Saints Coachs Paid Players To Hurt Others?

Unfortunately for Saints fans this is gonna hurt a long time.

http://www.usatoday.com/sports/foot...e-slant-lasting-bounty-punishments/53694400/1

I think the penalties are harsh to try and avoid a black eye by having these allegations end up in civil court as assauts, paid enforcement, and contract "hits" .

If the Saint's organization was this open about it other teams are doing it also, but on the QT.

IMHO the Saint's should have received the "death penalty" and have the team disbanded for 3 years. This must be stopped now. :yesnod:
 
Last edited:
There's no place for this in football. I played in college, and I know this game is tough. But Sean Payton is an idiot, and should be banned from the sport.
 
Last week's episode of "Wait, Wait, Don't Tell Me" (NPR) pointed out that $1500 bounty is stupid and not even petty cash when you consider these players are getting 6 & 7 figure salaries annually!
 
My dad coached HS football in Texas for 30 years. "Friday Night Lights" and all that.

I also spent a few years as a sport photographer--right there on the sidelines, and because of my family connections, most of it 'in the box' on the sidelines. In fact, it wasn't uncommon for a coach to tip me the play call so that I could better position myself to shoot it. Why? I always gave the coaches a dozen or so prints of highlights from their games (to give to the kids.)

I also have close friends that are former NFL players and journalists. I've never, ever, ever, heard of any sort of bonus or bounty program that paid out for players being carted off. Big hits? Yes. Big blocks? Yes. Clutch tackles? Yes. Sweeping the leg? Negative.

I've also been involved in some pretty high level discovery and litigation. Getting caught lying is bad, bad, bad. Me? Telling the truth is easy :) http://www.sec.gov/litigation/aljdec/id304lam.pdf

Lying and getting caught? Bad :( Just ask Lindsay Lohan!
 
A buddy tells me they are now going after the players involved. If they participated in "pain for pay" they should be banned from football for life.
 
The "game performance bonus" or "big-play money" programs have been in existence for many years. The payouts were/are based on a number of factors including big hits. The money is typically generated from contributions by a select group of team boosters (Red Coats, Blue Coats, etc) who enjoy special access to team functions (Hank Stram called them "jock sniffers") and the game pool of Franklins is passed out by the coaches during post-game meetings that are closed to all outsiders.

Those who think that game bonuses are not significant to players making huge salaries couldn't be more wrong. Even the coaches were/are amazed at the intensity with which players tried to earn them, and one coach explained that the game money was coveted because it was "walking around money" that nobody else (agent, wife, girlfriend, etc) ever saw or knew about, and could be used at the player's sole discretion for whatever purpose he desired.

PS: Don't be surprised if the IRS looks into this as well. There is no statute of limitations regarding the failure to report income.



murphey said:
Last week's episode of "Wait, Wait, Don't Tell Me" (NPR) pointed out that $1500 bounty is stupid and not even petty cash when you consider these players are getting 6 & 7 figure salaries annually!
Click to expand...
 
Wayne, what's your opinion of the practice?
 
Disgusting, but neither surprising nor even out of place. Sorry, it is a rough game, and those guys get paid to hurt each other without the "bounties". The NFL will hand down big penalties to a scapegoat for something that I bet is both widespread and endemic. Given the pressure and incentives to win I doubt this sort of thing will stop any time soon. They'll just find a smarter way to do it. Couldn't be that hard.
 
steingar said:
Disgusting, but neither surprising nor even out of place. Sorry, it is a rough game, and those guys get paid to hurt each other without the "bounties". The NFL will hand down big penalties to a scapegoat for something that I bet is both widespread and endemic. Given the pressure and incentives to win I doubt this sort of thing will stop any time soon. They'll just find a smarter way to do it. Couldn't be that hard.
Click to expand...


Exactly, pro sports is all about entertainment and selling cars and beer. The more violent the game, the more people will watch and the higher the ratings go. With all the kids waiting for the NFL draft it would probably be a good thing if a couple dozen players a year got killed.
 
Hell, I'd pay for them to not perform the made-for-TV celebration du jour after routine tackles, etc. That's my personal peeve.

It would be like one of us stepping out after every landing and ripping open our shirt to reveal the Superman logo underneath.

None of us does that, right? :rolleyes:
 
catmandu said:
Hell, I'd pay for them to not perform the made-for-TV celebration du jour after routine tackles, etc. That's my personal peeve.

It would be like one of us stepping out after every landing and ripping open our shirt to reveal the Superman logo underneath.

None of us does that, right? :rolleyes:
Click to expand...


The over the top celebration after routine plays really bothers me too. Tackles or first downs are part of the game, not a reason to rub it in someone's face and try to make yourself look good. If you watch old NFL films prior to the 70's, after a touchdown, the player just hands the ball to the Ref. Also, there are no celebrations after plays.

I think it was Paul Brown, who said it best. "When you score a touchdown, act like you've been there before."

I think TV is largely to blame, and with that came the huge money, and thus the changes.
 
Last edited:
I think it detracts from the game, and don't like the idea that careers can be cut short by such focus. Ticket-holders want to see the good players on the field, as do the sponsors (and the TV audience) that make it possible.

I also understand the immense pressure to win that is responsible for such activities. A couple of years ago I sat in the owner's suite at a late-season NFL game. The wives and SO's of the coaching staff wives had also been invited to the suite for that game, and the coaching staff was in a precarious situation due to the win-loss record. The tension was palpable, and the agony of each failed play was evident. The head coach is now a TV commentator.

