The recent SI article has some recent players who say they have heard of incentives for good plays, interceptions sacks, etc. but nothing like “bounties” for cart offs and injuries aimed at specific players. That seems to be the line with a lot of players
It will be interesting to hear more facts come out, because there are apparently emails in which Payton admits the existence of the bounty fund and other actual evidence. It seems the NFL may have them dead to rights so a vehement denial/defense from Williams and Payton would seem really hard to pull off, so they’re going with the “we’re really sorry, we’ll never, ever do it again. Please be nice to us.”
I think on the first day this whole thing came out, Williams said ‘We did it and we knew it was wrong at the time,’ so he certainly isn’t denying the gist of what happened in New Orleans.
According to the SI article, he denied it back in the day when it was first investigated, and, when called to the principal’s office more recently, he denied it again. Only after being shown the evidence, did he admit it. When it finally went public, he admitted it again. He’ll get no kudos from me for admitting it only after the case was pretty clearly against him. Fuck him and, again, fuck the Saints.
I’m not saying he deserves any credit. I’m just saying a “vehement denial/defense” isn’t forthcoming because he’s admitted it happened.
After putting on his “I take responsibility and I’m ever so sorry” face, Sean Payton (and Mickey Loomis) has decided to appeal his year long suspension and has his hearing set Tuesday in New York.
In other news, the Saints’ spokesman indicated the Saints would also appeal their fine and loss of draft picks.
In other news, Saints fans wearing “Free Sean Payton” T shirts had a rally outside the Superdome, one carrying a sign saying “Go to Hell Goddell!”
Class acts all the way.
Oh yeah, I forgot. Fuck the Saints.
Well. It takes some big hairy ones to tell your players to go after concussions ans ACLs while a documentarian is recording. I wonder what kind of career plan B Williams has.
In fairness, I’d do it too – it won’t change anything, but it buys him a few more days to set things up for when he leaves.
My favorite part of that speech, as a 49ers fan, is the fact we kicked their butts.
Alex Smith went from #1 draft bust to being feared enough by the Saints to get a bounty on his head, yet he played his best game ever, throwing multiple TD and rushing for one, too.
No, you didn’t. You won one of the most exciting playoff games in recent memory, with multiple lead changes in the 4th quarter. It was a close, hard fought game…no butt kicking occurred.
It was a metaphor, and it was Saints players getting knocked out.
What i think this highlights is how inequitable the ability to dole out punishment is in the league. The defense gets to really do most of the damage, while Wide receivers, running backs, and quarterback take all the punishment, frequently from very vulnerable positions. It is just funny to me to hear defensemen talk about how fragile someone like Michael Crabtree is or Alex Smith or whatever. I remember listening to John Madden on the NFL Radio on Sirius and one of the guys asked if they were doing too much to protect the quarterback, hoping I think to look for an old school answer about putting skirts on them. Madden however said it was absolutely necessary, because quarterbacks have to be able to look down field plant their feet expose their body if the game is going to be at all like we want it to be. He said that the rules are fine, although the way referees interpret them can be the problem.
To absolutely no one’s surprise, Goddell rejected Payton and the Saints’ appeal. Payton will be suspended starting April 16th. The NFL also said they may consider lowering the fines and the 2013 draft pick if everyone “co-operates”. I was hoping for an increase in the penalty, maybe one where they repeatedly hit Gregg Williams in the head, deliberately try to tear Payton’s ACL, and aim for Loomis’ ankles.
Fuck Sean Payton. Fuck Gregg Williams. Fuck Micky Loomis.
With that part taken care of, the next step is dealing with the players involved, including Vilma who allegedly offered $15000 for knocking Brett Favre out of the game. This part will be more problematic because the NFLPA will be more involved, including the hiring of outside counsel to defend it and the players. We’ll see what happens from here.
And lest you worry I forgot: Fuck the Saints.
Is this a bad time to mention that my dad’s high school coach did this back in the 1960s?
Granted, the reward was a star for the helmet instead of money.
After his suspension ends, how long will Loomis keep his job?
ESPN is reporting that Bill Parcells is not going to coach the Saints. The most likely candidate for interim coach is said to be LB coach Joe Vitt… who is himself going to be suspended six games for his involvement in the bounty program. Vitt, unlike Payton, is allowed to be involved with the team throughout the preseason. I have to say this really makes the Saints look like they still don’t give a fuck about the bounty program they’re being penalized for. And it also means they’ll have an interim coach subbing for their interim coach for the first six weeks of the season.
I get to add one more:
Fuck Drew Brees.
It’s a shame because I really liked the guy and I thought he was a genuine good guy.
But he’s claiming that the Saints were improperly punished, and remains seemingly unaware that the bounty system included getting paid for injuring players. He’s also explained he was looking for an explanation from Goodell. And, regarding Gregg Williams’ speech about deliberately hurting 49ers players, he said it was "hard for everybody to hear’, yet he did fuckall about it.
So, with some reluctance and hope that he wakes the hell up, I say Fuck Drew Brees.
All in all I have to believe this entire ordeal would not even be discussed if it were not for 1) the league repeatedly tried to stop it before; 2) the Saints not only refused to stop but lied about and obfuscated their involvement; and most importantly 3) there are many, many lawsuits pending against the NFL by former players regarding concussions. In the hands of well paid attorneys ‘Bountygate’ is blood in the water and the sharks are circling. It is here a smart litigant is going to demonstrate the league has issues that it knew about and did nothing. That’s why the Saints got their asses handed to them. The league is getting ready for a big, ugly courtroom fight.
So if all this seems unreasonable it’s because the real reason all this is happening has nothing to do with player safety, it is the league positioning itself for a vicious legal battle to come. In a year or two it will seem pretty obvious these were the opening salvos.
It doesn’t. 
We’re further down the line than that- the lawsuits have been in the works for a couple of years. I agree the response has at least as much to do with the NFL’s liability in those types of lawsuits as it does with what the Saints actually did, but that doesn’t mean the league is wrong to crack down on the Saints like this.
I’m not complaining about the crackdown at all. My favorite team plays by the rules. I would like to think that on an even playing field the skill of the players would be the deciding factor.