Cheating is cheating. I just find it funny that the NFL threatened legal action against the coach that exposed the cheating but whacked the saints pretty hard. I am not a Saint so it makes me no difference but it just looks funny that they appear to condone some cheating. I wouldn't think that there any fans that didn't know that the defense was trying to take out the opposing QB. Probably every team out there had some type of reward system for dishing out punishment. I just thought that they would try to handle it internally like they did the patriot scandal. The bad part is that every team likely did the same thing but is not getting touched.
I'm not sure I understand why people don't see the bigger picture here. First off, the Patriots did not get off scott free for the incidents they were accused of. But this is about violence and injury. They were not being paid for legal hits on QBs. They were paid for "cart-off" injuries. Injuries that end games and possibly careers. The NFL is facing a multitude of lawsuits regarding concussions and other awful injuries to former players already. They told the Saints to stop this behavior, and they not only continued, but they lied directly to the NFL about it. The NFL cannot just let this go.
A list of "targets" was released. So when Brett Favre and Kurt Warner or anyone else on the list shows up with a lawsuit in the future, what leg would the NFL have to stand on if they did nothing when there is proof they knew. It isn't an issue of "everyone does it". This is an issue of getting caught and the NFL being forced to act. While we all may or may not love the sport of football, the NFL is, first and foremost a business and a brand. They can't have something involving this level of potential injury become public and just let it go. Not if they want to protect themselves from future lawsuits.