Saints are in danger of NFL discipline
 

ESPN's Adam Schefter reports that the Saints are in danger of NFL discipline after maintaining a "bounty program" to take opposing offensive players out of games under former defensive coordinator Gregg Williams.

Per Schefter, the NFL's investigation began in 2010, when Williams' defense began targeting Brett Favre and Kurt Warner. Between 22 and 27 Saints defenders were allegedly involved, as well as at least one defensive assistant. The league has reportedly reviewed 18,000 documents totaling more than 50,000 pages. New Orleans' discipline may lead to fines, suspensions, and draft-pick forfeiture. Williams is now defensive coordinator for the Rams.

Source: Adam Schefter on Twitter

More...
http://www.nfl.com/news/story/09000d...itter_breaking

maybe they should direct some of that "discipline" towards Williams... you know he set that up. If he didn't directly he must have known about it.

... and with that defense I saw last year, they should check to see if there's enough money in it to pay Brees.

It should be offset by the 2010 and 2011 campaigns of not successfully targeting any QB's.

The timing of this is terrible, and it seems that Sean and Loomis knew about it and did nothing .... seems like someone's head is going to roll when its all said and done, what sucks is that finally the Saints were on the edge of being a model franchise and this kind of stuff has to show up, wow if people didn't hate us before, they sure will hate us now

I will wait for more reports on this one. While this is bad, other teams do this, but I wonder why this is coming out after Gregg leaves the team..I wonder if some of the players felt scared to come out about it.

While there was a bounty in place, the saints had clean hits and the ones they did not they were flagged for.

We couldn't sack a bag of groceries. Somebody didn't get their money's worth if you ask me. :mrgreen:

Yea I find it funny that the bounty was in place, but I don't remember knocking anyone out, our interceptions dropped and fumble recovers dropped from 2010 - 2011.

What a bunch of balony. If you make an Illegal hit you get fined. Football is supposed to be a rough sport so now everytime someon egets tackled and hurt it might be due to a Bounty? I'd say prove it. So they had a Bounty, prove wne a Bounty hit was made...

I saw this too.."The Saints have gained a reputation in league circles as a dirty team in recent years, and Vikings running back Adrian Peterson said this past season that the Saints targeted his high left ankle sprain."

How about not playing with a high ankle sprain?

What a bunch of wussies

I don't condone a "bounty" but the way things are going, the NFL will be a high priced flag football league within the next 20 years

Amen on that! How about training your referees, Goodell, to know the difference between an illegal hit and a clean, legal hit. Therein the problem may lie! And I agree.....fine Williams..he was head honcho on defense! It's a trickle down...so give credit where credit is due!

OMG really?? Are they talking about our D that couldn't sack a turtle? Couldn't catch a cold and couldn't tackle my grandma in a wheel chair?

Apparently not much credence was given to this "Bounty". I'd like to know where they got 50,000 pages of info on this from.

A-f*cking-men!

Seriously! 50,000 pages???? For real??? That's longer than Obama's Healthcare Plan, isn't it??? Who could possibly write 50,000 pages of allegations? I'd have to see it to believe it.

Garland Gillen ‏ @garlandgillen Reply Retweet Favorite · Open
Exhibit 1 for Saints Bounty Hunt: youtube.com/watch?v=23l5oR…
Retweeted by WWL-TV Sports

You got to be kidding me, no where do I see anything "illegal" about this hit

This is all over sportstalk in Detroit.

My understanding is that there was a pool, players paid in and they were paid on performance for things like interceptions, tackles, key plays, et ... the violation being that the pool also included payment for things like sending an opposing player off on a stretcher (?).

Supposedly, Mickey Loomis, Greg Williams, Sean Payton & Tom Benson were all aware of this, with only Benson asking that it be stopped.

Other then paying for the injury of an opponent (allegedly), this doesn't bother me. It's a violent game, players get sent off on stretchers from non-bounty, legal hits all the time. I'm sure it goes on with every team in one form or another around the entire league.

When you have the chance to lay someone out on the field, you do it, regardless. That is the reality of the NFL. I'm finding it hard to believe million-dollar athletes would be so motivated by a thousand dollars or so that they would intentionally try to injure another player. Besides, had I known there was a bounty on Brett Favre when he was with Minnesota, I probably would have contributed a few bucks, :grin:

According to ESPN's Adam Schefter, the NFL has determined that MLB Jonathan Vilma was one of the primary culprits in the Saints' "pay for performance" bounty program that will result in NFL discipline.

"In the week of the NFC Championship Game," Schefter said on NFL Live Friday, "Saints linebacker Jonathan Vilma put $10,000 in cash on a table and said 'this goes to the guy that knocks out Brett Favre.'" Those weren't Vilma's exact words, but they were similar, according to Schefter, and he's sure to be atop the league's target list for impending discipline. It's worth nothing that Vilma is due $5.4 million in 2012 and has been discussed as a possible salary cap casualty. We wouldn't expect him back with the Saints.

