Seattle Seahawks in Danger of Being Penalized for Having Too Many Bad Boys

Pete Carroll has done a heck of a job crafting the Seattle Seahawks into a contender. Marshawn Lynch is making Buffalo with they hadn't given up on him so easy. Russell Wilson is making Carroll look like a genius for taking him in the third round. That defense--what can you say about those hard-hitting ball hawks that would do them justice?

However, he may have another challenge (other than the 49ers) in his path to Super Bowl glory. The NFL may use a little known rule to penalize the Seahawks for having too many guys get in trouble.

Anyone that says they knew about this rule is lying or works for the NFL disciplinary committee (do they have one of those?). Otherwise this would have certainly come up back when the Cincinnati Bengals or Oakland Raiders reigned as the bad boys of the NFL.

Apparently if a team has too many players test positive for PEDs (maybe conduct issues are not included in this rule; they should be) then a team can be subject to a penalty from the league. No one will get suspended longer and they will not lose draft picks, but the club will have to pay a fine that is equivalent to a certain percentage of the suspended players salaries.

Since 2011 the Seahawks have had six players suspended for PEDs. Richard Sherman would have made  it seven, but he was able to beat the rap on appeal.

The idea sounds like a pretty sound one, but I have to wonder about the exact details of it (I looked and couldn't find the e

xact rule anywhere; okay, I didn't look real hard---the kids wanted Daddy to play; sorry). How many players and in what time frame do the penalties have to happen?

"There are financial consequences for a team that has multiple players suspended in a season under those policies," NFL spokesman Greg Aiello said regarding the rule.

So what are the specifics of this rule? How come the NFL hasn't applied it before? The Seahawks can't be the only team to have six guys busted for PEDs over a two year span (if so then I apologize for questioning the NFL). It seemed like every time you turned around last season someone was getting busted for 'adderall' use.

How come this has never been applied in the past? Is it because it is just be another way for Roger Goodell to exert his power and control over the league? Something he has been dying to do ever since his efforts were thwarted by the Bounty Scandal?

It will be interesting to see how this one unfolds.