[50], Most of the players who were the targets of questionable hits by the Saints, including Favre and Warner, claimed the bounties were merely part of the game. Bountygate was alleged to have taken place from 2009 to 2011. [10], Speculation quickly abounded about how severely Goodell, who has made player safety and the overall integrity of the game a point of emphasis during his six years as commissioner, would punish Williams and the Saints. To test whether the Saints injured more players than a typical team, one need only compare the number of players added to injury reports after a Saints game to the league-wide average. In addition, the Saints franchise was fined $500,000 and docked second-round picks in the 2012 and 2013 drafts. He crippled them to the point that . Then the coach reminded the players to target specific injuries on 49ers: "We need to find out in the first two series of the game," Williams said, "that little wide receiver, number 10, about his . On May 2, the league announced the suspension of four players for their leadership roles in the bounty system. [34] Chicago Tribune NFL analyst Matt Bowen, who played for the Redskins at the time, later wrote in one of his regular columns that the bounty pool was funded by fines for mistakes made during practice and in games, and insisted similar systems operated on other teams. In 2012, Paul Tagliabue, Goodell's predecessor as commissioner, was brought in to hear the appeals of four Saints players who were suspended by Goodell for their roles in the pay-for-injury . 2023 Cable News Network. The New Orleans Saints bounty scandal, widely dubbed " Bountygate ", [1] [2] [3] [4] was an incident in which members of the New Orleans Saints franchise of the NFL were accused of paying out bonuses, or "bounties", for injuring opposing team players. 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 players and Williams contributed their own cash to the pot, and received cash payments based on their performance in the previous week's game. Multiple independent sources also confirmed that Vilma offered a specific bounty $10,000 in cash to any player who knocked Arizona quarterback Kurt Warner out of the 2009 Divisional Playoff Game and later pledged the same amount to anyone who knocked Minnesota quarterback Brett Favre out of the 2009 NFC Championship Game the following week, the statement said. He even went as far as to call for Vilmathe only player specifically named as being involved in the scheme in the NFL's initial announcementsto be banned from the league for life. I am truly sorry. 2009-11: New Orleans Saints - Defensive Coordinator The New Orleans Saints bounty scandal, colloquially known as "Bountygate," 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.The pool was alleged to have been in operation from 2009 (the year in which the Saints won Super Bowl XLIV) to 2011. The NFL determined that Vilma and Smith helped Williams start the bounty program. Two of those players were reportedly Kurt Warner and Brett Favre. We have spoken with our players and their representatives and we will vigorously protect and pursue all options on their behalf.. Players regularly contributed cash to a pool, which may have topped $50,000 at its peak. General manager Mickey Loomis was suspended for the first eight games of the 2012 season. [8] According to these players, such bounty programs were usually informal and often between players only, more with intent at locker-room braggadocio than systemic malice. Go lay that motherfucker out." 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. He initially denied any involvement, but recanted and admitted everything in a meeting with Goodell. 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. Players that faced suspensions included linebacker Jonathan Vilma, defensive tackle Anthony Hargrove, defensive end Will Smith and linebacker Scott Fujita. As a result, he went to Texas to coach his son's youth football team. 1990-92: Houston Oilers - Defensive Quality Control Coach JUNIOR GALETTE on Twitter: "Bold strategy by fox. He also appeared to put a bounty on quarterback Alex Smith; according to Pamphilon, after Williams told his men to hit Smith in the chin, "then he rubs his thumb against his index and middle fingers the cash sign and says, I got the first one. [23], The league found that Payton not only knew about the scheme, but tried to cover it up during both league investigations. He ordered his men to try to knock out running back Kendall Hunter, even if it meant hitting him out of bounds. [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. Head coach Sean Payton was suspended for the entire 2012 seasonthe first time since Chuck Fairbanks in 1978 that a head coach had been suspended. Williams, coach Sean Payton, general manager Mickey Loomis and several Saints players were suspended by the league for their role in Bountygate, and hours after those punishments were announced Williams, who had moved on to the Rams, issued this statement: I want to express my sincere regret and apology to the NFL, Mr. Benson, and the New Orleans Saints fans for my participation in the 'pay for performance' program while I was with the Saints,"Williams said in March 2012. Later in the game, offensive tackle Frank Omiyale yanked a Saints defender off Cutler when he saw what he later called "some dirty stuff. 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. Everybody got out there and pushed their information one way or the other and I didnt. "If the Saints tended to injure more players, then teams that played them would tend to list more injuries the following week. Back in 2012, Payton was suspended from the NFL for a year. [65] He reiterated this in an interview later that day with ESPN's Schefter, saying that the fact those involved "continued to mislead" the league about it was a significant factor in the sanctions. 