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Warning: Trying to understand retired Ravens running back Ricky Williams' train of thought can lead to headaches; or at the very least, a great deal of confusion.

Just listen to Williams' reasoning on why he believes there is a link between concussions and brain damage.

"I don't buy it," Williams told ESPN's Dan Le Batard on Tuesday. “I'm only speaking from my personal experience, because I've never allowed myself to buy it, and I haven't been affected by it. Yes, I'm aware that football is a rough sport, but instead of saying, 'Oh, I'm doomed to like brain trauma,' I said, 'What can I do about it?' And I just started taking care of my body. I found people, places and things that really helped me. Again, I don't know what's going to happen to me in 10 years, but for me I look at the other things I've learned about and the way I see the world.”

This makes you wonder if Williams is thinking clearly after 2,431 carries in the NFL. If I'm following him correctly, and I'm not totally certain that I am, the key for football players to avoid head trauma later in life is to keep in good physical shape and refuse to believe science.

"So is science like the new deity of our culture? It is, but should it be?," Williams said. "If you look at science 100 years ago, the things that they thought based on their science, we now show they had no idea of what they're talking about. I think as time goes on, the things that I've been saying are just going to be proven to be correct. The way that football is looking at it now, if you follow the trajectory, it creates the end of football. So, do we want football to die? I don't."

Williams is the one who is sounding behind the times. It's amazing that Williams can have this way of thinking, especially after spending a season in the same locker room with center Matt Birk. Three years ago, Birk pledged to donate his brain and spinal cord tissues after death to a Boston University medical school program that is looking to better understand the long-term effects of repeated concussions.

Williams certainly has the right to speak his mind and he's dealt with more blows to the head than I ever will. He said he doesn't know how many concussions he's had but he doesn't feel any effects right now. You have to wonder whether his stance on concussions and head trauma will change 10 years from now.

Browns linebacker Scott Fujita denied involvement in the Saints' bounty scandal and wants to see the evidence that the NFL is basing his three-game suspension upon. The league disciplined Fujita for his participation in the Saints' bounty system when he played for New Orleans.

Here's Fujita's first public comments about the suspension in an e-mail sent to the Associated Press on Monday:

"I disagree wholeheartedly with the discipline imposed. I've yet to hear the specifics of any allegation against me, nor have I seen any evidence that supports what the NFL alleges. I look forward to the opportunity to confront what evidence they claim to have in the appropriate forum. I have never contributed money to any so-called 'bounty' pool, and any statements to the contrary are false. To say I'm disappointed with the League would be a huge understatement."

This is consistent with Fujita's stance that he paid teammates for making big plays like sacks and interceptions, but not for trying to intentionally injure opponents. In announcing the suspensions last week, the NFL said in a statement that Fujita pledged a significant amount of money to the prohibited bounty pool during the 2009 NFL playoffs that rewarded for "cart-offs" and "knockouts" plays which resulted in injuries to players.

Fujita received the shortest suspension among the four players disciplined and should feel lucky that the NFL Players Association is fighting for him.

Browns linebacker Scott Fujita has appealed his three-game suspension for his involvement in the Saints' bounty system, a league source told ESPN NFL Insider Adam Schefter.

This doesn't come as a surprise because Fujita was expected to take this step along with the three other suspended players. Fujita is arguing in his appeals that NFL commissioner Roger Goodell is without jurisdiction either to discipline the players for the conduct alleged or to determine any appeals, league sources told ESPN. The NFL feels strong that Goodell has the final authority on this matter because the action was an off-the-field issue and was considered conduct detrimental to the league.

While the players are arguing who should handle their appeal, they should feel lucky that the NFL Players Association is actively fighting for their exoneration. The union is defending four players who are accused of intentionally trying to hurt other players. Fujita, who is a member of the NFLPA's executive committee, should understand why this looks wrong.

