NFL to Create Bounty Tip Line

If you are not tired of hearing about all the bounty-related business rest assured that it is about to get a lot worse. Roger Goodell has made a good PR move by announcing that the NFL will be creating an anonymous tip line for anyone to call into should they want to report the existence of a bounty system in the league.

The line has already served a purpose even though it hasn't been created yet. It helped convince Senator Dick Durbin (D-Illinois) from calling for a Senate investigation into bounties in professional sports. Apparently he did not hear that the last time the Senate got involved in pro sports (PED use in baseball) it was an immense waste of time and money.

While even suggesting a Senate hearing should be enough to get Durbin exiled, he will likely gain some points with voters for not getting involved.

It will likely not do Goodell any favors though. The NFL is still dealing with the fiasco that is the Saints bounty scandal. Part of the problem is that the evidence that has been presented can't be corroborated, at least not by the players since the NFL has not been very forthcoming with the evidence they supposedly have.

Making the line anonymous is a bad idea. Players can just as easily make false reports as they can make legitimate ones. Without being able to follow-up with whoever made the complaint league investigators will be looking for a needle in a haystack every time a complaint is made.

Since there will be no accountability for false claims, what is going to stop players from making them because they are mad at their team or want to mess with Goodell? It's nice to see you are trying to do something Goodell, but how about doing something that will actually help instead.