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. appreciated. He claimed to have several thousand pages of evidence of this, but refused to show it to anyone. However, the players and team officials interviewed all denied that any bounty program existed, and the player who made the initial report subsequently recanted his allegations.[7][14]. 6-keys: media/spln/nfl/reg/free/stories, at I got the first one. . [42], Former safety Ryan Clark, who played under Williams in Washington from 20042005 and himself was fined by the NFL $40,000 for a helmet-to-helmet hit against Baltimore Ravens tight end Ed Dickson during the 2011 season,[43] defended Williams, saying that he never ran a bounty program with the Redskins and has yet to see one during his time in the NFL. Photo Credit: Tim Nwachukwu/Getty Images Who is Sean Payton? All four players can appeal the suspensions and would be entitled to a hearing and representation by counsel, the statement said. [25] Goodell told Schefter, however, that he would hand down punishments to the players involved very soon once he gets feedback from the NFLPA. 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. [69], The NFLPA requested that the league should hold off on any punishments for the players until it conducts its own investigation. [7][12], Benson issued a statement on the Saints' Website saying, "I have been made aware of the NFLs findings relative to the Bounty Rule and how it relates to our club. Williams, coach Sean Payton, general manager Mickey Loomis and several Saints players were suspended by the league for their role in Bountygate, and hours after those punishments were announced. I have offered and the NFL has received our full cooperation in their investigation. 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). That was a difficult year in a lot of ways because there was a lot of information that was misinformation that got out and Im the only person in the whole deal that never said anything, Williams said, via Scout by way of PFT. [8], After the sanctions were announced, CBSSports.com's Gregg Doyel wrote that the severity of the punishments handed down to Williams, Payton and Loomis proved that Goodell was truly sincere in his desire to "take the thuggishness out of the NFL." Before Monday's appeals hearings on the Saints bounty punishments, the NFL was required to provide the NFLPA and the suspended players ( Jonathan Vilma, Will Smith, Scott Fujita and Anthony. Lombardi claimed that as a result, Williams operated essentially as "an independent contractor." CNN Sans & 2016 Cable News Network. He was reinstated a year later, worked for the Titans in 2013 and returned to St. Louis last season. 1994-96: Houston Oilers - Linebackers Coach There have been a few remarkable claims made in the five-plus weeks since the NFL first announced the discovery of a three-year bounty program in the Saints organization. No more bias or b.s. NEW YORK -- New Orleans Saints players and at least one assistant coach maintained a bounty pool of up to $50,000 the last three seasons to reward game-ending injuries inflicted on opposing . The numbers are striking."[94]. He also claimed that NFL Network yanked its planned replay of the 2009 NFC Championship Game due to concern that fans might look more closely for late hits that should have been called. Had the suspensions of Vilma and Hargrove been upheld, they would have been the longest for an on-field incident in modern NFL history, topping the previous record set in 2006, when then-Titans defensive end Albert Haynesworth was given a five-game suspension for stomping on the head of Dallas Cowboys offensive lineman Andre Gurode. From Saints safety Malcolm Jenkins, the team's first-round draft pick in 2009, now comes perhaps the most remarkable. 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. [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. In May 2012, four current and former Saints players were suspended after being named as ringleaders in the scandal, with linebacker Jonathan Vilma also being suspended for the entire 2012 season. Williams was suspended indefinitely, and was banned from applying for reinstatement until the end of the 2012 season at the earliest. [6] Contents 1 Background 2 Findings revealed 3 Other allegations against Williams After re-starting the disciplinary process, Goodell upheld the suspensions for Vilma and Smith and reduced the suspensions for Fujita and Hargrove to one and seven games respectively. Fujita, who left the team for the Browns immediately after the Saints won Super Bowl XLIV, pledged "a significant amount of money" into the bounty program. Vikings coach Brad Childress later said that there were at least 13 instances where he felt the Saints deliberately went after Favre. GM Mickey Loomis was suspended without pay for the first eight regular-season games of 2012. [82] Hargrove, signed as a free agent by the Green Bay Packers in March 2012,[83] did not play during the 2012 season. The Saints appealed the suspensions of Payton, Loomis and Vitt, but the NFL upheld the suspensions. The Saints appear to have injured far fewer players over the 2009, 2010 and 2011 seasons. 