Latest NFL Scandal: Bountygate

[Mex86]

Here's a column in the LA Times that expresses appropriate disgust over the New Orleans Saints' 'bounty' system, paying players extra money to knock star opponents out of the game. What do you guys think? Predictably, some players think it's all part of the game - I think it's a disgrace to the sport, and that this guy Williams should be banned for life, and the whole Saints organization punished. Plaschke has some interesting ideas below:

http://www.latimes.com/sports/la-sp-...3551316.column

[astrosfanatic]

Pete Rose was banned for life for just betting money on the outcome of the games. Williams had players betting money on who would injure the next opponent. Banned for life is taking it easy if you ask me. I think there might be room for some civil lawsuits here. If i was injured while playing the Saints, i would want to know if it was for money. And if it was, i would want compensation for time/health lost....

absolutely a disgrace to the sport. BUT people will overlook it and pretend it never happened because it is football. And football can do nothing wrong!!! ugh

[BobH]

...

absolutely a disgrace to the sport. BUT people will overlook it and pretend it never happened because it is football. And football can do nothing wrong!!! ugh

I don't think this will be one 'swept under the rug', af....I believe Goodell is going to have to take some pretty serious action here...beginning with kicking Williams out of the game for life and, as Mex's LA Times article suggests, seriously penalize Payton and the Saints. I think this whole scenario reeks and needs to be addressed and believe it will be. Only a seriously uninformed person would believe this doesn't have the potential of destroying the sport.

I've been a huge NFL fan most of my life but I'll say this....if something isn't done about this I will stop watching it...and I don't think I would be alone. Obviously, the Saints ain't.-BH

[astrosfanatic]

We'll see about that Bob. The NFL is the only sport to go into and out of a work stoppage and not be held accountable by the fans in one way or another. This will not have as much of an impact from the fans view as you think.....

[RickD]

This is not new. I heard about Buddy Ryan doing this back when he coached the Eagles.

[DaaBoTownSox]

One thing that needs to happen is that the penalty needs to be greater than it was with Spygate.

[TerryInLA]

Yeah I guess the NFL has to do something about this but unless the program encouraged illegal hits to obtain the payments, I don't see the problem. football is a violent sport that uses intimidation as a weapon against its opponents, to me there's nothing wrong with hitting a guy with as much force as possible as long as its a clean hit. Though I suppose if you think of all the things that the NFL has done to protect QBs and head injuries, and then the Saints completely disregard it and actually do the complete opposite, then ok its bad. The only surprising thing would be if people think this is something that only goes on in one locker room, I bet it's done a lot, I'm a Chargers fan and I bet they do it.

[Chitown Champ]

It's one thing to encourage harder hits, but another to give an incentive/reward for hard hit results. These guys are football players, not bounty hunters. One should not be rewarded to hurt a fellow league "co-worker," even if it his job to make hard hits. There could be/must be some harsh consequences to these actions, especially with Goodell's recent mentality to protect the players.

[TerryInLA]

Let's say you're a linebacker, and that hitting an opposing running back or a QB fairly, but as as hard as you possibly can, in order to get him to cough up the football, is all part of the game of football, which it is, in fact if you hold back on him at all then you're actually a lousy linebacker, I'm not sure how paying him a bonus to hit the other team as hard as he can is really any different to paying a baseball slugger a bonus for every home run that he hits, which also happens. I mean one is a rough physical contact sport, and the other isn't. Are they next going to ban or fine boxers for punching each other too hard? I can see this from one standpoint, but then again I think that I don't get it

[Chitown Champ]

I have nothing wrong with people trying to hit another person as hard as possible, because that's how the game should be meant to play. I have a problem with people trying target somebody's head, or knee joints, or groin, whatever the case might be, with the intent to receive monetary gains at the expense of another player's health. The difference between paying somebody to actually harm another (not hit as hard as possible, as you have said) and to hit a ball as hard as possible is that one of them directly harms people. Remember Ty Cobb? He often intended to injure his adversaries with his tough slides, pointing his spikes upwards. It would probably be frowned upon in boxing if the goal was for each boxer was to beat each other up until one was unconscious, but that's completely different from stopping them from hitting hard. A better analogy would be paying MLB players extra to knock the catcher out of the game, which I'm sure you'll find is wrong.
There's a coarse line between motivating someone to hit harder and hit with intent to harm.