Oh well, Saints I guess your run was good while it lasted


Bounty scandal just start of Saints' woes?

Saints?!?

Hardly.


New Orleans has the NFL’s most inappropriate nickname following news of the bounty scandal that has rocked the league. It’s time to revive the old “Aints” moniker from the early 1980s when the franchise was the pits.

That’s because these Saints ain’t headed in the right direction either.

Head coach Sean Payton and general manager Mickey Loomis assuredly face suspensions. The duo didn’t wear bags over their heads like Aints fans, but they certainly stuck them in the sand when it came to the bounty system orchestrated by former defensive coordinator Gregg Williams.

A hefty team fine and the stripping of draft choices also appear in the offing when NFL commissioner Roger Goodell ultimately announces penalties against the Saints. Plus, New Orleans is embroiled in a contract standoff with its marquee player that could have a disastrous trickle-down effect on the roster.

All of this has the Saints feeling like an overzealous reveler the morning after Fat Tuesday. Only the hangover isn’t fading any time soon.

Start with Payton and Loomis. They are two of the NFL’s best in their respective jobs. They built the roster that won Super Bowl XLIV and reached the playoffs three other times in the past six seasons. But neither acted responsibly when refusing to stop Williams’ bounty system, especially after the NFL got wind of what was happening.

Loomis, Payton and possibly some Saints players who participated in the bounty program, like middle linebacker Jon Vilma, are now expected to pay the price with suspensions. Even when reinstated, the reputations of Payton and Loomis are soiled like Bill Belichick’s after the Spygate scandal in New England.

http://msn.foxsports.com/nfl/story/Gregg-Williams-bounty-scandal-just-beginning-of-trouble-for-New-Orleans-Saints-030512
 



Not looking too good in the Big Easy.

Using the franchise designation on Brees also means the Saints can’t tag another one of their unrestricted free agents. New Orleans now has eight days to strike new deals with three of their other top offensive players – left guard Carl Nicks and wide receivers Marques Colston and Robert Meachem – or risk losing them on the open market.

But even if offered acceptable Saints contracts, those free agents must ask whether they want to return to the Big Easy. Brees himself may want out if his contract talks don’t get back on track.

Besides major issues to overcome in 2012, the penalties involving future draft picks provide a significant obstacle in remaining a legitimate Super Bowl contender in years to come. And who knows if Goodell will go even further by placing restrictions on other player transactions New Orleans can make in hopes of creating a permanent chill on NFL bounties.
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I remember in high school we used to het big hit stickers and if you knocked somebody out skull and bones stickers. We used to try and get as many as we could. It was a badge of honor.
 
ravel74 said:
I remember in high school we used to het big hit stickers and if you knocked somebody out skull and bones stickers. We used to try and get as many as we could. It was a badge of honor.
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Yep, my son got the "Big Lick" award for knocking an opposing player on his arse! It was truly a badge of honor and that hit made the end-of-the-season highlight reel...
 
DR. GSUAKA93 said:
Yea, every male just isn't cut out for football. :/ It is what it is.
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Humans in general are cut out or meant to play football how it has been played for the last 100 years.

I don't want my kid on a team, in a league or a field where bounties are placed on the heads of the athletes.
 
Gregg Williams should face jail time?

Gregg Williams never coaches again in the NFL. That has to be the first consequence of the nauseating bounty system he oversaw in New Orleans -- and apparently with the Bills and Redskins too -- but not the last. Nor should that be the greatest concern today of Williams or his supporters, assuming he has any.

After being barred for life from the NFL -- I mean, don't even let him into the stadium as a fan -- Williams should spend the next several years worrying about criminal charges. Jail?

Sure. Until the statute of limitations expires, Williams should spend the next several years worrying about jail.

Because what he did was more than unacceptable, worse than unethical.

What he did was criminal.

