dsrdsrdsr

Twenty-odd years ago, a Green Bay player called Charles Martin picked up Beears' QB Jim McMahon and dumped him on his head. It ended his season and more or less ended his career. It wasn't a bounty, but it was after the play had ended.

If you send players out with a "bounty" attitude, then that's the sort of play you're encouraging. Not the legal hits, that's what you're paying them for anyway. The bounty is to encourage the illegal hits.

Suppose you pay Brees his gazillion dollar signing fee and a bounty hunter hits him helmet-to-knee on a handoff and ends his career? Are you OK with that?

FinSaint

A very good question, but let me counter it with another:

CharityMike

Why are you breathing the same air as me? Get real!

Saint_LB

If you don't think they are already playing with "bounty" attitude, then you are kidding yourself. This money they are exchanging is pocket change...and nobody is encouraging illegal hits. Legal hits hurt, too.

mike27

I hardly think a $1500 bounty is going to sway someone who is making millions a year.

While I defended Williams last year, it hurt me a little bit to know this was going on. But are we going to completely take out the "ringing of the bell," as part of the game, to make offenses hear the footsteps coming? I think that'd make things pretty boring. Clearly I realized with Favre and Manning that they were trying to get to them, and hit them hard, try to make them think, to throw the ball a bit early. But for those hits that were illegal, they were fined, and penalized in the game.

I saw that hit, where the guy rolled up over him, nearly snapping his neck by the way. It was bad enough where I remember it. (McMahon, was it??) Ouch, and uncalled for, obviously on purpose.

As far as any punishment, I think Williams should bear the brunt. I think it's pretty stupid to penalize current teams, with draft picks removed, that earlier teams caused. Where is the sense in that, punishing those who didn't do it???

And SF, with the helmet to helmet on the 3 yard line in the playoff game this year. He didn't have to do that, and probably altered history with that one play. But it was "legal" to do so, while clearly he was targeting Pierre for a concussion. Were SF players paid bounties? It's hard to say. Plus earlier while Jimmy Graham was going down the right-sideline, the defender was trying to twist his arm back, long after the ball was gone, and the play was done.

Are all those other Williams teams going to receive the same punishment? Are all of the other teams? It sucks pretty bad, this happening when NO was riding high, and seems unfair, as they've got the chance to play in their own city for the SuperBowl. But I won't count them out, as I know Brees has a fantastic work-ethic. But after paying his salary, will there be enough crumbs around to pay all of the linemen he needs to make himself safe, receivers, the defense? Sometimes I wonder if paying a guy 20 million a year isn't a bit over the top. How many other good players could you get for that? Indianapolis made a good decision, and Drew is like 33 now, he's going to be waning for sure.