New York -
The bounty scandal is like a bad rash: The more you scratch, the longer it lingers.
The NFL is denying accusations that commissioner Roger Goodell would not allow suspended players to attend appeal hearings, and that Saints employees who might help the cause of the suspended players be gagged.
The Associated Press says it has a transcript of Jonathan Vilma's hearing Monday, where the charges were raised by Vilma's attorney, Peter Ginsberg. Both Vilma, who is suspended for all of next season, and Ginsberg walked out of the hearing after just one hour.
League spokesman Greg Aiello is quoted as saying the accusations about Goodell are "totally untrue".
Other sources with knowledge of the story are confirming the NFL's version of the story.
