WhoDat!656

Back in January, weeks before the word “bounty” meant anything to football fans other than the brand of paper towels used to clean up spilled beer after a garbage-time touchdown allowed the underdog to cover the spread, a pair of Giants players admitted following the NFC title game that part of the strategy was to hit punt returner Kyle Williams in the head.

“The thing is, we knew he had four concussions, so that was our biggest thing, was to take him outta the game,” linebacker Jacquain Williams said at the time regarding Williams, who muffed a punt and fumbled a punt during San Francisco.

“He’s had a lot of concussions,” receiver Devin Thomas said. “We were just like, ‘We gotta put a hit on that guy.’ . . . [Giants reserve safety Tyler] Sash did a great job hitting him early and he looked kind of dazed when he got up. I feel like that made a difference and he coughed it up.”

As Mike Silver of Yahoo! Sports explains it, filmmaker Shawn Pamphilon was specifically troubled by the Giants’ remarks, given what Pamphilon heard the night before the Saints played the 49ers in the division round.

“When [Gregg Williams] was talking about the Gore stuff and saying ‘cut off the head,’ I was thinking, ‘That’s a metaphor,’ ” Pamphilon told Silver. “The thing that really got me was when he said the thing about No. 10 and concussions. I thought, ‘Did he just say that?’ That was the red flag for me. And then the comments by the Giants made it hit home even harder.”

What hits home even harder now is the possibility, if not likelihood, that Jacquain Williams and Devin Thomas didn’t come up with the importance of hitting Kyle Williams in the head on their own. In nearly a dozen years of covering the NFL, one thing I’ve learned is that most of the things the players say publicly trace back to something a member of the coaching staff told them.

And so it’s now hard not to wonder whether one or more members of the Giants’ coaching staff were saying the same kind of things that Gregg Williams was saying to the Saints the night before the Giants played the 49ers.

Gregg Williams audio brings back into focus Giants

"A Veteran is someone who, at one point in his life, wrote a blank check made payable to "The United States of America" for an amount of "up to and including my life."

AsylumGuido

What the hell does this title have to do with this thread?

Whatever punishment Saints players get should be doubled

That was not mentioned in the article at all. Was that your commentary?

Have you read Pamphilon's article that accompanied his tape yet? He DEFENDS the players in it. He said the largest payout he ever heard of taking place was $200 for a turnover. He said that the players were clearly being bullied by Williams in that meeting by threatening their jobs.

WhoDat!656

“The thing is, we knew he had four concussions, so that was our biggest thing, was to take him outta the game,” linebacker Jacquain Williams said at the time regarding Williams, who muffed a punt and fumbled a punt during San Francisco.

“He’s had a lot of concussions,” receiver Devin Thomas said. “We were just like, ‘We gotta put a hit on that guy.’ . . . [Giants reserve safety Tyler] Sash did a great job hitting him early and he looked kind of dazed when he got up. I feel like that made a difference and he coughed it up.”

Sounds like a BOUNTY to me

"A Veteran is someone who, at one point in his life, wrote a blank check made payable to "The United States of America" for an amount of "up to and including my life."

AsylumGuido

Okay. Your title makes it sound like the Saints players punishment should be doubled. You need to specify that you are referring to the Giants in the title, not the Saints.

SaintsBro

"Whatever punishment Saints players get should be applied to Giants" might be a better title

I do find it interesting, the comments about the Giants targeting Kyle Williams, which surfaced in the press just before the bounty thing broke. Add in the Packers (2007 bounty program) and that's THREE Super Bowl champion teams in the last four years, who have histories of bounties on players associated with their franchises. It's actually the last three Super Bowl WINNERS, now that I think about it...it's not like we are hearing about any 4-12 teams with bounties, the ones we are hearing about all seem on the surface to be pretty good, winning teams. This looks really bad for the NFL.

WhoDat!656

I see your point; my bad.

Could Mods make that change?

Luda34

I've been watching NFL network all morning and the Saints r throwing Greg Williams under the bus. There saying that Payton told. Greg to stop because they knew they were being watch

ChrisXVI

Unfortunately the Giants won't hear a word about this from Goodell. Unless a coach is implicated in encouraging the players to do it then it will probably be swept under the rug. Which is funny because Saints players will be punished for doing what their coach told them to do, but players who think of it on their own... well that's ok lol.

Mardigras9

Again, the problem is the Saints were told to stop and didn't. Bounties have been established to be everywhere. We are in trouble because they didn't stop when given the chance and then lied about it. Just have to take our medicine and win the Superbowl on our own turf regardless of how Goodell tries to hinder it from happening.

Halo

Done