The NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell came down with some of the harshest penalties this week. The New Orleans Saints set up a bounty program to reward players for hard hits. Players could earn an extra $1000.00 for knocking a player out of a game and $1500.00 if a player was carted off. The bounties went up during playoffs and if it was a targeted player like Brett Favre, Cam Newton or Aaron Rodgers.
The two biggest penalties were handed out to Head Coach Sean Payton who was suspended for a year without pay (7.5 million salary) and Defensive Coordinator Gregg Williams (now with the Rams) was suspended indefinitely. The Saints were also fined $500,000.00 and lost two second round draft picks.
I don't think the penalties would have been so severe if Payton and Williams had not lied back in 2009 when the NFL first started their investigation. There is evidence that they continued with the program through the 2011 season.
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I am not so shocked there was a bounty program in place. I do believe other teams have a similar program just not as organized as what the Saints had. Players start off early being taught to hit hard and are rewarded with helmet stickers for making hard hits.
I believe I am a good person and would not try to harm someone. However when I started playing basketball and soccer in the third grade I did not need a coach to tell me to hit a player hard. In basketball I would get my elbow in before my opponent would hit me with their elbow. Playing soccer I was the sweeper, the last defensive player before the goalie. I did what ever I had to do to make sure the opponent was not getting by me.
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Sean Payton told a bold face lie to the NFL by dening there was a bounty program. For most of the population if they would have lied to their employers, they would have been fired. The NFL will now go after the players that were involved. It will take longer because they have representation through their Players Association.
What I don't understand is why Illinois Senator Dick Durbin is calling for a Judiciary Committee hearing on this matter. I would think there are more important things to deal with like the economy, national security, poverty, the health care crisis and getting our troops home. If they can get all these issues taken care of and then have nothing better to do, they can then worry about who is hitting who too hard in the NFL.
The link to Sen. Durbin's call for a Judiciary Committee hearing: