Saints in trouble for calling Bountys

The NFL may not even have to do anything at this point.

I'd think that every player who got hurt playing against the Saints in those seasons and is no longer in the NFL is going to be looking to sue. Deep pockets draw a lot of attention.

 

Brett Favre should sue claiming they cut his career short.

 

If Favre got hurt in a game against them as a result of player contact and there was a bounty out on him? Probably a $20 million dollar claim and a settlement in 7 figures.

 

I'd say worse than spygate. With all the recent emphasis on player safety, and you have intent to injure for bonuses? and the coaches are in on it? :sad:

 

I'd rather face a bounty-hunting team than a team spying on my practices and stealing calls from the sideline.

 

Really? As a player or a fan?

 

Fan. As a player it's different because your health is your sustinance, but cheap shots happen all the fuckin time. It's not something they haven't seen before in this league. If you were to tell me that one team in the NFL had a bounty program in place but made me guess who, I'd guess Pittsburgh, not the Saints. There's a lot of cheap shot artists in this league and that's part of the reason Goodell's been cracking down.

Knowing what the other team is going to do is a whole different level of advantage.

 

(1) Is a 'bounty' program explicitly prohibited by the NFL ?

(2) Is such a program, if illegal, still against NFL rules if NO MONEY is involved (just team applause, etc) ??

(3) If a 'bounty' program involves $$$ and payment to players for 'big plays' -- a sack, a tackle behind the lines, a jarring but clean hit, a strip, an interception, a forced fumble, etc -- is that illegal ???

(4) How is 'payment for hits' -- bounties or good plays -- a violation of the NFL Cap System if it is money from the players themselves or the coaches to be re-distributed amongst themselves? They are just rejiggering a few thousand dollars, not evading the cap by paying huge hidden bonuses, right ?

 

All payments for specific performances in a game, including not only causing injuries, but also things like interceptions and causing fumbles, are explicitly prohibited by the NFL. Bounties for causing injuries are also monumentally stupid, since (besides showing a shocking lack of respect for the game and the safety of the people who play it) they put your own offensive players at great risk from retaliation. I have always thought that the Saints have been a terrific feel-good story, but I hope the NFL throws the book at them. They should lose high draft choices, and Payton and any other coaches involved should be suspended for multiple games (I consider the coaches far more culpable than the players). Considering the stories coming out that he had the same thing going on in Washington, in my opinion under no circumstances should Gregg Williams be allowed anywhere near an NFL sideline for at least a year.

And if this is common (which I think is a lot less likely than some people seem to think), then every other team that does it should face exactly the same punishments. And that includes the Jets.

 

I would think a lot of the legality of it depends on how much money. If you're giving players a significant chunk of money for making big plays, then it's definitely illegal. If we're talking donating a dollar to a pool every time you commit a penalty and then taking out $5 when you make a sack, I don't think anyone will have an issue.

The fact that you're paying players 4-5 digits for anything under the table is frowned upon. Intentionally trying to injure players is absolutely frowned upon. Combining the two, and this could be worse than Spygate in terms of how it's punished.

 

Rex should go on tour with Andrew Dice Clay....

 

18000 documents? 50000 pages? What the fuck?

 

The main problem with this is that it could motivate a guy to cross the line and hit a guy late, or hit someone illegally with intent to injure. That's why I expect the league to make an example with this so they put an end to it.

In reality though this is what every player is trying to do. The only difference is they get their bonus when it's time for a new contract instead.

 

Even if you got past a bunch of other legal hurdles, you'd still have to prove that the bounty was the proximate cause of the injury. And even then, you'd probably only get a % of damages, since defensive players going after the QB is part of the game and, legally, he'd probably only be entitled to any "additional" damage caused.

But injuries also have threshold points, as far as whether or not they end a career, that make them awfully difficult to calculate.

 

Does anyone really believe that a player would make a dirty play for $10,000 when the NFL fines you $20,000 for the hit, and you're making millions anyway?

Personally I just don't see this as such a big deal. Nobody likes to see dirty plays, but they're a fact of life in the NFL and when you step on the field you know that the other side is gunning for you.

Punishing Spygate actually had some deterrent effect. Taking the Saints first round pick won't stop coaches from encouraging their players to knock out the other team's stars, there's no way to regulate that.

 

I think they would. Not because of the financial considerations themselves, but because there is an associated pride in winning that prize. This whole scenario highlights the fact that players care not only about outplaying their opponents, but they actually find pleasure in injuring other players. Now, I am not at all surprised by this, but the fact that the Saints turned it into an organized, paid activity should be extremely troubling to everyone.

Also, a couple more interesting snippets from the NY Times' article (http://www.nytimes.com/2012/03/03/s...ounty-program-to-injure-opponents.html?_r=1):

 

There is a stark difference between 'encouraging' and paying them documented sums of money. That is the reason the Saints are in trouble, and it is able to be not only regulated but completely ended.