A piece of audio has been make public in which former New Orleans Saints Defensive Co-Ordinator is directing his players to injure San Francisco 49ers players. For those who are unaware of this, here’s few of the things Williams said in the twelve minute speech:
"“We’ve got to do everything in the world to make sure we kill Frank Gore’s head. We want him running sideways. We want his head sideways.”“We need to decide whether Crabtree wants to be a fake-ass prima donna or he wants to be a tough guy. We need to find that out, and he becomes human when you [expletive] take out that outside ACL.”"
In addition to these quotes, at one point Williams says, ‘We hit [expletive] Smith right there” – then he points under his chin – “remember me.” Then he rubs his thumb against his index and middle fingers – the cash sign – and says, “I got the first one. I got the first one. Go get it. Go lay that [expletive] out.”
The first reaction of fans and those who already view Gregg Williams as the bad guy due to Bountygate is that these quotes hang the noose around Gregg Williams neck. I beg to differ – they change nothing.
Let’s be honest here – this language has become normal. From all we have seen and heard since this scandal began, coaches speak like this to players all the time. This audio would likely be used to help NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell justify his decisions on the subject but I very much doubt that it makes them more severe.
At the end of the day, all that matters is what was done that was against the rules. Does this audio suggest that Williams state of mind was malicious? No. Does it suggest he wanted to injure his opponents? Yes – but we already knew that.
This audio will do only one thing – convince those who wanted to be convinced that there is something wrong in the culture of football.
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