I will also admit having used similar small bonus pools as incentives for highly-compensated staff members in the securities and investment banking business. But whatever they earned from those cash bonuses was reported on the appropriate IRS paperwork.



jhausch said:
Wayne, what's your opinion of the practice?
Click to expand...
 
Last edited:
wabower said:
I think it detracts from the game, and don't like the idea that careers can be cut short by such focus. Ticket-holders want to see the good players on the field, as do the sponsors (and the TV audience) that make it possible.

I also understand the immense pressure to win that is responsible for such activities. A couple of years ago I sat in the owner's suite at a late-season NFL game. The wives and SO's of the coaching staff wives had also been invited to the suite for that game, and the coaching staff was in a precarious situation due to the win-loss record. The tension was palpable, and the agony of each failed play was evident. The head coach is now a TV commentator.
Click to expand...


In this country good players are like Doritos, crunch all you want, we'll make more. I want to see dismemberment, decapitation and disemboweling on the field...like Galic Football:rofl:
 
The commissioner and the players union will be figuring out what pentalties to give the players.

I heard a phrase from the commissioner yesterday - instead of "bounty", he used the words "non-contract bonuses". At first I though - wow, that's a nice way to put it, but he was talking about the slippery slope: An unofficial bonus for an interception leads to a bonus for a hit that jars the ball loose that leads to a bonus for a hit that knocks a player out of the game that leads to a bonus for a hit that knocks a player out for the season.

The head coach got a year off without pay. I heard that's going to work out to a $7.5 million fine. The defensive coach who ran the program has been suspended indefinitely and the commissioner won't even begin to consider the next step with him until the seaon ends. Another half-million in fines, other suspensions, ..., that's a pretty big hit. Someone on ESPN called it a "cart-off".
 
Last edited:
Henning said:
Exactly, pro sports is all about entertainment and selling cars and beer. The more violent the game, the more people will watch and the higher the ratings go. With all the kids waiting for the NFL draft it would probably be a good thing if a couple dozen players a year got killed.
Click to expand...

Drinking this early?
 
Anthony said:
The over the top celebration after routine plays really bothers me too. Tackles or first downs are part of the game, not a reason to rub it in someone's face and try to make yourself look good. If you watch old fNFL films prior to the 70's, after a touchdown, the player just hands the ball to the Ref. Also, there are no celebrations after plays.

I think it was Paul Brown, who said it best. "When you score a touchdown, act like you've been there before."

I think TV is largely to blame, and with that came the huge money, and thus the changes.
Click to expand...

Agreed on all points. I'm sick of the "look at me, look at me" BS.

Also, the quality of tackling absolutely sucks, and I don't understand it. Does no one hit and wrap their arms anymore? Pathetic.

I'm a much bigger fan of the college game than the pro game. But even the college game is getting close to being a little too much individual and too little team.
 
nddons said:
I'm a much bigger fan of the college game than the pro game. But even the college game is getting close to being a little too much individual and too little team.
Click to expand...


Sounds just like the rest of America then, I wouldn't expect our athletes to act any differently from anyone else.
 
Talking to a pro sports executive this morning, they are now assessing the concern that football as currently played will disappear. First from elementary schools, then high-schools and colleges. Too much exposure to concussions and other side-effects to ignore.

nddons said:
Agreed on all points. I'm sick of the "look at me, look at me" BS.

Also, the quality of tackling absolutely sucks, and I don't understand it. Does no one hit and wrap their arms anymore? Pathetic.

I'm a much bigger fan of the college game than the pro game. But even the college game is getting close to being a little too much individual and too little team.
Click to expand...
 
wabower said:
Talking to a pro sports executive this morning, they are now assessing the concern that football as currently played will disappear. First from elementary schools, then high-schools and colleges. Too much exposure to concussions and other side-effects to ignore.
Click to expand...


I thought it would have ended long ago because it's so boring....
 
wabower said:
Talking to a pro sports executive this morning, they are now assessing the concern that football as currently played will disappear. First from elementary schools, then high-schools and colleges. Too much exposure to concussions and other side-effects to ignore.
Click to expand...

Oh goodie. We can all play soccer, we can all get "participation ribbons", and we can all remain relatively safe from injury.

Maybe we can all turn in our PPLs and take up RC airplane flying too. I hear that is relatively safe as well.
 
Soccer has some issues as well. Headers are also on the target list.
nddons said:
Oh goodie. We can all play soccer, we can all get "participation ribbons", and we can all remain relatively safe from injury.

Maybe we can all turn in our PPLs and take up RC airplane flying too. I hear that is relatively safe as well.
Click to expand...
 
nddons said:
Oh goodie. We can all play soccer, we can all get "participation ribbons", and we can all remain relatively safe from injury.

Maybe we can all turn in our PPLs and take up RC airplane flying too. I hear that is relatively safe as well.
Click to expand...


Believe me, that is where society is going. "Forced" safety, no personal responsibility or accountability. No risk, no reward. Good bye quality of life.
 
Big mistake, as NASCAR and NHRA prove on a weekly basis.

QUOTE=Henning;865982]No, I just have a tendency to over estimate the intelligence of humanity.[/QUOTE]
 
Geico266 said:
A buddy tells me they are now going after the players involved. If they participated in "pain for pay" they should be banned from football for life.
Click to expand...

Anyone paid the bounty should be prosecuted for assault. Crack the finance books.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top