Saints Coachs Paid Players To Hurt Others?

[wabower]

Many are paid with cash. Books won't reflect reality.

Anyone paid the bounty should be prosecuted for assault. Crack the finance books.

 

[Matthew]

Anyone paid the bounty should be prosecuted for assault. Crack the finance books.

Nooo... You take down the whole team for racketeering.

Many are paid with cash. Books won't reflect reality.

I think that's what the commissioner was getting at when he used the phrase "non-nontract bonuses" instead of "bounty".

In this case, it sounds like the coaches and other staff knew about it, encouraged it, then lied to the investigators about it. Now it's up the the leage and the player's association and their collective bargaining agreement to decide how to punish players for taking extra pay off-the-books. A lot of players have incentive clauses in their contracts, but these incentive bonuses weren't. This may be like the feds when they got Capone for tax-evasion.

 

[Art VanDelay]

Hate to shock you but my Pop Warner Football coach used to do this very same thing back when I was ten years old. "You see that fast kid they got - see if you can twist his ankle when you tackle him". From a logic standpoint it made perfect sense to us kids - they have an asset that can hurt your team so you take it out. Guess that's just they way it is when you grow up on Military Bases.

 

[Henning]

Hate to shock you but my Pop Warner Football coach used to do this very same thing back when I was ten years old. "You see that fast kid they got - see if you can twist his ankle when you tackle him". From a logic standpoint it made perfect sense to us kids - they have an asset that can hurt your team so you take it out. Guess that's just they way it is when you grow up on Military Bases.

What does growing up on a military base have to do with it? That's a normal part of out society. We are a extremely violent bunch here in America.

 

[poadeleted21]

Could this all not just be motivation to get them to go after the QB with a little more enthusiasm? I'm commenting without knowing the story, forgive me. But if they were just giving "a bonus" for a nice solid hit on the QB, what's the problem? Were they telling them to do something against the rules and "Sweep the leg Johnny?"

 

[Henning]

Could this all not just be motivation to get them to go after the QB with a little more enthusiasm? I'm commenting without knowing the story, forgive me. But if they were just giving "a bonus" for a nice solid hit on the QB, what's the problem? Were they telling them to do something against the rules and "Sweep the leg Johnny?"

Exactly.

 

[poadeleted21]

Exactly.

OK, that's bad then. With so much money on the line, color me not surprised though.

 

[Everskyward]

OK, that's bad then. With so much money on the line, color me not surprised though.

I don't think it's so much about the dollar amount. It's about the winning. Ever see people with "normal" salaries compete for a $20 gift certificate? Same thing.

 

[jhausch]

Thanks for the reply.

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.

 

[Anthony]

I don't think it's so much about the dollar amount. It's about the winning. Ever see people with "normal" salaries compete for a $20 gift certificate? Same thing.

^^^^^^ This.

It is ALL EGO and winning, and getting "respect". The guys don't want to be "dissed", so they try to out do one another. If they make a dollar more than someone else in their new contract, then they're happy.