Jonathan Vilma, the linebacker for the New Orleans Saints, requested a federal judge to overturn his suspension procured as a result of the NFL's bounty probe of the Saints.
Vilma has shown intention to play against the Bucs in Week 7. If he is allowed to play, his presence could help New Orleans' struggling defense.
The linebacker's suspension was completely overturned on September 7 and he was reinstated for the 2012 season.
NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell's disappointment was evident, however, and on Sep. 17, Vilma had a meeting with Roger Goodell to discuss allegations. Other players whose suspensions had been overturned were Scott Fujita - the Browns linebacker, Will Smith - the Saints defensive end, and Anthony Hargrove - free-agent defensive end.
Suspensions were reissued by the league on October 9 which meant that Vilma would be suspended for the entire season while Fujita, Smith and Hargrove would miss three, four and eight games respectively.
Although the suspensions for the players are not enforced it is likely to change as early as next week. The next players' appeal hearing has been scheduled for Oct. 23 by Goodell.
The suspensions came in the wake of NFL allegations that Vilma and several of his defensive teammates operated a pool that paid out improper cash bonuses for intentionally trying to knock down opponents. The NFL also alleged that Vilma offered $10,000 cash to any player who knocked Favre out of the 2009 NFC Championship Game. Favre was forced out of that game due to an ankle injury.
The players said that Goodell was not impartial and have requested for a neutral arbitrator. They want Ginger Berrigan, the U.S. District Judge to consider their cases.
Vilma's new legal papers said: "The commissioner of a professional sports league is not exempt from the requirement that he or she be impartial when serving as an arbitrator, and courts vacate arbitration awards when a commissioner falls short of the required standard of impartiality in considering a particular matter."
Steve Spagnuolo, the defensive coordinator, said Vilma "will be able to practice on Wednesday, which I think is a great thing for our football team and our defense. Let's get them (Curtis Lofton and Vilma) out there, practice and get ready with the one focus being figuring out what's best to help our team beat Tampa Bay.That will be the No. 1 focus this week with nothing else in sight other than that."
Fellow linebacker Scott Shanle believes Vilma will give the team a huge boost.
"In the 10 years I've played he's the smartest linebacker I've played with. It was talked about a lot after the (2010) Super Bowl that it was Peyton Manning and Jonathan Vilma in an audible contest and Vilma consistently won, and our coaches always had that trust in him. So when you can get a player like that back, it's a huge boost."
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