If true, I'm wondering who the snitches are.

If any of these hit would have resulted in Roddy White having his jaw wired shut, I'd be okay with any fines that come our way.

:blueshock:

This will not bode well for the organization.

Something like this would make even Drew bail.

Seriously, this is NOT good.

Alaska

But Shanle will come out of this SQUEAKY-CLEAN !!!

He did nothing. There's not even video evidence of a TACKLE!!

LOL

Alaska

I don't remember any outrage when Bill Romanowski told the 49ers to make the playoff game against the Saints a 'stretcher' game!

1.11: Bill Romanowski calls Saints-49ers 'stretcher game' *COURTESY 95.7 THE GAME*

The NFL has taken that first step years ago. They are almost there now. I say 10 years top.

Now that's just wrong. :nutkick:

Well, if the NFL is moving towards becoming a flag football league, hopefully the LFL will have evolved into having teams in most major markets. They play tackle. I imagine they could have message boards.

LINGERIE FOOTBALL LEAGUE / LINGERIE BOWL FRANCHISE - TRUE FANTASY FOOTBALL

Did the players have to pay into the bounty for every missed tackle or interception dropped then? :)
Seriously, I'm worried about this. Especially if any of the Saints coaches, team staff or ownership paid into the bounty pool. Paying players under the table is a very serious offense. Just ask a Timberwolves fan about "Joe Smith". It took years to get that team back on track from the punishment they received. And with Goodell's wussification of the NFL, he will have motive to come down hard on the Saints if proof is sufficient.

This is not good..... I wanna see these "pages"...... Sounds like sour grapes from the league, because we ruined Favre's year.....

THIS!!! How much of his paycheck did Tracy Porter have to pay in after Marshawn Lynch ran the f*cking field on him in the WC game?

Yep....from the looks of things there weren't many rewards paid on those bounty's

Snitches get stiches!



But all in all, this is a "non-issue." So what if they had a pool going, I bet many other teams have them as well.

If the opposing player gets hurt as a result of a legal play, then why would it matter if they had a pool about such things?

Defensive units - in most contact sports - have to have a certain mentality to approaching the game, and as sick as it may sound to an outsider, these type of things help to build that mentality, cohesion, and camaraderie within those defensive units.

I know I put at least two guys under the surgeons knife in my hockey playing days, and as much as I feel sorry for those guys - they should've chosen a different sport if they couldn't handle the nature of the game.

Now, if the hits were deemed illegal, it is a different thing, but I seem to remember that most of those hits on Favre weren't judged as legal by the officiating crew. Maybe the fact that he was older than dirt might've had an impact on how his body reacted to those hits?

I doubt there'll be any major consequences because of this case, and I for one don't feel any differently about the Saints' organization or the players/staff involved if they are somehow found guilty - and I don't care what the rest of the league thinks about them either.

Shockey??

Whatever happens it better be a slap, even less than what the 49ers and the Pats got for cheating which is far worse IMO.

There are some people that are really over reacting to all this, was it wrong yes but nothing to threaten people over

Motivational tool. Nothing to see here. Slow news day. Move along.

"Chris Harris, a safety who was still playing for the Bears when Bennett was injured, was not surprised by the story. He tweeted, "Doesn't surprise me. Everyone does it they're just the ones who got caught. It's part of the NFL culture." He added that it's more common than people would think, but he knows nothing."
While I think what happened, if it is the truth, is disgusting and disgraceful, I think the comment above sums the hole thing up.
Mav, I read the news brief put out by the NFL. It appears some one on the team turned them in back in 09 and then took it all back and then last year took some sort of "proof" back to the league. Yahoo and NFL.com have the report.

ESPN's John Clayton speculates that the Saints will face a hefty fine as well as the loss of "multiple draft choices" as league-imposed punishment for the 2009-2011 bounty scandal.

Perhaps the most damning evidence against the Saints is that GM Mickey Loomis and coach Sean Payton knew about Gregg Williams' bounty system, and did nothing to prevent it. "I think it's gonna be a penalty that's gonna exceed SpyGate," Clayton said on SportsCenter. "I think you're probably gonna see the organization fined significantly, maybe close to $1 million. I think you're gonna see multiple draft choices taken away. ... Maybe a first-round pick next year and some other pick this year."


Holy ****! That would suck really bad. But on the bright side, we should have no excuse re-signing Brees, Nicks, and Colston.

Vilma primary culprit in bounty issue
 

Those weren't Vilma's exact words, but they were similar

I call :bs:

It worries me more that it would possibly take such motivational tactics to get the team up, than if it actually happened. I have no problem with illegal or for the most part percieved illegal hits being punished with flags and then fines later. But, to punish for percieved intent when no illegal acts actually happened, is ludacris. I wish I was a lawyer with that case against the NFL.

If they really want to hurt us - they'll take out late round draft picks because our first (traded), second picks haven't done schiotte!

Oh, where are all the "GW we Trust" homers?