New Orleans Saints Bounty Program

Currently the NFL has been dealing with the New Orleans Saints Bounty Program. The New Orleans Saints have been warned several times about stopping the program, but in the end they continued with the program and are facing major consequences. This has been one of the largest and most controversial issues in the history of the NFL.

The investigation began in 2010 when there were allegations that the Saints defensive players were targeting Kurt Warner and Brett Favre. After the allegations, each of the players were interviewed. Most claimed that there was no such program, but there was one that admitted to the bounty program. He later retracted his statement leaving the NFL with no case, but the investigation was reopened in the end of the 2011 season when the NFL received the evidence they needed. There was confirmation from a player and recordings from Gregg Williams in which he names specific players and where to strike them. There are no numbers in the recording, but the NFL had built a strong enough case to pursue the culprits.

The bounty program was funded by the players and went as high as $50,000 dollars. This program gave players an incentive for taking players out of the game and having them carted off. This was encouraging the defensive players to make sure they hit hard and played aggressive, and the program targeted various specific players. Currently the NFL is setting new rules and standards to prevent injuries and meanwhile there are teams with bounty programs. I think that players should play aggressive, but not with the intent to ruin another athletes career.

Recently, Roger Goodell decided on a punishment. He knew that he had to set precedence so that he could stop these programs before they got out of hand. In the end, defensive coach Gregg Williams was suspended indefinitely. Coach Sean Payton lost his job for a year without pay, and General manager Mickey Loomis is suspended for six games. Assistant head coach Joe Vitt is out for eight games. Vitt and Loomis begin their suspensions after the pre-season, which means that they can both participate in the draft choices and the preseason training. The organization was fined $500,000 and they lost second round pick for this and next years draft. There are an additional 27 players that may be penalized as well. These penalties have a lot to do with the lack of cooperation in the beginning of the investigation.

I hope that this case sends a message to all 32 NFL teams. The players should play aggressive, but not with the intent to injure others. No one wants to have their career ended if it’s not necessary. Coaches should be able to hype their team, but they should do it with general analogies. There shouldn’t be specific names mentioned and injuries that are being aimed for. Rodger Goodell set the right precedence in this case, and he has shown that player safety is a big deal to the league.