Penalties for Saints Bounty Program Have Been Released

[Fizzy]

The NFL came out strong against multiple members of the Saints organization for their participation or connection with the bounty system that was run by former defensive coordinator Gregg Williams between 2009 and 2011.

Williams has been suspended indefinitely by the league, with Goodell to review his suspension after the 2012 season.

Saints head coach Sean Payton was suspended without pay for the entire 2012 season. General manager Mickey Loomis is also suspended without pay for the first eight regular-season games of the 2012 season. The NFL claims Payton and Loomis had knowledge of the bounties but failed to take steps to stop them.

The Saints also were fined $500,000 and stripped of second-round draft choices in 2012 and 2013.

Sainst assistant coach was suspended without pay for the first six regular-season games.

The penalties are the most severe and wide-ranging against a team since NFL commissioner Roger Goodell disciplined the New England Patriots for the “Spygate” scandal of 2007.

In early March, the NFL announced findings of a lengthy investigation that revealed activities strictly barred by the league. Saints players and others within the franchise including Williams contributed to a bounty pool that reached as much as $50,000.

Players were rewarded $1,500 for what were described as “knockout” hits and $1,000 for “cart-offs” (i.e. an injured opponent being taken off the field on a medical cart). The payoff amounts were doubled or tripled during the postseason.

Sports Illustrated first reported that Saints linebacker Jon Vilma offered a $10,000 reward to any teammate who could drive Minnesota quarterback Brett Favre out of the NFC Championship Game in January 2010. Favre played the entire game but was the victim of numerous borderline hits, including a high-low shot by defensive linemen Bobby McCray and Remi Ayodele that caused a serious ankle injury. Defensive end Anthony Hargrove also was flagged and fined by the NFL for a late-hit on Favre.


BOUNTY ON WARNER?
The former Cardinals QB was injured in a 2010 playoff game against the Saints.
The bounty system flies in the face of the player safety initiatives Goodell has instituted during his six-year tenure as NFL commissioner.

“It is our responsibility to protect player safety and the integrity of our game,” Goodell said in a statement released earlier this month. “This type of conduct will not be tolerated. We have made significant progress in changing the culture with respect to player safety and we are not going to relent. We have more work to do and we will do it.”

The NFL initially began investigating the Saints in the fall of 2010 when allegations were made that New Orleans players were targeting Arizona quarterback Kurt Warner during an early-season matchup. Initially unable to prove a bounty system existed, the NFL reopened its inquiry after new information surfaced during the 2011 season. The final report measured 50,000 pages with internal Saints emails part of the 18,000 documents submitted.

When news of the scandal surfaced, players on other teams that Williams coached admitted that similar bounty programs existed to varying degrees. Williams left the Saints at the end of the 2011 season to become defensive coordinator in St. Louis. The Rams have taken no official action against Williams while awaiting the NFL’s announcement of sanctions.

An NFL coach since 1990 at levels ranging from defensive assistant to Buffalo Bills head coach (2001 to 2003), Williams initially lied to NFL investigators when questioned about the existence of the bounty program.

Holy shit.

 

[D-Man]

HOLY MOTHERFUCK...

Talk about throwing the book at them...

 

[Little Jerry Lawler]

I guess the suspension for Loomis means he can't go to the games or something.

 

[CH David]

Wow.

 

[Poop Master Flex]

Holy shit. That's a lot of fines and suspensions. This makes Spygate look like a slap on the wrist.

 

[Stormtrooper]

Holy shit. That's a lot of fines and suspensions. This makes Spygate look like a slap on the wrist.

Spygate didn't cause any harm to people. Bounty-gate was about trying to injure people. Hence the penalties. Filming practices doesn't hurt people.


And they haven't announced penalties for the players yet.

 

[Tiger Chaos Theory]

I can hear Louisiana's anger.

 

[hatehabsforever]

Perfect, I love it.

 

[Shocky]

Broke the rules and got caught. Penalties are justified.

 

[D-Man]

Hells yeah, Shocky, but they really got ass-rammed.

