6-keys: media/spln/nfl/reg/free/stories, at "I don't think you can be too hard on people that put at risk our players' health and safety," Goodell told Eisen. Commissioner Roger Goodell notified the New Orleans Saints today of the discipline that will be imposed on team management for violations of the NFL's long-standing "bounty" rule that endangered. "After a grand slam by Moses and injury, SEU . "You have to be accountable and responsible in the NFL," Goodell said. I have learned a hard lesson and I guarantee that I will never participate in or allow this kind of activity to happen again.. Loomis was suspended for the first eight games of the 2012 season. All four players can appeal the suspensions and would be entitled to a hearing and representation by counsel, the statement said. Devin White has never been shy about . The NFL's retort is that with all due deference, you don't get to second guess (Goodell). [10] Favre took such a severe beating that Vikings punter Chris Kluwe and placekicker Ryan Longwell wondered during the game if someone had put a bounty on him. One of the things was it was on my watch, but there was nothing that hasnt been done in the last 50 years in the sport and there was nothing done to try to hurt somebody, Williams continued. According to Woodson, when Williams called for his men to "attack the head" of running back Frank Gore, he was saying that the 49ers' offense would be rendered ineffective if they managed to shut Gore down. Hargrove actively participated in the program as a Saint and obstructed the leagues investigation by being untruthful, the statement said, while Fujita pledged a significant amount of money to the program. Brett Favre was a target of the New Orleans Saints in 2010. One of those interviewed, Junior Seau, bluntly said that such practices crossed the line into threatening a person's livelihood. Not only is De'Aaron Fox on a ridiculous scoring stretch, his shooting percentage is beyond efficient. [5] However, former commissioner Paul Tagliabue overturned all sanctions against the players in December 2012 after finding that despite the players being "very much involved," the coaches and the Saints organization were primarily responsible for the scandal.[6]. Williams was suspended indefinitely, and was banned from applying for reinstatement until the end of the 2012 season at the earliest. [59][60], The Saints were also fined $500,000the maximum fine permitted under the league constitution, and had to forfeit their second-round draft picks in 2012 and 2013 (their first-round pick in 2012 had already been traded to the New England Patriots, and therefore, could not be forfeited; after the penalty; the Saints' first pick in the 2012 NFL Draft is a third-rounder). We have made it clear that punishment without evidence is not fair. [14] Another source told CBSSports.com's Mike Freeman that Reggie Bush's agent at the time, Michael Ornstein, was closely involved in the scheme from the beginning. It determined that Williams had initiated the fund soon after he arrived in New Orleans in 2009, in hopes of making the defense more aggressive. Judges only have limited jurisdiction over arbitration issues. An @NFL player is injured let's start off by asking Sean Payton, who quite literally had a bounty system to Injure opposing teams players #BountyGate ask me how I know this to be True . The league also found that head coach Sean Payton was aware of the bounty system and, though not directly involved with it, hadn't done anything to shut it down. However, Woodson felt that several parts of Williams' speechparticularly his calls to go after Crabtree's ACL and target Williams specifically because he had concussions in the pastwent too far. [18] After the story broke, Williams issued a statement calling his involvement "a terrible mistake." Also Checkout: Kurt Warner super bowl wins, Be the first one to comment on this story. DeMaurice Smith, executive director of the NFL Players Association, said the organization would help the players fight the suspensions. Players regularly contributed cash to a pool, which may have topped $50,000 at its peak. The New Orleans Saints bounty scandal, colloquially known as "Bountygate,"[1][2][3][4] was an incident in which members of the New Orleans Saints of the National Football League (NFL) were accused of paying out bonuses, or "bounties," for injuring players on opposing teams. [66], Hours after the sanctions were announced, Kluwe went on KSTP in the Twin Cities and demanded that any players involved in the scheme be severely punished, and that the NFLPA let it be known that "there's no place in the league for that kind of behavior." Players also received "bounties" for "cart-offs" (plays in which an opponent was removed from the field on a stretcher or cart) and "knockouts" (plays that resulted in a player being unable to return for the rest of the game). We can joke about the recruiting-Ohtani part of Suzuki not being on Team Japan anymore, but in all seriousness, I just thought it was gonna be cool to watch Seiya playing on such a loaded team. After that meeting, Vitt's lawyer, David Cornwell, said that Payton and Loomis met with Williams before the divisional playoff game and ordered him to shut down the bounty program immediately. [51] However, several former players interviewed by Sports Illustrated said that while payments for good hits and sacks were indeed considered part of the game, bounties for intentionally injuring opponents violated an unwritten code. A Warner Bros. Later, CBSSports.com NFL columnist Clark Judge said several Vikings assistants told him they believed McCray was acting on direct orders from Williams, with at least one being so outraged that he threatened to "punch [Williams] in the face" the next time they met. The league has had a poor track record in recent appeals hearings. Actions like this are what makes Goodell sick. Saints assistant Joe Vitt was suspended for the first six games of 2012. So today's legal victory for four players whom Goodell suspended for their role in the New Orleans Saints' Bountygate affair is particularly satisfying no matter how fleeting and temporary it may be. [23], The league found that Payton not only knew about the scheme, but tried to cover it up during both league investigations. [16] Cerullo is currently director of football operations at Princeton University.