs cut him loose. Hunt was one of the most effective running backs in the league, and it’s not outlandish to wonder whether the Chiefs would have stuck with a less talented player for so long

June: NFL wide receiver Andre "Bad Moon" Rison and his girlfriend, Lisa Lopes of the hip-hop group "TLC" were involved in an altercation that ended with Lopes accidentally burning down Rison's Georgia mansion. Later, Lopes' lawyer claimed that she was physically abused. Rison admitted that he slapped her -- "not to hurt her, but to calm her

1996

January: Cincinnati Bengals defensive lineman Dan “Big Daddy” Wilkinson faced a charge of hitting pregnant Shawnda Lamarr during a domestic dispute. Despite Lamarr's objections, the case went to trial and Wilkinson pled no contest to a misdemeanor charge.

February: Minnesota Vikings quarterback Warren Moon was found not guilty of spousal abuse involving his wife, Felicia Moon. He was accused with striking and choking his wife, but was acquitted after she took the blame for the incident.


April: The St. Louis Rams selected standout running back Lawrence Phillips with the sixth pick in the 1996 NFL Draft despite the fact that he had recently been charged in a domestic violence confrontation involving his girlfriend. Phillips lasted just 25 games with the Rams and would later face similar charges in 1997 and 2005. He is currently serving a 31-year sentence in a California prison


September: NFL legend Jim Brown is found guilty of vandalism for smashing his wife's car window with a shovel during a heated domestic dispute. He was sentenced to three years' probation and 400 hours of community service. Initially, Brown was charged with threatening to kill his wife, but she would ultimately recant that accusation

ovember: Carolina Panthers wide receiver Rae Carruth was arrested for his involvement in the drive-by shooting that left pregnant girlfriend Cherica Adams in a coma. Doctors were able to save her unborn child, but died of her injuries. Carruth is alleged to have targeted Adams because she refused to abort her baby. In 2001, he was found guilty of conspiracy to commit murder and sentenced to 18 to 24 years in prison.

August: Newly signed Miami Dolphins wide receiver Chad Johnson allegedly headbutts Evelyn Lozada, his wife of one month, during a domestic dispute. The Dolphins opted to cut Johnson after his arrest, but he never received a punishment from the NFL. Johnson hasn't played in the league since.

December: Kansas City Chiefs linebacker Jovan Belcher fatally shoots girlfriend Kasandra Perkins nine times after a heated argument, then commits suicide in front of the franchise's head coach and general manager. Belcher and Perkins had an infant child

Wow, more than a dozen cases of murder, arson, vandalism and assault. Fortunately none of these guys stooped low enough to run a systematic doping regime.

 

[ExcitementMachine]

Essendon are in trouble IMO.
Have not nailed first rounders, no genuine A grade talent coming through, - McKenna excepted - a lot of mediocrity, and that's despite inconsistent players having fantastic seasons this year. Can expect guys like MTW and Stringer to go backwards next year.
Also I reckon a strength in KPP and depth is starting to weight thin. Hurley, Hooker on a steep decline. Daniher can't get on the park and not much else coming through.
Will go backwards from 8th this year leading to next.

 

[The Warlord]

Essendon are in trouble IMO.
Have not nailed first rounders, no genuine A grade talent coming through, - McKenna excepted - a lot of mediocrity, and that's despite inconsistent players having fantastic seasons this year. Can expect guys like MTW and Stringer to go backwards next year.
Also I reckon a strength in KPP and depth is starting to weight thin. Hurley, Hooker on a steep decline. Daniher can't get on the park and not much else coming through.
Will go backwards from 8th this year leading to next.

Yeah right they'll go backwards with JACK MARTIN owning the half forward line like Wayne Carey!

 

[rumply]

Essendon are in trouble IMO.
Have not nailed first rounders, no genuine A grade talent coming through, - McKenna excepted - a lot of mediocrity, and that's despite inconsistent players having fantastic seasons this year. Can expect guys like MTW and Stringer to go backwards next year.
Also I reckon a strength in KPP and depth is starting to weight thin. Hurley, Hooker on a steep decline. Daniher can't get on the park and not much else coming through.
Will go backwards from 8th this year leading to next.

CAUSE DRUGZ

 

[Shane Heard]

Wow, more than a dozen cases of murder, arson, vandalism and assault. Fortunately none of these guys stooped low enough to run a systematic doping regime.

Haha ..hilarious

 

[The Warlord]

Haha ..hilarious

What does NFL off field behavior have to do with Essendon team-wide doping regime that saw 34 players suspended for a year?

 

[ExcitementMachine]

CAUSE DRUGZ

What? You talkin' about the systemic doping regime?

 

[FlowersByIrene]

I absolutely despise Essendon, most corrupt organisation in the history of the league. Cheating the salary cap when they won a premiership in 1993, injected their players full of performance enhancing drugs. And the AFL has held their hand the entire way.