Audio of Williams' meeting with Saints defense, Last edited on 15 February 2023, at 09:07, 2007 National Football League videotaping controversy, "NFL needs to start cleaning up 'BountyGate' by going after Sean Payton and Gregg Williams for role in Saints' bounty system", "Did Rex's former team put out bounties? It's not rather or not bountygate happened. NEW: The NFL Players Association challenges the suspensions, Two of the suspended players are now with different teams, The suspensions are the latest by the NFL in the scandal over bounties, The league previously suspended a coach and a former defensive coordinator. [16] Cerullo is currently director of football operations at Princeton University.[17]. Williams, coach Sean Payton, general manager Mickey Loomis and several Saints players were suspended by the league for their role in Bountygate, and hours after those punishments were announced Williams, who had moved on to the Rams, issued this statement: I want to express my sincere regret and apology to the NFL, Mr. Benson, and the New Orleans Saints fans for my participation in the 'pay for performance' program while I was with the Saints,"Williams said in March 2012. "After a grand slam by Moses and injury, SEU . The numbers are striking."[94]. According to Wikipedia, members of the New Orleans Saints "were accused of paying out bonuses or bounties for injuring opposing team players." We have spoken with our players and their representatives and we will vigorously protect and pursue all options on their behalf.. "[27] In an article written for the March 12 edition of SI, King wrote that league officials were so outraged that they were likely to hand down penalties similar to the season-long bans Paul Hornung and Alex Karras received in 1963 for gambling. The plotline begins in 2012, when Payton is suspended for the season by commissioner Roger Goodell for the Saints' bounty scandal, which gives Payton the chance to re-assess his life and put it in . I gave you facts that you can report if so choose. [44] The Steelers released a statement on their official web site mentioning that the team does not condone any sort of bounty program. However, Vitt failed to tell anyone about it. [68], Goodell denied the appeals on April 9, meaning that Payton's suspension began as of April 16. He also believes that Williams put a bounty on Indianapolis Colts quarterback Peyton Manning during Super Bowl XLIV, and targeted Manning on several occasions while with the Titans. Tampa Bay Buccaneers linebacker Devin White said that Bucs players bet on which player will have the biggest game, which reminded Saints fans of BountyGate. He specifically directed them to try to tear wide receiver Michael Crabtree's ACL, injure tight end Vernon Davis' ankles and go after kick returner Kyle Williams specifically because he had a history of concussions. However, they did not do so. However, the players and team officials interviewed all denied that any bounty program existed, and the player who made the initial report subsequently recanted his allegations.[7][14]. However, the 10th Circuit Court of Appeals disagreed, saying that "the general customs of football" do not include deliberately attempting to injure opposing players. NFLPA files suit in Bountygate case July 5, 2012 foxsports The NFL Players Association filed a lawsuit against the NFL on behalf of three players suspended in connection with the bounty. [88] Pereira, now an analyst for Fox Sports, wrote that based on his experience in the league office, he wasn't surprised that Goodell came down hard on the Saints. Brighton: Midfielder Adam Lallana was replaced at half-time against Aston Villa on 21 November because of a groin injury. [16] Cerullo testified that he kept track of payments and pledges made. The New Orleans Saints bounty scandal, colloquially known as "Bountygate,"[1][2][3][4] was an incident in which members of the New Orleans Saints of the National Football League (NFL) were accused of paying out bonuses, or "bounties," for injuring players on opposing teams. Later, CBSSports.com NFL columnist Clark Judge said several Vikings assistants told him they believed McCray was acting on direct orders from Williams, with at least one being so outraged that he threatened to "punch [Williams] in the face" the next time they met. He'd been at the helm for 16 years. [19] Later that day, the NFL announced it had obtained irrefutable proof of a bounty pool dating back to the 2009 season, based on a review of 18,000 documents. Since the NFL unveiled its findings, Williams has been accused of running similar bounty programs during his coaching stints with the Titans, Redskins and Bills. [12] Goodell said in a statement that he found it "particularly disturbing" that the Saints were deliberately trying to injure other players. Fujita played the first four games of the season for the Browns before suffering a season-ending (and ultimately, career-ending) neck injury;[81] he would sign a ceremonial one-day contract with the Saints in the offseason and retire with the team. [89], The revelation of Williams' pregame speech was also greeted with revulsion. Pamphilon, who was doing a documentary on Steve Gleason and his fight against Lou Gehrig's Disease, released the audio to Yahoo! After that meeting, Vitt's lawyer, David Cornwell, said that Payton and Loomis met with Williams before the divisional playoff game and ordered him to shut down the bounty program immediately. [6] Contents 1 Background 2 Findings revealed 3 Other allegations against Williams However, they didn't agree on whether there were rewards for intentionally injuring players. Vitt, who had been tabbed as a possible candidate to serve as interim coach in Payton's absence, was suspended for the first six games of the 2012 season. It is the obligation of everyone, including the players on the field, to ensure that rules designed to promote player safety, fair play, and the integrity of the game are adhered to and effectively and consistently enforced, NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell said in a statement announcing the suspensions. "[30][31], However, on July 26, 2012, Vilma and seven witnesses from the Saints testified in front of a federal judge in New Orleans that NFL commissioner Roger Goodell got his facts wrong in the bounty scandal. There was never done with anybody trying to injure somebody. An estimated 22-27 total New Orleans Saints players participated in the bounty program, though. So common that several Vikings players from the 08 team admitted to having a pool to injure Nick Barnett in retaliation for him injuring Adrian Peterson. 