The NFL and the "Bounty" scandal

The recent news regarding the NFL has been almost nothing but the whole "bounty" system/problems with the Saints. The other day a recording of the team meeting before the 49ers game in this year's playoffs was released, which apparently has caused a lot of outrage and shock among fans, and some former players. I had been telling those close to me my thoughts on all of this, but now it has gotten to a point that I need to vent, regardless if anyone reads this or not. So here we go.....

There are a number of issues here, and I will try and go through all of them in a manner that is fluid, but I apologize up-front if I jump around from topic to topic.

First thing to look at is the whole "bounty" system. People, which supposedly includes NFL officials, are shocked that Gregg Williams had a bounty system in place, rewarding defensive players for certain hits and tasks done in games. Right off the bat I can assure everyone, and I am willing to bet on this, the NFL has known about this ever since there has been an NFL. This is nothing new. This has been going on, and will continue to go on. It is part of the game. The problem people seem to have with it is the term "bounty". I hate to break it to you, but these "bounties" are nothing more than incentive to do something. All of us are involved in a bounty system, we just don't call it that, and call it "performance rewards" or "bonuses". All NFL players are involved in a bounty system, but they call it "incentives" and "performance goals". If a QB throws for a certain number of yards, or a certain number of TD's, he gets more money. If a RB runs for more than a number of yards, he gets more money. The only difference here is that these "bounties" the Saints had were for each game, for individual instance results. So we need to stop harping on the term "bounty" and thinking of it in regards to whole movie aspect of placing a bounty on someone's head.

Next let us look at what the Saints players, and most likely Redskins, Bills, and Titans players, were doing under Gregg Williams. They were told they would get rewarded for "taking out" certain players, for making sure they get rattled, banged up, bruised, so they would not continue to play in that game. This is not exclusive to Gregg Williams, and not only that, it isn't just in the NFL. I played High School football, and we had things like this in place even at that level. For example: Our coach told us that, during kickoff returns, if you hit someone hard enough to knock them off their feet, you will be treated to a steak dinner. This was an on-going thing, and we all knew it, and some people actually were able to "cash-in" on it. It is a huge part of the game. If you hit someone hard enough, they will be wary of you next time, and will not perform as well. If you hit someone enough times, they will be bruised and hurt enough that they will leave the game, which increases your odds of winning. You aren't trying to kill someone, just take them out of the game. And it isn't just on defense. Offensive players do the same thing, they want the best defensive players out of the game, so they increase their odds of winning.

Now onto the recording that was released, and how Gregg Williams is telling the Saints players to go after the injuries of certain players on the 49ers. Seriously? That is shocking and appauling? If I told you that this guy that you are about to fight has a bad left knee, wouldn't you exploit that to win the fight? Of course you would. Same thing here. You try to exploit the weakness of your opponent to best him. This is not just part of football, but part of competition, part of life! If you are injured, it will be exploited if you make it known that you are injured. The NFL requires all teams to give an injury report prior to the games. This accomplishes two things. One is for gambling purposes, so that people know who is and who isn't playing, so they can bet accordingly. The other is that your opponent know who is hurt, and will be going after them. For example, if a WR knows that the CB covering him is having hip problems, and can't turn as well as he normally would, then the WR would juke a lot, so the CB wouldn't be able to keep up with the turns. Same is true for defensive players. If a LB knows that the RB coming at him has a bad right elbow, as he is tackling him, he is going to make sure to either put pressure on the elbow, or hit the elbow, to pop the ball lose. So there is absolutely nothing new or shocking there. And all these former players and coaches coming out and saying that Gregg Williams targetting injuries is appauling, give me a freaking break! You all were doing the same thing, and were able to achieve what you did because of things like this. Just because you are now an analyst working for the NFL, doesn't mean you can become a hypocrit.

This is Football. It is a VERY rough sport, played by men who get paid crazy amounts of money to put their bodies on the line. Every single NFL player has signed the contract, knowing full well the physicality and risk involved with this game. Not a single one of them had a gun put to their head to sign and play the game. Every person who has played knows full well the things that go on in the game, and to think otherwise is ignorant. The NFL is trying to change their image, and the image of the game. They are trying to move away from the tough-guy, bruising, smashing game. They are trying to make the game more "family friendly", to bring in new audiences. But by doing this, they are taking away exactly what has made this game what it is today. People watch it for the big hits, for the jarring tackles. That is Football! So please, PLEASE, stop acting as though these things that have come to light are somehow immoral and not part of the game. These things have been happening, they are just now made public, and people are seeing the underbelly of the beast they love to watch.