NFL Investigation Finds New Orleans Saints Guilty Of Bounty Hunting
By Chris Smith
The NFL has released information that an investigation into Saints staff and players that they put bounties on opposition players has found evidence of this to be true and it has been revealed that severe penalties are likely to be handed out to those responsible.
Opposition players who were named as falling victim to the bounty system include former Arizona Cardinals quarterback Kurt Warner and for Minnesota Vikings quarterback Brett Favre.
Among the revelations are several troubling facts. Not only is the team guilty but apparently bounties were still undertaken even while the investigation was ongoing.
It appears that Saints owner Tom Benson may be in the clear. Upon learning of what was going on, Benson instructed General Manager Mickey Loomis that the actions were unacceptable and must stop immediately. This instruction was ignored.
Since word of the investigation’s findings came out, former Saints defensive coordinator – now with the St Louis Rams – released a statement in which he claimed full responsibility for the bounties.
"“It was a terrible mistake, and we knew it was wrong while we were doing it. Instead of getting caught up in it, I should have stopped it. I take full responsibility for my role. I am truly sorry. I have learned a hard lesson and I guarantee that I will never participate in or allow this kind of activity to happen again.”"
As of now, no punishment has yet been dished out as NFL commissioner Roger Goodell is set to meet with NFLPA representatives and the players involved before he will make a decision on what disciplinary action is necessary.
Before we look at possible punishments, let’s make one thing perfectly clear – the players and coaches involved set out to deliberately injure opposing players. If a player was unable to continue, this resulted in a larger payout for the player or players that caused that injury.
Consider for a moment what this means. Let’s take the most famous example that we know of – the injuries sustained by Brett Favre in the 2010 NFC Championship game. At the time, there were accusations that the play of the Saints defensive players was dirty but until now that accusation has never been substantiated. Now consider the fact that this injury directly affected the result of that game. Favre continued to play through the pain but it had an obvious affect on his mobility and it can be reasonably assumed that the pain may have also affected his judgment causing the crucial miscalculation that led to Tracy Porter’s game winning interception.
That’s right. The bounty policy can be argued to have directly resulted in the Saints advancing to the Super Bowl. Thus the legacy of that Super Bowl win is now tainted.
So – what punishment can we expect? Unfortunately, it’s not that simple.
Upon the release of the NFL’s investigation, further details have come to light involving these bounties. The most disturbing – that these actions are not restricted to the Saints. In fact, they are widespread.
The first of these details was that while he was defensive coordinator of the Washington Redskins, Williams used his bounty system with that team also. Former Indianapolis Colts head coach Tony Dungy, speaking on NBC’s Football Night in America, accused Williams of placing a bounty on Colts quarterback Peyton Manning in a game between Washington and Indianapolis in 2006. This bounty was supposedly cashed in by former Redskins defensive end Phillip Daniels and that it was this hit that was the source of Manning’s ongoing neck problems – the same neck problems that threaten to end the career of the future Hall of Fame quarterback.
Daniels has denied this claim but his denial has been refuted by an unusual source – his former teammate in Washington Matt Bowen.
Writing for the Chicago Tribune, Bowen spelled out exactly how the bounties were accumulated and distributed.
"Prices were set on Saturday nights in the team hotel.In a makeshift meeting room, with the whisper of evening traffic pouring in from the Beltway, we laid our bounties on opposing players. We targeted big names, our sights set on taking them out of the game.Price tags started low during the regular season — a couple hundred bucks for going after the quarterback hard or taking a running back out below the knees. Chop him down and give a quick smile when you got back to the huddle. You just got a bonus.The pot was collected throughout the season through fines. Show up late? Ding. Blow an assignment during practice? Again. Walk on the field with your chinstrap unbuckled. Again. Break the rules, you gave to the bank."
ESPN’s Chris Russell asked NFL spokesperson Greg Aiello if the NFL had a statute of limitations on these actions. All Aiello could offer was that the NFL was “looking into it”.
It doesn’t stop there unfortunately.
Former offensive tackle now ESPN analyst Damien Woody tweeted that the bounties were not just restricted to teams coached by Williams. They were commonplace throughout the NFL.
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One thing is obvious from these statements – this problem of bounties isn’t isolated. It’s systemic. Which means only one thing – no amount of punishment dished out to Gregg Williams, the New Orleans Saints or any individual players is ever going to be enough. Furthermore, it will never be true justice when one team is made to suffer while other remain unpunished.
So what’s the solution?
This is a tough one – no two ways about it. Now you can understand why the commissioner is being cautious. The consequences of these actions go further than just the players and coaches. They could strike at the very heart of the NFL itself.
Over the past several months, Commisioner Goodell has been on a crusade to make the NFL a safer league. His endeavors to put stricter concussion rules in place, place harsher guidelines on what constitutes a legal hit and his general efforts to improve player safety have been primarily with one goal in mind – to save the NFL itself from prosecution.
That’s the ugly truth. While Roger Goodell says all the right things about helping players, he knows of the willingness of players to put their bodies on the line. Goodell’s job is not to protect players. That’s the NFLPA’s responsibility. The NFL Commissioner is hired by the owner’s to serve their interests. In this case, the owners’ interests are best served by protecting the NFL from being sued.
That protection may have just expired.
There are now several players who can legitimately claim that they were injured due to the actions of other NFL players. While there may be grounds for the individual players to be sued, there is also liability on the part of the NFL. In short, players injured by these bounties could potentially sue the NFL for the ability of NFL management to properly protect them from such acts.
Now this is all conjecture at this point. There are going to be all sorts of possible scenarios discussed in this case over the next several weeks. For now, let’s look at some of the potential impacts on NFL teams using the Saints as an example.
For a start, there is the payments of the bounties themselves. Despite what Matt Bowen said in his Chicago Tribune article, these payments are considered to be additional to the player salaries. Because of this, they could potentially impact the team’s salary cap. As such, the NFL’s salary cap laws could be brought into effect which would cause fines to be levied at the team/s that used the bounty system.
Fines would also likely be a part of the punishment that the NFL decides upon. These fines could be directed at the individual players, Williams, Saints Head Coach Sean Payton, Saints GM Mickey Loomis, owner Tom Benson or potentially all of the above. The effects of the fines alone could be catastrophic as with these fines as well as potential restrictions on the Saints cap – their cap could be reduced as a part of the penalty for breaching salary cap laws – could cost the team it’s greatest asset. That’s right – Drew Brees could be gone.
I hear you – Brees can be franchise tagged. What if the NFL decided to strip the Saints of their franchise tag? This is another possible punishment that could be implemented.
There is also a chance that players and/or coaches could be suspended. Yes, some of these people are with other teams now. Too bad. If the NFL deems that a player or coach must be suspended, this suspension must be carried out no matter what the situation. Should the player/coach choose retirement, such a suspension could be carried over to a point where should the player/coach unretire, they must still undergo their suspension as the case is with former Ohio State head coach Jim Tressel.
The final possibility is the removal of draft picks. At the very least, one would expect that should picks be removed that the Saints would lose a first round pick. Problem – the Saints don’t have a first round pick this year. This is no issue as the NFL can take away future picks. In fact, the NFL can choose to take away whatever picks they choose. One theory that is out there right now is that the Saints could be stripped of all their draft picks this year and their first round pick next year. It is just a theory but it is a theory that could be carried out.
In conclusion, we must wait for the full findings of the investigation to be released for the NFL commissioner to complete his discussions with the NFLPA and players. One thing is certain – this got real ugly real fast and it’s gonna get a whole lot worse before it’s through. We’ll keep you posted on any new developments.
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