[17]. Remember, Payton was suspended for 1 year after the NFL found Saints defensive players were getting cash payouts from 2009 to 2011 for targeting and injuring opponents during games. An @NFL player is injured let's start off by asking Sean Payton, who quite literally had a bounty system to Injure opposing teams players #BountyGate ask me how I know this to be True " Bold strategy by fox. The only difference in Seifert's mind was that he no longer believed the Saints were out of control. According to Wikipedia, members of the New Orleans Saints "were accused of paying out bonuses or bounties for injuring opposing team players." . Comedy Sport New Orleans Saints head coach Sean Payton coaches his son's 6th-grade football team while he is being suspended for the entire 2012 season as a result of his role in the Saints' Bountygate scandal. By CM Lucas. [54] On March 22, U.S. "[28] Tampa Bay Buccaneers quarterback Josh Freeman reported that the Saints tendency toward illegal hits was common knowledge among the Tampa Bay coaching staff. I gave you facts that you can report if so choose. It may take Jerry Jones stepping away from the general manager's position for this to take place, but who's to say he won't do that in order for his team to win a Super Bowl? In some cases, particular players on the opposing team were targeted, the NFL said. The league, in a written release, cited the players for their leadership roles in the bounty program, which paid players over the past three seaons for hits that injured opponents. [77] Two days after the fifth game of the season, on October 9, 2012, the league re-issued the suspensions without any changes or reductions; the players' appeals continued. [73], The NFLPA released a statement calling the suspensions unjustified, claiming that Goodell had not furnished them with any evidence supporting the sanctions. or hearsay. When the game clock hit 00:00 last night in Broncos' victory over the Jets, head coach Vic Fangio sprinted across the field yelling at players to head "right to the f***ing locker room . With New Orleans coach Sean Payton appealing his year-long suspension to NFL commissioner Roger Goodell, a hearing that will occur Tuesday, there are other worries for those who were involved with the Saints bounty program.True legal worries, perhaps. He claimed to have several thousand pages of evidence of this, but refused to show it to anyone. Discovery Company. Jan. 25, 2022 New Orleans Saints head coach Sean Payton, who led the team to its only Super Bowl title and, with quarterback Drew Brees, created one of the N.F.L.'s most successful tandems,. Vilma was a captain of the defensive unit under Williams and assisted in creating and funding the bounty program, the NFL statement said. Lombardi argued that such a situation is "never fully sustainable," as it can easily lead to the head coach losing control. [55], On April 5, documentary filmmaker Sean Pamphilon released audio of a meeting Williams held with his defense before their 2012 divisional playoff game against the San Francisco 49ers. He recalled that Goodell was always upset when officials didn't penalize hits on defenseless players. Vilma, a linebacker who is still with the Saints, got suspended for a year, and teammate Smith, a defensive end, got a four-game suspension. [7] Williams and the players pooled their own money to pay out performance bonuses. In football, a player is running the risk of being injured regardless of any bounty scheme in effect. Injuries Injuries Injuries; Transactions Transactions Transactions; . I never said a word. Sean Payton's reputation didn't suffer too much after Bountygate. Within two years he was back to form and named MVP of the Finals, but a serious foot injury during the playoffs in 1978 ended his season. There is already speculation that Cowboys owner Jerry Jones wants Payton to be his next head coach, if not this year, then next year, which means Mike McCarthy may be on the clock, if the Cowboys don't make it to the NFC Championship game next year. Roger Goodell claimed the Saints had a system from 2009-2011 where they would pay to specifically injure other players. Kluwe has never shied away from making his opinions known, even when the topic may result in him shunning a fellow player, and "bountygate" has proven to be no different. Nonetheless, it found the Saints organization as a whole guilty of conduct detrimental to the league as well due to Williams and the players' maintenance of the bounty pool, as well as Loomis and Payton's failure to act "in a responsible manner" to stop it. Cornwell contended that Williams was a "rogue coach," and the recently released audio of his meeting with the defense only proved it. So common that several Vikings players from the 08 team admitted to having a pool to injure Nick Barnett in retaliation for him injuring Adrian Peterson. In addition to the suspensions of Williams and Payton, the Saints were fined $500,000 and required to forfeit their second-round selections in the 2012 and 2013 NFL drafts. On March 2, 2012, the NFL announced that it had evidence that defensive coordinator Gregg Williams had created the program soon after his arrival in 2009, and alleged that "between 22 and 27 Saints players" were involved. PFF reports that former Indianapolis coach Tony Dungy has zeroed in on the play that he believes caused the injury, and it involves a matchup against a defense led by Gregg Williams. "I. 1984-87: Belton High School - Head Coach, Chadiha: Players shouldn't be only fall guys, Kreidler: Explaining Roger Goodell's actions, Howard: Retired player has second thoughts, TMQ: Saints set bad example for lower levels, Hill: Misplaced outrage over NFL bounties, Jacobs: Williams must be banned for 5 years, Clayton: Saints bounties worse than Spygate. [72], Earlier, Goodell had indicated that he was going to come down hard on the players involved, telling Eisen that they "enthusiastically embraced" the scheme. The Saints won the Super Bowl XLIV in 2009. They wanted to hurt him, and he wasn't alone. "Bountygate" came up again this week because Beckham claimed Williams told defenders to take him "out of the game" in a 2017 preseason contest. The numbers are striking."[94]. According to the NFL's findings, Williams and players pooled their money, and awarded cash prizes to players who injured select members of the opposing team. BREAKING NEWS MANCHESTER UNITED: Ten Hag will make changes in the FA Cup. Four past or present New Orleans Saints players were suspended Wednesday by the National Football League for their roles in the "bountygate" scandal involving bonuses for trying to hurt. [47] The NFLPA asked the league to delay any sanctions until the union could conduct its own investigation. During the 2010 investigation, Payton told Williams and Vitt to "make sure our ducks are in a row" when the league interviewed them. No more bias or b.s. Four past or present New Orleans Saints players were suspended Wednesday by the National Football League for their roles in the bountygate scandal involving bonuses for trying to hurt opponents. The behavior detailed in the report was almost universally condemned in the press. 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