New Orleans Saints bounty scandal

[7] The NFL has long frowned upon "non-contract bonuses"; but an underground culture of "pay for play" systems is alleged to exist, with teams, it is claimed, turning a blind eye to the practice.

It also asserted that head coach Sean Payton tried to cover up the scheme, and that he and general manager Mickey Loomis failed to shut it down when ordered to do so by team owner Tom Benson.

Since then, Williams has been accused of operating similar schemes during his tenure as defensive coordinator of the Tennessee Oilers/Titans and (since renamed) Washington Redskins and as head coach of the Buffalo Bills; the NFL briefly investigated these allegations but elected to focus on the Saints.

In December 2012, CBS News reported on an interview it conducted with DeMaurice Smith, the then-executive director of the National Football League Players Association, regarding the "bounty program".

[9] League officials, convinced that this information was irrefutable evidence a program was indeed in place, alerted Benson of their findings just before the Saints' first-round playoff game against the Detroit Lions.

[17] Another source told CBSSports.com's Mike Freeman that Reggie Bush's agent at the time, Michael Ornstein, was closely involved in the scheme from the beginning, having pledged $10,000 to the pot in 2009 in addition to an undisclosed amount in 2011.

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.

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.

"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.

"[40] Tulane University Sports Law Program Director Gabe Feldman (who attended the hearing in court) said, "Clearly the judge, by her questions, indicated she thinks Goodell overstepped his authority, and this case was always going to be about if he executed his power fairly...

[42] Chicago Tribune NFL analyst Matt Bowen, who played for the Redskins at the time, later wrote in one of his regular columns that the bounty pool was funded by fines for mistakes made during practice and in games, and insisted similar systems operated on other teams.

[45] Ruben Brown, a guard for the Bills during Williams's time as coach there, denied there was any sort of bounty system in place in Buffalo,[46] a position reiterated by linebacker London Fletcher and then-general manager Tom Donahoe.

[56] CBSSports.com's Pat Kirwan tweeted that within hours of the NFL releasing its report, lawyers for several players were already telling him that their clients were considering legal action against the Saints and Williams.

[60] Three days later, Drew Brees, the starting quarterback for the Saints, issued a statement denying any knowledge of or involvement in the program and stated he had "yet to personally see any evidence that would substantiate these allegations".

[61] On March 12, WWL-TV in New Orleans reported that Payton and Benson met with Goodell in New York for much of the morning to reiterate that the Saints would continue to cooperate fully with the NFL's investigation.

[63] On April 5, documentary filmmaker Sean Pamphilon released audio of a meeting Williams held with his defense before their 2012 divisional playoff game against the San Francisco 49ers.

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.

The NFL determined that Hargrove lied to league officials during the 2010 investigation and that he told at least one other player, including Vikings defensive lineman Jimmy Kennedy, that the Saints had put a bounty on Favre in the 2009 NFC title game.

It also contended that since the alleged conduct took place before the most recent CBA was signed in August, Goodell should have deferred to NFL special master Stephen Burbank in ruling on the players' actions.

I conclude that Hargrove, Smith and Vilma—but not Fujita—engaged 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.

[91] ESPN columnist Gregg Easterbrook claimed that the Saints' behavior threatened the very integrity of the sport since high school and youth players have long emulated what they see in the NFL.

[59] However, several former players interviewed by Sports Illustrated said that while payments for good hits and sacks were indeed considered part of the game, bounties for intentionally injuring opponents violated an unwritten code.

In an op-ed for The Wall Street Journal, Tarkenton wrote that he played against the likes of Mean Joe Greene, Ray Nitschke and Dick Butkus, and none of them even considered deliberately trying to hurt him.

[94] Hours after the sanctions were announced, Kluwe went on KSTP in the Twin Cities and demanded that any players involved in the scheme be severely punished, and that the NFLPA let it be known that "there's no place in the league for that kind of behavior."

[95] His sentiments were echoed a day later by Vikings center John Sullivan, who told KFXN-FM in the Twin Cities that any Saint who deliberately tried to hurt Favre in that game should get a lifetime ban.

[11] Speculation quickly abounded about how severely Goodell, who has made player safety and the overall integrity of the game a point of emphasis during his six years as commissioner, would punish Williams and the Saints.

In his weekly "Monday Morning Quarterback" column on March 5, SI's Peter King wrote that he believed Williams faced at least an eight-game suspension, and that Payton and Loomis would almost certainly be suspended as well.

"[35] 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.

[8] After the sanctions were announced, CBSSports.com's Gregg Doyel wrote that the severity of the punishments handed down to Williams, Payton and Loomis proved that Goodell was truly sincere in his desire to "take the thuggishness out of the NFL."

[99] His former teammate, NFL Network analyst Michael Irvin, said that he "almost threw up" when he heard Williams tell his men to go after Crabtree's ACL, saying that players are taught from youth football onward to "never take out a man's knees.