This news story, now known as "BountyGate", broke a couple of days ago, but has been an ongoing investigation by the NFL, who found that the Saints defenders were being offered money from 2009-2011 to hurt players such as Kurt Warner and Brett Favre. These revelations are surprising but not stunning considering what was seen on the field by the Saints, mainly in the NFC Championship game as Brett Favre took many violent hits. The Saints went on to win that game in overtime and ultimately beat the Colts in the Super Bowl. One can wonder if a fully healthy Favre would have put his team in the Super Bowl if he hadn't take some violent hits after plays. This story raises questions about the integrity of the NFL.
I remember hearing about the Ravens having bounties on Hines Ward and Rashard Mendenhall of the Steelers a few years ago, and this was the first time I was really exposed to this type of behavior. I thought it was a terrible thing, and I think this even more now. The scope and magnitude of this story will surely be discussed in the coming days. One really has to wonder now if this is an NFL-wide thing and if the Saints were just the unfortunate ones that got caught. I feel like this corruption definitely isn't just limited to the Saints, and this type of behavior cannot be taken lightly.
Gregg Williams has bolted from the Saints, but he deserves to be suspended for at least a year, if not more in my opinion. I think Roger Goodell will come down hard on this, with potential suspensions, fines, and forfeiture of draft picks for the Saints. This type of behavior is inexcusable, dirty, and just flat-out wrong. Guys are already being hurt and concussions are a huge problem, but with bounties set, we are lucky paralysis or death hasn't come from this animalistic behavior. It makes me sick to think about that players deliberately will hurt their fellow players for money. I can't stand players like James Harrison, who do not know the line between good, clean football and dirty behavior. I don't know if Harrison was ever offered money to perform his illegal hits. He may be too dumb and just likes killing people without having to be paid to do it.
This scandal reminds me of all the NCAA scandals in some ways. USC, Ohio State, and Miami were exposed, and this is eerily similar because the Saints were seen as a model franchise. These college programs were perennial powers and seemed to be great examples, but they were exposed to be corrupt. Now we see this in the NFL with the darlings of the league, the New Orleans Saints.
I still sympathize with the Saints because of what that city had to go through with Hurricane Katrina, but that does not excuse them for the bounty program they ran. They did amazing acts of community service for a city in shambles, but somewhere along the way they messed this up with their lack of integrity. Drew Brees is seen as a model citizen and league ambassador, but a lot of people may not hold him in as high of regard if he knew that the defense was deliberately trying to injure the opponent. If Brees knew, he may be seen as a fraud in regard to his character. It is hard for me to believe that he wouldn't know about it. NFL teams are a fraternity, so Brees almost had to know about this. He and the Saints have done so much right for the city, but this black eye is going to cripple them now.
Fines and suspensions are certainly looming, so stay tuned in the coming weeks as new developments in this story are released.
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