Baltimore Ravens linebacker Terrell Suggs not only has escaped suspension for his boast that his team purposely injured a Steelers, but he also has avoided a fine.

In a league where fines are dispensed for little more than a hard stare, that is utterly ridiculous. In the midst of its understandable crackdown on violence, the NFL is contradicting itself by letting Suggs off with a warning for saying he and his teammates had put out a bounty on two Steelers, running back Rashard Mendenhall and wide receiver Hines Ward.

As a possible result of that bounty, Ravens linebacker Ray Lewis broke Mendenhall's shoulder in a game between the teams Sept. 29.

Here's what Suggs said last week on an Atlanta radio station: "The bounty was out on [Mendenhall] and was out on [Ward]."

He changed his story yesterday and is insisting there was not a bounty on the Steelers players. Incredibly, the NFL believed him.

The NFL must have missed the comments of Brian Billick, until last year the coach of the Ravens and now an analyst for Fox.

Appearing on "The Dan Patrick Show" last week, Billick said, "Every team does it. Now, to go out and talk publicly about it is about as foolish a thing as I've every heard."

That aspect of "Bountygate" needs to be investigated far more thoroughly. If what Billick said is true -- and he would have no reason to lie -- it shows a level of thuggery in the NFL that should send shivers through those who care about the game. The thought of players massing together to injure an opponent deliberately goes against everything athletic competition stands for.

Football is a dangerous game, which also happens to be part of its attraction. It becomes more dangerous every year as players become bigger, stronger and faster.

That should be a concern of everybody, even the bloodthirsty fans who love the big hits. Those hits often lead to broken bones, torn ligaments, concussions and, in the worst case, paralysis. That is never good for anyone -- players, league, owners and even fans.

That's why commissioner Roger Goodell is doing the right thing in leading the charge against anything that smacks of illegality. The game is dangerous enough with legal hits. Let's not forget the most famous vicious hit in football history -- Jack Tatum paralyzing Darryl Stingley -- was legal. If legal hits can do that, no one should want any part of illegal hits.

That's why Troy Polamalu's remark last week about the crackdown on illegal hits --some of which were questionable when it comes to illegality -- was so off the mark. He said the NFL was turning into a "pansy game."

Ask Mendenhall if he thinks it's a pansy game. Ask Mendenhall if he took a hit in the Big Ten like Lewis put on him.

Football in the NFL is the roughest and toughest professional team sport, and it is rougher and tougher than it ever has been and will continue to be as players get bigger, stronger and faster.

Goodell is looking out for the totality of the NFL product. It's a billion-dollar industry that is an American obsession. He's the protector of that industry, and it includes the players. The players may think he's interested only in dollar signs, but, in looking out for the finances, he also is looking out for the players.

Some people think the league has been unfair to Hines Ward, who twice has been fined this season for hits that were not flagged in the game. The mere fact Ward wasn't penalized doesn't mean the hits were legal or that he's not susceptible to being fined.

The NFL looks at all game tape, and it can view it in slow motion. If it sees an illegal hit that wasn't called in the game, it has a strong responsibility to point it out and issue a fine and/or suspension.

To not do so would signal the player that he could continue to make similar hits.

The NFL is not out to get the Steelers or Ward. Both are looked upon in a favorable light by the league -- the Steelers for being a model franchise, Ward for being a model player.

The league is doing what it has to do to protect the players and the game. And toward that end, it needs to take action against Suggs and his fellow thugs.