RockyMountainSaint

New Orleans Saints interim coach Joe Vitt denies Anthony Hargrove's allegations - New Orleans Saints Football NFL News - NOLA.com

New Orleans Saints interim coach Joe Vitt adamantly denied the claims of former Saints player Anthony Hargrove on Monday night, insisting that he never told Hargrove to lie or deny the existence of the team's alleged bounty program. Hargrove made those claims in a declaration to the NFL that was obtained by Yahoo! Sports on Monday.

"At no time did I ever tell Anthony Hargrove to lie or deny the existence (of the alleged bounty program)," Vitt said. "He can say whatever he wants to say. It just didn't happen."

Vitt also reiterated what he said last month, insisting that Saints players were never taught to target players from opposing teams with an intent to injure. Vitt admitted that the Saints had a pay-for-performance pool for big plays, and he admitted that the language used by coaches needs to be cleaned up. But he said the first time he ever heard the word "bounty" was when he was in New York meeting with NFL investigators.

"We had a pot for big plays, the same thing everyone else in the league has, now they call them pay-for-performance. But we never paid for dirty hits," Vitt said. "I'll say it again, the exact same thing I told the commissioner, our players never crossed the white lines with an intent to maim or injure. They never threatened the integrity of the game when they crossed the white lines."

I'm no one.
Who are you?

burningmetal

What a circus. Everyone is changing what Hargrove supposedly said. Awful fishy.

Saintswrath

Good thing Hargrove is no longer with the team, the Locker-room would be a disarray.
This is why i don't care to have anymore stuff leaked out public.

jcp026

Does anyone really believe Joe Vitt. Everyone on defense that served under Williams should be cleansed.

TheOak

"I'll say it again, the exact same thing I told the commissioner, our players never crossed the white lines with an intent to maim or injure."

I believe Vitt. I believe him because this is the most intelligent statement that has yet to surface and is completely backed up by hours and hours of video tape of games.

Does anyone have any doubt that if Will Smith wanted to break someone he couldn't do it quite easily in one try? There is a whole lot of damage that could have been done on the bottom of many piles in many games. Know how easy it is to twist someone's ankle on the bottom of the pile? How easy it is to change direction just a little and cave someones knee in from the side? I will guarantee you Smith, Vilma, or most of our D players have enough strength to take a knee out with one swipe of the arm making it look like a legal wrap and tackle.

Marlboro Man

Just a few points,

1. Putting incentives in a players contract for "Big Hits, Tackles For Loss, QB Sacks, Forced Fumbles, Blocked Kicks, Interceptions, Fumble Recoveries, Passes Defensed, Big Runs, Long Pass Receptions, Pass Completions, Fewest Sacks Allowed, and many more, are ALL BOUNTIES, PERIOD, NO EXCEPTIONS!! But the league is ok with that?

2. All the evidence presented, is HERESAY, it's all "So and so said this & So and so said that, or So and so told me to say this or that. It's all HERESAY!

3. Hargrove's statement. Coming from someone, who, was suspended from the league for SUBSTANCE ABUSE, is now, all of a sudden, A RELIABLE WITNESS? Really?

4. If rodger goodell is so concerned about PLAYER SAFETY, and it is a KNOWN FACT, that there are much safer helmets on the market that a lot of Colleges and some Pros in the NFL are using, then WHY HAS Mr. goodell REFUSED TO HAVE THE LEAGUE SWITCH TO THE SAFER EQUIPMENT???

5. It seems that I have read and seen on the News, that teams have been into the second OTA's and because of all this BS, we haven't heard a THING about how our players are doing in these practices.

In closing, it is PATHETICALLY OBVIOUS, that all of this BS was PLANNED AND ORCHESTRATED, by goodell and the nfl to cover up their not wanting to give their players PROPER MEDICAL INSURANCE, and their CALLOUSE DISREGARD for the players safety by implementing too limited rosters so that an injured player had the proper time to completely heal from an injury before FORCING THEM TO GET BACK ON THE FIELD through RIDICULE. Please forgive the length of this post.

foreverfan

I thought he told him to act stupid.

Halo

I'm beginning to accept that this is going to drag on a long long time, through the season, and every game we play the "Bountgate controversy" will be the main focus of discussion by announcers, media, etc.. It's never going to end.....

With that, and team moral eventually low, count on 5 wins at best. Thanks NFL, you've accomplished what you wanted!!!

saintfan

Why shouldn't we believe Vitt? Why should we take somebody else's statement on the situation ahead of Vitt's? I'm not saying Vitt is right or wrong, or Hargrove, or anybody?

RELEASE THE EVIDENCE YOU HAVE ROGER and end this thing. If not, the Players should REFUSE to step foot on the field until this matter is resolved. Period.

Rugby Saint II

Prove Vitt told him to lie. If not prove something else and show us some freaking evidence for crying out loud.