2004-2023 CBS Interactive. In a statement, Goodell said that the NFL would not tolerate "conduct or a culture" that put player safety at risk. Senator Richard Durbin of Illinois announced he would invite Goodell and the heads of the other major American sports leagues to a hearing on bounty systems. Given the circumstances, King said, Goodell had a lot of incentive to "issue a string of suspensions the likes of which the league has never seen. Roger Goodell announces Wednesday that Saints coach Sean Payton will be suspended for the 2012 season due to his role in the team's Bountygate scandal. I gave you facts that you can report if so choose. Seifert argued that even before the findings were revealed, it was obvious that the Saints were determined to inflict a severe beating on Favre, even if it meant breaking the rules. Brett Favre was a target of the New Orleans Saints in 2010. [7] Williams and the players pooled their own money to pay out performance bonuses. Directors Charles Kinnane Daniel Kinnane Writers Chris Titone Keith Blum Stars Kevin James Taylor Lautner Rob Schneider The players were vindicated, but from a league or coaching standpoint, there's no union, there's no representation. An @NFL player is injured let's start off by asking Sean Payton, who quite literally had a bounty system to Injure opposing teams players #BountyGate ask me how I know this to be True " Bold strategy by fox. Payments were known to double or even triple during the playoffs. [93], Despite the media outcry, an independent study speculated that Saints' players may have pretended to participate off the field but not put the tactics into action on the field. On May 2, 2012, the NFL suspended four then-current or former Saints players for their involvement in the bounty scandal: Vilma's suspension took effect immediately, while the other three players are allowed to attend training camp. It may take Jerry Jones stepping away from the general manager's position for this to take place, but who's to say he won't do that in order for his team to win a Super Bowl? Players that faced suspensions included linebacker Jonathan Vilma, defensive tackle Anthony Hargrove, defensive end Will Smith and linebacker Scott Fujita. The NFL's retort is that with all due deference, you don't get to second guess (Goodell). Instead of getting caught up in it, I should have stopped it. Nonetheless, it found the Saints organization as a whole guilty of conduct detrimental to the league as well due to Williams and the players' maintenance of the bounty pool, as well as Loomis and Payton's failure to act "in a responsible manner" to stop it. PFF reports that former Indianapolis coach Tony Dungy has zeroed in on the play that he believes caused the injury, and it involves a matchup against a defense led by Gregg Williams. I conclude that Hargrove, Smith and Vilmabut not Fujitaengaged in 'conduct detrimental to the integrity of, and public confidence in, the game of professional football " He laid primary responsibility for the scandal on Williams and Payton.[6]. Clubs will also be required to certify that no bounty systems exist as part of the yearly certifications they must make under the league's Integrity of the Game Policy.[64]. For many players on that post-Bountygate team, that meant reminiscing about past successes (tight end David Thomas, for one . [7][18][20], The NFL sent a confidential and detailed memo to all 32 teams detailing its findings. "Everybody was sworn in under oath in front of a judge with the risk of perjury and jail time if we were lying, and categorically denied there was a bounty," Vilma said in a text message to ESPN's Ed Werder. Before the start of the 2011 season, Payton received an email from Ornstein detailing the broader lines of the scheme. Photo Credit: Tim Nwachukwu/Getty Images Who is Sean Payton? In an editorial, New Orleans' local paper The Times-Picayune called the revelations "an embarrassment for one of the most successful and beloved sports organizations of recent years," and that they were "particularly hard to take for (Saints') fans" in light of the Saints' rebound after Hurricane Katrina. Payton and Loomis also apologized to Benson and the Saints fans, and promised that such behavior would never happen again. During the 2010 investigation, Payton told Williams and Vitt to "make sure our ducks are in a row" when the league interviewed them. No, the Saints didn't want him to play for them. Loomis had been interviewed during the 2010 investigation as well, and had stated that he knew of no such scheme and would stop it immediately if it was taking place. "If the Saints tended to injure more players, then teams that played them would tend to list more injuries the following week. Head coach Sean Payton was suspended for one year without pay, effective April 1. The league has not yet announced any disciplinary action against the players involved. Also Checkout: Kurt Warner super bowl wins, Be the first one to comment on this story. "Bountygate" came up again this week because Beckham claimed Williams told defenders to take him "out of the game" in a 2017 preseason contest. Updated NEW YORK -- New Orleans Saints players and at least one assistant coach maintained a bounty pool of up to $50,000 the last three seasons to reward game-ending injuries inflicted on opposing . Your effort and contribution in providing this feedback is much [12] It initially appeared that Cook's argument was strengthened by the fact that Warner was knocked out of that game with a chest injury (although he later returned), and retired two weeks later. Published Feb 9, 2022. Late in the 2011 season, the NFL received what it called "significant and credible new information" that suggested there was indeed a "bounty" program in place. Multiple independent sources also confirmed that Vilma offered a specific bounty $10,000 in cash to any player who knocked Arizona quarterback Kurt Warner out of the 2009 Divisional Playoff Game and later pledged the same amount to anyone who knocked Minnesota quarterback Brett Favre out of the 2009 NFC Championship Game the following week, the statement said. Beckham, then with New York Giants, suffered a serious ankle injury on a low hit by Cleveland CB Briean Boddy-Calhoun. He even went as far as to call for Vilmathe only player specifically named as being involved in the scheme in the NFL's initial announcementsto be banned from the league for life. "[20] He was particularly upset that those involved had lied about the scheme on two separate investigations, and had denied that there was ever a bounty program in place. At the helm for 16 years Kurt Warner super bowl wins, Be the first one to on. April 1 Warner super bowl wins, Be the first one to on! 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