Those were crimes his players committed at his behest, and there's no room here for debate. Not according to a retired judge of nearly 15 years who was a criminal defense attorney for more than a decade before that, and a law professor specializing in criminal law for a decade before that.

http://www.cbssports.com/nfl/story/17595569
 
Re: Gregg Williams should face jail time?

naw. 4 telling players to hit hard gets u banned and jail? don't think so. Su up in detroit will stomp and hurt you for free, not to mention james harrison.
 
Re: Gregg Williams should face jail time?

Society is filled with a bunch of babies.............this is a physical sports..key word SPORTS......this is a game so to be sent to jail for stuff like this is dumb...:smh:
 



Re: Gregg Williams should face jail time?

I remember when that is how you were taught to play the game. You were taught to "Bring the Wood". You got stickers on your helmet for Bringing the Wood. Would Ray Lewis be as popular if he only tackled players.........If Ray only "tackled" players and not "Hit" them.....Eddie George would still be running the ball today!:swink:
 
Re: Gregg Williams should face jail time?

On defense we were always taught that when playing a team that ran option....."The quarterback must be hit hard on every play whether he pitches it or not. Sooner or later he is going to start pitching the ball way too early to avoid being hit. The good ole days. My opinion is that this new "less contact" football is not good for the game...
 
PV-PRIDE said:
I remember when that is how you were taught to play the game. You were taught to "Bring the Wood". You got stickers on your helmet for Bringing the Wood. Would Ray Lewis be as popular if he only tackled players.........If Ray only "tackled" players and not "Hit" them.....Eddie George would still be running the ball today!:swink:
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Steve Young would just be retiring

Android the "Peoples Champion"... take Note
 
Re: Gregg Williams should face jail time?

It's one thing to encourage defenders to play the game hard or to hit guys hard. However, it's a totally different thing to give bonuses for delivering "kill shots" or for being responsible in getting an opposing player carted off the field like the Saints were doing.

And another thing that's not being talked about is that the NFL has been getting sued by lately by former players and the families of former players because those individuals believe the league were negligent in terms of safety and the well-being of the athletes.

Additionally there has been a lot of talk about concussions and the affects of head injuries on players. Rodger Goodell, who is always talking about protecting the image of the league, doesn't want folks to think the integrity of the sport is compromised with teams participating in bounty programs. So the Saints and Gregg Williams are going to be made into examples as a result.
 
kendrick said:
It's one thing to encourage defenders to play the game hard or to hit guys hard. However, it's a totally different thing to give bonuses for delivering "kill shots" or for being responsible in getting an opposing player carted off the field like the Saints were doing.

And another thing that's not being talked about is that the NFL has been getting sued by lately by former players and the families of former players because those individuals believe the league were negligent in terms of safety and the well-being of the athletes.

Additionally there has been a lot of talk about concussions and the affects of head injuries on players. Rodger Goodell, who is always talking about protecting the image of the league, doesn't want folks to think the integrity of the sport is compromised with teams participating in bounty programs. So the Saints and Gregg Williams are going to be made into examples as a result.
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Kendricks god knows I love you like a son but you can say some of the most foolish isn't sometimes.

You're suppose to be at the very least an experience sports writer, but here you go with the exaggeration of word play.

Kill shot...WTF is that and where did you see or hear ANYONE saying that was the intent?

Was it a kill shot when San Fran player knocked out Piearre Thomas and sounds he be sent to jail?

Some of you are just using this a an excuse to whine about a loss you just simply can't get over because you refuse to believe it was possible, same as the damn birthers.



Android the "Peoples Champion"... take Note
 
bluedog said:
Kendricks god knows I love you like a son but you can say some of the most foolish isn't sometimes.

You're suppose to be at the very least an experience sports writer, but here you go with the exaggeration of word play.

Kill shot...WTF is that and where did you see or hear ANYONE saying that was the intent?

Was it a kill shot when San Fran player knocked out Piearre Thomas and sounds he be sent to jail?

Some of you are just using this a an excuse to whine about a loss you just simply can't get over because you refuse to believe it was possible, same as the damn birthers.



