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View Full Version : NFL Saints Had a Bounty Program to Deliberately Injure Other Players



Conley
03-02-2012, 05:45 PM
Between 22 and 27 defensive players on the New Orleans Saints, as well as defensive coordinator Gregg Williams, maintained a "bounty" program funded primarily by players in violation of NFL rules during the 2009, 2010 and 2011 seasons, the NFL announced Friday.

The investigation by the league's security department determined that an improper "pay for performance" program included "bounty" payments to players for inflicting injuries on opposing players that would result in them being removed from a game.

In some cases, the amounts pledged were both significant and directed against a specific opposing player, according to the league's investigation.

Saints general manager Mickey Loomis failed to stop the bounty program when directed to do so by team owner Tom Benson, while coach Sean Payton was aware of the allegations but did not pursue them or take steps to stop the "bounty" program, according to the investigation's findings.

http://espn.go.com/nfl/story/_/id/7638603/new-orleans-saints-defense-had-bounty-program-nfl-says

Ruining a man's livelihood...making it so he can't provide for his family. That's messed up right there. In normal life, if you deliberate injure someone you face legal consequences. I wonder how badly some of the injured had it.

Conley
03-02-2012, 05:50 PM
"Our investigation began in early 2010 when allegations were first made that Saints players had targeted opposing players, including Kurt Warner of the Arizona Cardinals and Brett Favre of the Minnesota Vikings," commissioner Roger Goodell said.

These allegations are not new, but the league says it has stronger evidence.

Warner appeared headed for retirement even before the Saints knocked him from their playoff game with a devastating blindside block while Warner was trying to make a tackle. That play wound up being the final one of his career.

http://espn.go.com/blog/nfcwest/post/_/id/59964/saints-bounty-system-and-the-rams

Alias
03-02-2012, 07:28 PM
That's some sick shit. They should be fined 5 million and forfeit their first 6 games of the season.

Mister D
03-02-2012, 08:21 PM
It is some sick shit and it's also quite common. It happens in politics a lot particularly when someone refuses to see the world the way the establishment does on an issue like race, for example.

Conley
03-02-2012, 09:05 PM
That's some sick shit. They should be fined 5 million and forfeit their first 6 games of the season.

I wish...

Unlike the Patriots, this is not one of the NFL's favored franchises so I think they will get trucked at least.

Conley
03-02-2012, 09:08 PM
And actually I think this is worse than what the Pats did. That was cheating, this is potentially career ending.

MMC
03-03-2012, 07:23 PM
Then you wonder why guys are out there talking about who are dirty players. But to have a whole team taking bounties is ridiculous. Plus wasn't the Saints accused of this before.

Conley
03-04-2012, 09:29 AM
Then you wonder why guys are out there talking about who are dirty players. But to have a whole team taking bounties is ridiculous. Plus wasn't the Saints accused of this before.

Yes, there are reports this D-Coordinator did it in Washington and Tennessee. I always thought the Titans were dirty back in the day when this guy coached with Fisher and now they are reuniting in St. Louis with the Rams. I hope they throw the book at him.

Conley
03-04-2012, 09:59 AM
He did it in Buffalo too:

Meanwhile, former Buffalo Bills safety Coy Wire told The Buffalo News that Williams promoted bonuses injuring opponents while he was the head coach in Buffalo.

"There was financial compensation," Wire told the newspaper, which also cited three other anonymous defensive players who confirmed the existence of a bounty program during Williams' time with the Bills.

The NFL on Friday said an investigation by its security department found that Williams and several New Orleans Saints players employed an illegal bounty system, financially rewarding defensive players for big plays, including knocking opponents out of games during the 2009-11 seasons. After details of the NFL's probe were released, five former Redskins, including defensive end Phillip Daniels, and a former coach told The Washington Post that Williams had a similar system with Washington.

http://espn.go.com/nfl/story/_/id/7644139/nfl-reportedly-probe-washington-redskins-bounties

POS.

MMC
03-04-2012, 05:53 PM
So every team he was at.....right? Then maybe they should look to the source rather than the players.

Conley
03-04-2012, 07:01 PM
So every team he was at.....right? Then maybe they should look to the source rather than the players.

Seems like it did happen at each stop and I think they caught him before. I'm 99% the hammer is going to drop and it's not going to be pretty.

Conley
03-05-2012, 03:53 PM
Then you wonder why guys are out there talking about who are dirty players. But to have a whole team taking bounties is ridiculous. Plus wasn't the Saints accused of this before.

Yeah, from this article I think they were first warned about it in 2010 and the guys running the program didn't knock it off. It'll be interesting to see how the NFL handles it especially since they've had this big emphasis on player safety and now are getting sued by ex-players with concussions and other health problems.

http://espn.go.com/nfl/story/_/id/7645118/saints-coach-sean-payton-gm-mickey-loomis-deserve-fired-bounty-program

MMC
03-05-2012, 03:56 PM
Yeah, from this article I think they were first warned about it in 2010 and the guys running the program didn't knock it off. It'll be interesting to see how the NFL handles it especially since they've had this big emphasis on player safety and now are getting sued by ex-players with concussions and other health problems.

http://espn.go.com/nfl/story/_/id/7645118/saints-coach-sean-payton-gm-mickey-loomis-deserve-fired-bounty-program

I had seen he was suppose to have a meeting today or something. But the way the Press made it sound. The NFL is going to bring the hammer down on this guy.

Conley
03-05-2012, 03:59 PM
Yep, supposedly Goodell ordered him to come in. I hope this plays out in public. When he punished the Patriots they destroyed all the evidence before anyone got a chance to see it. That was some shadiness right there.

MMC
03-05-2012, 06:00 PM
Yep, supposedly Goodell ordered him to come in. I hope this plays out in public. When he punished the Patriots they destroyed all the evidence before anyone got a chance to see it. That was some shadiness right there.

Who was that accusing the Patriots of doing that cheating and filed the complaint? I think they will make this public and make an example out of him. Especially with rookies just coming in. First they have to get use to seeing how the game is played. Then have the pressure to make the team or start. Maybe even play. Having some jerkoff like this around who knows how many of them were worried about their jobs.

Conley
03-05-2012, 06:15 PM
Who was that accusing the Patriots of doing that cheating and filed the complaint? I think they will make this public and make an example out of him. Especially with rookies just coming in. First they have to get use to seeing how the game is played. Then have the pressure to make the team or start. Maybe even play. Having some jerkoff like this around who knows how many of them were worried about their jobs.

It was the Jets and they put together a bunch of evidence including catching the Patriots in the act of videotaping. Goodell said he looked at the evidence himself and then destroyed all of it.

"With the Super Bowl fast approaching, a senior Republican senator says he wants the NFL to explain why it destroyed evidence from the New England Patriots cheating scandal.

"I am very concerned about the underlying facts on the taping, the reasons for the judgment on the limited penalties and, most of all, on the inexplicable destruction of the tapes," Sen. Arlen Specter, R-Pa., wrote Thursday in a letter to NFL commissioner Roger Goodell.

The story was first reported by The New York Times.

Specter, the top Republican on the Senate Judiciary Committee, said the matter could put the league's antitrust exemption at risk. In a telephone interview with the Times on Thursday, he said the committee at some point will call Goodell to address the antitrust exemption as well as the destruction of the tapes."

http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/news/story?id=3225539

No surprise the rules are different for different teams. The Saints aren't part of the elite and they're going to get smacked.

MMC
03-05-2012, 06:38 PM
Figures.....the Pols got time to dick around with shit like this. But then cannot do what is right for country or even focus on any solutions.