"BountyGate"
March 3rd 2012 21:52
What a stunning turn of events that have transpired over the last 24 hours.
The spotlight is finally off of Bill Belichick and "SpyGate" and it's now on Gregg Williams, Sean Payton and "BountyGate".
In short, the Saints allegedly had a system that rewarded players for "knock out" hits, and "cart off hits", and even had a special bounty placed on Kurt Warner and Brett Favre during their Super Bowl run.
The man behind implementing this system is speculated to be Jonathan Vilma, who personally placed a $10,000 bounty on Brett Favre in the NFC Championship game back in 2009. Gregg Williams, the former defensive coordinator of the Saints up until this past year knew about this entire system that was being maintained in the Saints locker room.
I'm not interested in getting any deeper, as you get the jist of what went on in New Orleans for the past few years. Just knowing that this system existed within a locker room, and was CONDONED by their defensive coordinator sickens me.
Whenever a wide receiver comes across the middle and gets popped by the safety, the crowd lets out a collective "Ohhh!" until they see he is lying on the floor motionless, and that "Ohhh!" turns into an "Oh no...". These are the type of shots that are now penalized in games, and they are trying to eliminate from the game completely through fines and suspensions to those who deliver the hits.
Safety.
It's what Roger Goodell has preached over his tenure as commissioner. It's what the Saints disregarded as an entire defense.
The most scary injury I have ever seen on a football field was when Austin Collie got nailed over the middle by Kurt Coleman in 2010 game against the Eagles. I saw this injury on live TV, and I still get chills down by spine even as I see the replay today. His arms were frozen above his motionless body. When you see the hit he took, you would think he would never play football again. Thankfully Collie did return to the NFL, but just to think the Saints were gunning to do this to people is sickening.
Another thing I just simply cannot wrap my mind around is how it went on under Sean Payton's watchful eye. To me, Sean Payton is one of the most likable coaches in the NFL. He roots for his players, he's a little bit of a 'rah-rah' guy, but he showed his own toughness this year by coaching through a severe knee injury. I want to believe Payton knew nothing of this system, but I find it very hard to convince myself of this. Surely in the coming days and weeks we will have comments from Payton on this situation, and anything up until that point is pure speculation. However, if Payton knew about this system and did nothing, I would have to assume his job would be in jeopardy.
I personally hope Roger Goodell brings the hammer down on Williams, the Saints organization, Sean Payton, and the players involved. Especially Jonathan Vilma. If Vilma had no problem forking over $10,000 for Brett Favre's head, he should have no problem paying what is sure to be a record fine for a player if these allegations are true. Draft picks will be taken, suspensions will be given, fines will be imposed. This will be the harshest penalty ever given out due to a specific incident. For good reason.
The spotlight is finally off of Bill Belichick and "SpyGate" and it's now on Gregg Williams, Sean Payton and "BountyGate".
In short, the Saints allegedly had a system that rewarded players for "knock out" hits, and "cart off hits", and even had a special bounty placed on Kurt Warner and Brett Favre during their Super Bowl run.
The man behind implementing this system is speculated to be Jonathan Vilma, who personally placed a $10,000 bounty on Brett Favre in the NFC Championship game back in 2009. Gregg Williams, the former defensive coordinator of the Saints up until this past year knew about this entire system that was being maintained in the Saints locker room.
I'm not interested in getting any deeper, as you get the jist of what went on in New Orleans for the past few years. Just knowing that this system existed within a locker room, and was CONDONED by their defensive coordinator sickens me.
Whenever a wide receiver comes across the middle and gets popped by the safety, the crowd lets out a collective "Ohhh!" until they see he is lying on the floor motionless, and that "Ohhh!" turns into an "Oh no...". These are the type of shots that are now penalized in games, and they are trying to eliminate from the game completely through fines and suspensions to those who deliver the hits.
Safety.
It's what Roger Goodell has preached over his tenure as commissioner. It's what the Saints disregarded as an entire defense.
The most scary injury I have ever seen on a football field was when Austin Collie got nailed over the middle by Kurt Coleman in 2010 game against the Eagles. I saw this injury on live TV, and I still get chills down by spine even as I see the replay today. His arms were frozen above his motionless body. When you see the hit he took, you would think he would never play football again. Thankfully Collie did return to the NFL, but just to think the Saints were gunning to do this to people is sickening.
Another thing I just simply cannot wrap my mind around is how it went on under Sean Payton's watchful eye. To me, Sean Payton is one of the most likable coaches in the NFL. He roots for his players, he's a little bit of a 'rah-rah' guy, but he showed his own toughness this year by coaching through a severe knee injury. I want to believe Payton knew nothing of this system, but I find it very hard to convince myself of this. Surely in the coming days and weeks we will have comments from Payton on this situation, and anything up until that point is pure speculation. However, if Payton knew about this system and did nothing, I would have to assume his job would be in jeopardy.
I personally hope Roger Goodell brings the hammer down on Williams, the Saints organization, Sean Payton, and the players involved. Especially Jonathan Vilma. If Vilma had no problem forking over $10,000 for Brett Favre's head, he should have no problem paying what is sure to be a record fine for a player if these allegations are true. Draft picks will be taken, suspensions will be given, fines will be imposed. This will be the harshest penalty ever given out due to a specific incident. For good reason.
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