Android the "Peoples Champion"... take Note
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Nobody cares about your beloved Saints, bro. Except Saints fans (and maybe Falcons fans). Stop acting like an insecure fanboi for goodness sakes. You making the Hard Brothas look bad.

Besides, the NFL has 50,000 pages of documents on the Saints' bounty program. Are they the birthers?

Yes there are unbelievable risks on the field with large men playing a full speed. But there is a difference, a huge difference, between playing by the rules and encouraging illegal activity before the event. If you do not realize that, you're just rationalizing to avoid discomfort.

What's even worse is that the league solicited the Saints to chill with the bounty hunting. But the team, and a coach, continued the practice nonetheless.

Goodell knows that the violence in an NFL game is what sets it apart from any other competitive sport but also knows that his audience does not want the Roman Coliseum blood-thirsty crowds; that's not civilized. There is a line for all to follow and the Saints were caught going over it. He should render the appropriate fines and suspensions so that people understand this is unacceptable behavior and if careers are lost, so be it.

However, I don't believe a coach or a player should be sent to jail in this situation, though. That's insane. I do, however, believe that the culture of football has to change. Look, we understand football supposed to be controlled violence. But the sport has to get away from this inhumane mentality that is prevalent from the pros to youth leagues.

Conversations about bounties and placing cats on carts sound more like gang and the mob activity than sports activity. This whole saga is one big bag of hypocrisy. You have the NFL worried about player safety but is pushing for an 18-game season, and allowing concussed athletes to compete in games without sufficient medical examination from team training staffs.

The players are no better. They talk about brotherhood and unity during labor negotiations, and even gather in prayer circles after games to thank the Lord. Never mind days earlier those same players are secretly plotting mayhem and carnage against each other with thousands of dollars at stake.

It's wrong all the way around.
 
See, what you delusional fans fail to realize here is this "bounty" thing exceeds far pass "hard hitting". These guys were paid to "take other athletes out by any means necessary". And for those who saw how the Saints players kept going after Brett Farves' knees and ankles know what I mean. They were on a mission to hurt his ankle. Same thing with Adrian Peterson in how they would twist his ankle at the bottom of the pile just to put him out the game. That's dirty play. The league established rules for late hits on QBs, but yet the Saints continued to hit QBs late. Now the ax is falling and the head is about to be cut off. You all sowed this, now it's reaping time.
 
Josh Freeman: Saints took cheap shots


By Pat Yasinskas
The New Orleans Saints continue to take hits from every angle for running what the NFL has said was a “bounty program’’ over the past three seasons.

The latest shot comes from Tampa Bay, where Buccaneers quarterback Josh Freeman said he and his teammates were warned by their former coaches to watch out for cheap shots when playing the Saints the last three years.

“We just knew every time we played the Saints, they were going to take some cheap shots,’’ Freeman told The Tampa Bay Times. "I mean, it was always something we acknowledged. We knew Gregg Williams’ defenses were physical and they were going to get after you. Knowing what we know now, it’s not surprising that was the system that was set up for them.

“It is what it is. I’d just say it’s not surprising.''

During a 2010 game in Tampa Bay, Freeman was hit out of bounds by New Orleans safety Malcolm Jenkins, who was fined $10,000 for an illegal hit. Freeman said he knows many of the New Orleans players and has no personal grudges against them.

He also acknowledged football is a physical game, but he said games with the Saints were different than games with other teams.

"Everybody plays hard, but nobody goes out and tries to hurt each other,'' Freeman said. "You go out to hit people hard, you know, straight up. But we didn’t see whole lot of that other stuff except when we were playing the Saints.'


http://espn.go.com/b...ook-cheap-shots


Thank you Freeman.
 
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:smh:
I guess after being in the league since Moses was alive and nothing to show for it, the AINT's went for broke. Where are all those AINT's defenders that was saying the AINT's didn't cheap shot players. :lol:
 
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