The NFLPA probably should take the stance of helping Fujita and the other players file their appeal and then let them argue their own cases. Why protect four players when they should be concerned about protecting all of the players they targeted?

The Pittsburgh Steelers players have been the most vocal in sounding off about the suspensions handed out to four players involved in the Saints' bounty scandal.

Linebacker Jonathan Vilma received the harshest penalty, getting suspended for the entire 2012 season. In addition to Vilma, defensive tackle Anthony Hargrove (now with the Green Bay Packers) was suspended eight games, defensive Will Smith four games and linebacker Scott Fujita (now with the Cleveland Browns) three games.

Steelers linebacker James Harrison was among the first to vent on Twitter:

Ridiculous, and nobody really sees why the punishments have been so severe over the past 3 4years! Lawsuits and 18 games???

Steelers linebacker LaMarr Woodley was upset at the year-long suspension on Vilma in his Twitter post:

Vilma suspended a whole yr FOR PLAYING FOOTBALL???? cmon man!!!!!

Even Pittsburgh safety Ryan Clark was critical of the discipline (even though Saints coach Sean Payton was suspended for a year and general manager Mickey Loomis was banned for eight games) in a post on Twitter:

Wonder why the team got the least penalties in Bounty Gate! Think about who elects & reworded the commish, it's the owners of the trams!

The Steelers don't have any connection with the Saints, but they can relate to being disciplined by the NFL. The Steelers were fined a reported 13 times in the first 10 games last season, totaling $182,500. So you can understand why the Steelers players are coming to the defense of these Saints players.

Browns linebacker Scott Fujita was suspended three games for his participation in a bounty system while he was a member of the New Orleans Saints.

He was one of four players who were disciplined by the NFL on Wednesday, and he received the smallest penalty. Fujita will have the opportunity to appeal. Based on his $3.65 million salary this season, he will lose around $645,000 if the three-game suspension stands. He can participate in all offseason activities including preseason games.

Here's what the league had to say about Fujita in the official release:

The record established that Fujita, a linebacker, pledged a significant amount of money to the prohibited pay-for-performance/bounty pool during the 2009 NFL Playoffs when he played for the Saints. The pool to which he pledged paid large cash rewards for “cart-offs” and “knockouts,” plays during which an opposing player was injured.

There was talk that Fujita would be fined but not get suspended by the NFL. Fujita, a member of the NFL Players Association's executive committee, previously admitted to paying teammates for big plays while in New Orleans, but not for hurting opponents and not as part of the bounty pool.

The Browns have played without Fujita before. When the team placed him on injured reserve last November with a hand injury, weakside linebacker Chris Gocong moved to Fujita's spot on the strong side and backup Kaluka Maiava started on the weak side.

The latest scandal involving the New Orleans Saints might have affected two AFC North teams, especially the Pittsburgh Steelers. ESPN's Outside the Lines is reporting that Saints general manager Mickey Loomis had the ability to eavesdrop on opposing coaches during games at the Superdome for most of the 2002 season, as well as all of the 2003 and 2004 seasons.

On Oct. 6, 2002, the Steelers lost in New Orleans, 32-29. Pittsburgh cut the margin to three points with 1:26 left, but the Saints recovered the onside kick and ran out the clock. The Steelers allowed the Saints to score on seven of their first eight drives, and quarterback Tommy Maddox was sacked three times. If Pittsburgh had won that game, the Steelers would've finished 11-4-1, earned the top seed in the AFC and received home-field advantage throughout the playoffs. Instead, they were a third seed and had to play a divisional round game at Tennessee where they lost.

The Cleveland Browns didn't have the same trouble when they won in New Orleans, 24-15, on Nov. 24, 2002. The Saints struggled on offense because running back Deuce McAllister was out the entire game with a sprained right ankle. The Browns improved to 6-5 in their last playoff season on the strength of William Green's 114 yards rushing and one touchdown.

The Browns were one of four teams to beat the Saints at the Superdome during the 2002 season.