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. [90] His former teammate, NFL Network analyst Michael Irvin, said that he "almost threw up" when he heard Williams tell his men to go after Crabtree's ACL, saying that players are taught from youth football onward to "never take out a man's knees. He played college football at the University of Miami, winning a National Championship in 2001.He went on to be drafted by the New York Jets in the first round of the 2004 NFL Draft.Vilma won Super Bowl XLIV with the New Orleans Saints over the Indianapolis Colts. He also believed that Goodell was going to use the scandal to "end the practice of bounty football forever," much like the penalties imposed against the Patriots after "Spygate" effectively ended the longstanding practice of illicit videotaping. Since the NFL unveiled its findings, Williams has been accused of running similar bounty programs during his coaching stints with the Titans, Redskins and Bills. [18] Freeman wrote that his sources in the league office had told him that the players, Williams, Payton and Loomis would all face suspensions of at least six games, as well as heavy fines. By CM Lucas. [84] ESPN columnist Gregg Easterbrook claimed that the Saints' behavior threatened the very integrity of the sport since high school and youth players have long emulated what they see in the NFL. . [68], Goodell denied the appeals on April 9, meaning that Payton's suspension began as of April 16. Payton was asked about the possible misdeed; he was suspended for the entire 2012 season for his involvement in the Saints' "Bountygate" scheme in which players were paid for injuring opponents. There was never done with anybody trying to injure somebody. [78], On October 27, 2012, former league commissioner Paul Tagliabue postponed the bounty appeals hearing,[79] expecting to set a new schedule on October 29, 2012. He also argued that Goodell would have no choice but to come down hard on the Saints, given that the league was facing numerous lawsuits brought by former players who suffered head injuries. [54] On March 22, U.S. "[30][31], However, on July 26, 2012, Vilma and seven witnesses from the Saints testified in front of a federal judge in New Orleans that NFL commissioner Roger Goodell got his facts wrong in the bounty scandal. 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. After a lengthy. 17 Feb 2023 00:46:36 ", "Full NFL statement into 'bounty' program run by New Orleans Saints", "Saints took common practice of bounties to new, dangerous level", "Saints, team officials involved in bounty program should pay dearly", "Saints' shots at Brett Favre were no secret", "Chris Kluwe: Ban Jonathan Vilma for life", "Warner: Saints hit legal, not career-ending", "Saints looking at severe punishment for bounty system", "Sean Payton: NFL hiring of bounty whistleblower Mike Cerullo 'unbelievable', "NFL announces management discipline in Saints' 'bounty' matter", "NFL memo details more Saints bounty accusations", "Matt Hasselbeck shrugs off Saints' 'bounty' target", "Mike Ornstein's association with New Orleans Saints and bounty scandal a perplexing situation", "NFL says Saints created 'bounty' program from 2009 to 2011", "As bounty fallout continues, Goodell to make example of Saints", "Sources: New Orleans Saints kept a 'ledger' detailing weekly earnings in bounty scandal", "Report: Saints Ledger Shows Cart-offs Worth 1K", "New Orleans Saints linebacker Jonathan Vilma does not receive restraining order, still hopeful for favorable ruling", "Washington Redskins offered bounties for big hits under former assistant coach Gregg Williams", "NFL to investigate Redskins over bounty allegations", "Bills had bounty system under Gregg Williams, players say", Ruben Brown says Bills didn't run bounty system, Retired Bills DE: Gregg Williams was softest coach, "Dungy: Titans had a bounty on Peyton Manning", "Ryan Clark says he's not aware of any bounties, anywhere", "Goodell plans swift justice for Saints bounty hunters", "Players Injured By New Orleans Saints Could Take Legal Action", "Bounty issue could be NFL legal problem", "Joint Statement from Saints Executive VP/General Manager Mickey Loomis & HC Sean Payton", "Brees says he had no knowledge of Saints' bounties", "Saints' Payton, Owner Benson return from requested meeting with NFL commissioner", "Source: Gregg Williams instructed Saints during speech to injure Niners offensive players", "Stingy 49ers hold down Drew Brees, Saints 36-32", "NFL bans Saints' Payton a year for 'bounties'; Williams out, too", "Sean Payton suspended, Saints fined for bounty program", Bill Parcells 'staying retired,' won't coach Saints in 2012, "All clubs directed to ensure no bounty programs exist", "Commissioner Goodell says NFL was misled in 'bounty' probe", "Saints, Payton, GM Loomis, assistant Vitt appealing bounty penalties", "Attorney for Saints' Joe Vitt says Gregg Williams went 'rogue', "Chris Kluwe thinks Jonathan Vilma should be banned from NFL", "Goodell: New Orleans Saints players 'embraced' bounties", "Union bounty grievance: Goodell has no authority to punish, hear appeals", "New Orleans Saints suspended players' appeals face uphill battle: expert", "Legal expert: Union may be fighting losing battle in bounty grievances", "Saints bounty players have suspensions lifted, are available for season opener", "Report: NFL re-issues bounty suspensions for Saints players", "NFL postpones New Orleans Saints bounty appeals hearing", "Paul Tagliabue postpones bounty appeals hearing", "Season, maybe career, over for Browns' Fujita", "Scott Fujita retires from NFL as a New Orleans Saint", "Saints 'bounty program' is a black eye for a beloved franchise: An editorial", "Football's Bounty Hunters Must Be Clipped", "Long seen as their enemy, Goodell comes down decisively for players", "Goodell shows commitment to player safety", "Michael Irvin's thoughts on Saints' bounties", "Williams' independent-contractor status fueled rogue mentality", https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=New_Orleans_Saints_bounty_scandal&oldid=1139472032. 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