 

[Big Nick Dudley]

Payton is out the entire season???

Jesus Christ, they weren't fucking around. I figured he'd get six or eight games, and that would have been tough. I have no problem with it, just surprised.

 

[Poop Master Flex]

Spygate didn't cause any harm to people. Bounty-gate was about trying to injure people. Hence the penalties. Filming practices doesn't hurt people.


And they haven't announced penalties for the players yet.

Both were scandals and big deals nonetheless.

I'm not talking about the severity of the crime as any idiot can see Bounty-gate was a lot worse than Spygate for a number of reasons mainly trying to injure players.

I'm just saying this makes Spygate look like nothing in comparison.

 

[Stormtrooper]

Both were scandals and big deals nonetheless.

I'm not talking about the severity of the crime as any idiot can see Bounty-gate was a lot worse than Spygate for a number of reasons mainly trying to injure players.

I'm just saying this makes Spygate look like nothing in comparison.

Because Spygate WAS nothing in comparison.

I'm interested in seeing what will happen to the players. Biomass may face Gregg williams level punishment.

 

[Poop Master Flex]

Because Spygate WAS nothing in comparison.

I'm interested in seeing what will happen to the players. Biomass may face Gregg williams level punishment.

Thanks for agreeing with my first and second post.

Also stop trying to sound smarter than you really are.

 

[Fizzy]

Also stop trying to sound smarter than you really are.

No point in throwing this into the post. You're just trying to start an argument for no reason which is totally fucking pointless considering he did nothing to warrant this.

 

[Stormtrooper]

Thanks for agreeing with my first and second post.

Also stop trying to sound smarter than you really are.

i hate autocorrect. I was saying Vilma may get Gregg Williams level punishment, and it came out totally wrong. Apparently Vilma=Biomass according to Android phones.

 

[Mustang Sally]

Payton is out the entire season???

Loomis and Williams admitted they knew about it as soon as the scandal broke, but Payton claimed not to know a thing.

Yeah, right. It's good the NFL didn't buy it. If ever there were a micro-manager who was into every detail of running his team, it's him.

 

[Slyfox696]

I have no problem with any of the punishments, except for the fine levied against the Saints themselves. $500,000? That's only a little more than what head coach Sean Payton makes for one game, which the Saints will recoup almost immediately since they're not paying Payton. Completely unacceptable fine amount, should have been much higher. This will actually make the Saints more money.

 

[The Talon]

Guys, quit arguing and start focusing on the real story.

Tebow's going to the Jets The Saints have been fucked in the ass, no lube involved.

 

[Poop Master Flex]

i hate autocorrect. I was saying Vilma may get Gregg Williams level punishment, and it came out totally wrong. Apparently Vilma=Biomass according to Android phones.

Gotta love auto correct.

Anyways it would definitely be logical to give Vilma the same punishment Williams got, especially for offering a $10,000 bounty to injure Favre in the NFC title game 2 years ago.

 

[Davi323]

I have a few Saints fans that I am friends with on Facebook, and they are going absolutely apeshit over it, doing the whole "it's not fair/Goodell better bring bodyguards next time he is in New Orleans/bitch/moan/bitchsomemore" thing. It's taking everything I have to not reply...

The Saints got everything they deserved. If this had been limited to just the players, no way it goes down like this. But, this was something that permeated the entire organization, which not only looked the other way, but actively encouraged and participated in it. The NFL had to demonstrate that teams showing complete disregard for NFL rules cannot, and will not be tolerated.

The NFL needed to drop the hammer on the Saints to discourage ANY other team from trying it, or to convince those teams that are doing it already that it's time to stop.

 

[Nate DaMac]

Whoa.

 

[BaconBits]

I guess it's to be expected from an egomaniac of a commissioner who was too much of a pussy to even play football.

 

[Poop Master Flex]

I would say the commissioner is is doing whats best. If anything he should have been more strict on the Saints than he was. If you ask me, the Saints got of light.

 

[UnBEARaBULLfan]

I feel they got off light the fine should of been way more and they should of lost 1st round picks instead of the 2nd round picks.