The AFC North played the Saints and the rest of the NFC South in the 2002, 2006 and 2010 seasons.

Baltimore Ravens safety Bernard Pollard likes to hit. A lot. That's why it's no surprise Pollard took a shot at NFL commissioner Roger Goodell for the severity of the punishment handed out in the Saints' bounty scandal.

"From what I see we’re gonna be running around with helmets and flags on, and I guess in about seven years," Pollard told a Houston radio station last week, via SportsRadioInterviews.com. "It’s getting out of hand. I don’t know what he’s trying to prove, I don’t know what the NFL office is trying to prove. Guys are getting hit all the time. We get hit. This is a freaking violent sport."

Pollard has no connection with the Saints and has never played for defensive coordinator Gregg Williams. But he is one of the hardest hitters in the NFL, and he has voiced displeasure every time it seems like the league is making the game less violent.

The problem is, the extreme punishment wasn't solely based on bounties. That's what players like Pollard are missing. It was the result of the Saints ignoring the NFL warnings.

Still, Pollard couldn't believe the league suspended Saints coach Sean Payton for a year.

“This is a game, this is a violent game. You can’t take this away," he said. "You suspend a man for a whole year? You suspend a man for a whole year and now you’re looking for players to suspend? This is outrageous. You’ve gotta be kidding me. He said he was gonna take a dollar [during] the lockout, I guarantee you he didn’t take a dollar that year. I guarantee you he got every bit of that [inaudible] mill.”

Pollard was fined $10,000 by the league last October for a helmet-to-helmet hit on Jaguars running back Deji Karim. He is also known for lunging at the left knee of Tom Brady in 2008, which ended the season for the Patriots quarterback and led to a rules change.

Asked if he condones bounties in football, Pollard said: "I don’t care if you do a bounty or not, because me -- the way I'm playing -- I'm going to hit you straight in the mouth. And if you have a concussion by me hitting you in the mouth ... you know what? I don't mean to. I'm not meaning to hurt you, but this is my game. It's my life or your life. It's my family or yours."

Baltimore running back Ricky Williams plans to retire, according to ESPN's NFL Insider Adam Schefter.

When I first heard this, my initial reaction was: Will he stay retired?

Williams stunned the NFL with an early retirement in 2004. But he was back in July 2005.

He talked retirement before the 2009 season, saying he wanted to play two more seasons before calling it quits. But he played with Baltimore in 2011.

Williams, 34, even spoke about his intentions about playing next season for the Ravens after the AFC championship game loss at New England.

“My body feels good and I know I’m going to train hard and so I’m excited about next year,” Williams said last month, via the team's website. “I’ve grown a lot, kind of falling into a new role and a new city and a new organization, and I’ve gotten better. And like everyone else, I feel like I have something to build on for next year.”

So, what changed?

After the news broke about his retirement today, Williams addressed it in a cryptic Twitter message: "Thank you all, but this ain't it. I'm gonna do something really special. 'Be you and change the world.'"

If Williams does follow through with his retirement, it will be a big loss for the Ravens even though Williams isn't the same powerful running back from a few years ago.

What the Ravens lose isn't the stats that Williams produced last year. He rushed for a career-low 444 yards and scored two touchdowns.

What the Ravens lose is a reliable insurance policy for running back Ray Rice. If Rice went down for any significant amount of time, Baltimore didn't have to worry about handing the ball to Williams, one of 26 players in NFL history to rush for 10,000 yards.

To be honest, Williams was underused in his first season with the Ravens. He averaged less than seven carries per game and caught 13 passes, but it was hard to get him onto the field because it meant taking Rice off of it.

The Ravens signed Williams last year to a two-year contract to replace Willis McGahee, so it appears that their preference is to have an experienced backup. Baltimore's third-string running back Anthony Allen, a seventh-round pick last year, looked like he would need another year before becoming the team's primary backup.

This means the Ravens will be searching for a second-tier running back in free agency.

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