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The Seattle Seahawks appreciated Anthony Hargrove's contributions to their defense in 2011, including the pivotal safety Hargrove provided during a comeback victory over the New York Giants.

That the Seahawks decided to replace Hargrove with veteran free agent Jason Jones this offseason appears fortuitous now that the NFL has levied an eight-game suspension against Hargrove for his participation in the New Orleans Saints' bounty program.

The NFL announced its bounty investigation March 2. Seattle reached agreement with Jones two weeks later. Hargrove signed with Green Bay in late March.

Hargrove, who defended his play with the Saints in a statement earlier this offseason, signed with Green Bay, where the Packers expected him to fit well. The league hammered him in a statement released Wednesday:

"Hargrove actively participated in the program while a member of the Saints. Hargrove submitted a signed declaration to the league that established not only the existence of the program at the Saints, but also that he knew about and participated in it.

"The evidence showed that Hargrove told at least one player on another team that Vikings quarterback Brett Favre was a target of a large bounty during the NFC Championship Game in January of 2010. Hargrove also actively obstructed the league’s 2010 investigation into the program by being untruthful to investigators."

The NFL also suspended Saints linebacker Jonathan Vilma for the 2012 season. Will Smith received a four-game suspension. Scott Fujita received a three-game suspension.

"Fujita, Hargrove and Smith may participate in all off-season activity, including preseason games, prior to the suspensions taking effect," the NFL said." Each player disciplined today is entitled to appeal the decision within three days. If an appeal is filed, Commissioner [Roger] Goodell would hold a hearing at which the player may speak on his behalf and be represented by counsel."

MIAMI -- Tony Dungy wasn't the only one who thought the Indianapolis Colts would blow out the New Orleans Saints in Super Bowl XLIV.

"I did too," Colts tackle Ryan Diem said Sunday night.

The Saints' 31-17 victory proved quite a few people wrong, most notably Dungy, who should have known better than to suggest Peyton Manning would breeze through the Saints' defense on his way to a second Super Bowl title.

"I think they're going to be so far ahead," the former Colts coach had told the New York Times, "that people are going to say, 'Oh, ho-hum, he played a good game, they won by two scores, the Colts won their second championship.' "

The comments created a ripple, but Dungy mostly got a free pass while Gregg Williams, the Saints' less stately defensive coordinator, took heat for suggesting the New Orleans defense would rough up Manning with "remember-me" hits.

Dungy's prediction read more like something from Rex Ryan at an MMA event than anything befitting the man NFL commissioner Roger Goodell has anointed as league ambassador. The prediction was so strong, so unflinching, so seeming inconsistent with Dungy's usual form that I figured he had to be right. Certainly Dungy wouldn't speak out so strongly if the Saints were the better team.

"I don't think it's going to be close," Dungy had said.

The Colts were going to win in a blowout.

"A blowout?" Saints linebacker Jonathan Vilma said. "Well, it didn't happen."

The Saints needed overtime to beat the Vikings in the NFC Championship game even though Minnesota suffered from five turnovers, critical penalties and questionable coaching decisions. Logic said the Colts would never suffer so many mistakes. But logic would also fail to explain what the Saints were feeling. From their perspective, this was the only just outcome after the organization stuck it out in New Orleans following Hurricane Katrina.

Manning and the Colts were a great team, perhaps even the better team on paper, but the Saints felt they were playing for a greater purpose.

"They are really hard to prepare for," Saints linebacker Scott Fujita said of the Colts, "but the Saints were on a mission and for us it was about much more than just football -- much more than just football.

"I think you could see the stadium, we must have had Colts fans outnumbered six, seven to one. Throughout the city all week, the black and gold just poured into Miami to take over the city. I'm getting text messages all week from friends in the U.K., friends in Italy, saying the whole football world is behind us. This is bigger than just the game. The Saints are the world's team."

The Saints defied convention with an onside kick to open the second half. They went for it on fourth down when a field goal would have been the politically safe call. Cornerback Tracy Porter jumped the route for the interception he returned 74 yards for the clinching touchdown with 3:12 remaining.

We could view these high-stakes gambles as the Saints' acknowledgment that taking chances was their only hope against Manning, but that would be missing the mark. The Saints bet big on themselves and won.

"We have been the best team in the NFC," safety Roman Harper said. "We knew nobody was going to give it to us. We have to go out there and take it. Nobody picked us, nobody believed in us but us and ourselves and our locker room and our city and our families. We went out and proved everybody wrong today."

Starting with Tony Dungy.

Posted by ESPN.com's Mike Sando

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. -- While a steady rain falls at the Meadowlands in advance of the Cardinals-Jets game, I put together a roided-out Saints roster for those of you monitoring the 49ers' game at New Orleans today.

The Saints are the third-oldest team in the league behind St. Louis and Washington, but their starters rank in the middle of the pack on both sides of the ball (18th-oldest on offense, 17th-oldest on defense).

New Orleans has only 21 of its own draft choices by my count, tied with the Rams and Browns for sixth-fewest in the league. The league average is 26.

Seven Saints draft choices still with the team played college ball in the SEC, tied for second-most in the league. No Saints draft choices from the ACC remain on the 53-man roster. Every other team has at least one (Seattle leads the league with 11).

Despite having only 37 drafted players (selected by any team), the Saints have more players drafted in the fifth and seventh rounds -- 14 combined -- than any team in the league. The Saints have four starters drafted in the fifth, most in the league and well above average (1.4).

Based on my most recent starting lineups, New Orleans is the only team in the league without one of its own draft choices starting at linebacker. They have patched the position with free-agent veterans such as Jonathan Vilma, Scott Shanle and Scott Fujita.