Bounty system?

[feltdizz]

Re: Bounty system?

10K to knock Favre out the game. Favre was hit late a ton in that playoff game.

[Slapstick]

Re: Bounty system?

Guys, the bounty system is clearly not OK...it is also clearly not an issue that has been blown out of proportion...

The entire NFL knows these rules. The owner of the Saints specifically told his employee to put a stop to it. Both Payton and Loomis turned a blind eye to the activity.

This is as much against the rules as Belicheat's Spygate crap...and it is no more excusable...

[phillyesq]

Re: Bounty system?

Goodell has shown that he reacts to media hype, not issues.

This same issue came to light a few years ago when the Ravens took out bounties on Ward and Mendenhall (when Ray Lewis cracked Mendenhall's collarbone, ending his rookie season in game #4). Terrell Suggs acknowledged those bounties himself on a radio show. But because it did not make national headlines like this Gregg Williams story has, it was swept under the rug for only folks like us on message boards to talk about.

If the Saints or Redskins or Bills lose draft picks because of these Gregg Williams bounties, so should the Ravens for their bounties (especially since one of the guys they put a bounty on was actually put on I.R.!).

Updated: October 24, 2008, 3:22 AM ET
NFL eyes Suggs' 'bounty' comments about Steelers
ESPN.com news services

Terrell Suggs' suggestion that the Baltimore Ravens had a "bounty" on Pittsburgh Steelers wide receiver Hines Ward and running back Rashard Mendenhall has gotten the attention of the NFL.

During the "2 Live Stews" syndicated radio show on Oct. 17, when he was asked, "Did you all put a bounty out on that young man [Mendenhall]," Suggs replied, "Definitely. The bounty was out on him and the bounty was out on [Ward] -- we just didn't get him between the whistles."

Also during the interview, Suggs called Ward "a dirty player" and "a cheap-shot artist. ... We got something in store for him."

Ward, who appeared on "PTI" on Thursday, said the bounty talk is "a big honor."

"I am really not going to comment," Ward continued. "But all I have to say to Mr. Suggs is there's a policy in the NFL [against bounties] he should read."

Ray Anderson, the NFL's executive vice president of football operations, said the league is looking into the comments.

"That 'bounty' notion is completely against the rules," Anderson told ESPN.com. "To the extent that someone is engaged in that activity, we will look into it and address it. Yes, we've seen the comments and we're trying to determine the completeness of the circumstances."

Mendenhall sustained a season-ending shoulder injury during the game on a hit by Ravens linebacker Ray Lewis.

Wednesday, Suggs clarified his comments, explaining that the Ravens were merely planning to keep a close eye on Ward, according to The Baltimore Sun.

"There wasn't any bounty," Suggs said, according to the newspaper. "He [the talk show host] asked me if there was a bounty and I just said I'm going to keep a watch on the guy. He [Ward] broke some guy's jaw last week, and he tried to cheap-shot JJ [Jarret Johnson]. He has also cheap-shotted Ed Reed. We're just going to be on alert the next time we play him."

Suggs also on Wednesday clarified comments supporting second-year quarterback Troy Smith as the Ravens' starter rather than rookie Joe Flacco, who currently has the job, according to the Sun.

During his appearance on "2 Live Stews," Suggs said, "Right now, I think [Flacco is] all right. ... But like I said, in the end, Troy should be the starter [because he's] the better man for the job."

Wednesday, Suggs denied saying Smith should start.

"That's not what I said," Suggs explained, according to the Sun. "When he asked me, I said there should be multiple packages. I think both should get a chance to play."

Suggs also said that Flacco and Smith have different strengths -- and that the Ravens should use both to their advantage.

"I think it would better if we had both of them playing," Suggs said, according to the report. "Then again, I ain't no damn offensive coordinator."

ESPN.com NFL writer James Walker contributed to this report.

[url]http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/news/story?id=3659317[/url]

Ruthless, this was my first thought when this whole bounty controversy broke out. The Ravens did the same thing a few years ago and admitted to it, but there were no fines or suspensions or any mention of it.

It seems that this story has gotten no play, which is unfortunate.

[feltdizz]

Re: Bounty system?

Guys, the bounty system is clearly not OK...it is also clearly not an issue that has been blown out of proportion...

The entire NFL knows these rules. The owner of the Saints specifically told his employee to put a stop to it. Both Payton and Loomis turned a blind eye to the activity.

This is as much against the rules as Belicheat's Spygate crap...and it is no more excusable...

We all know this has gone on in some shape or form since the NFL began but the Saints were WARNED about it... and then continued to do it.

Vilma put out a 10K bounty on Favre and Favre said although he doesn't want to harp over it the Saints game had a ton of questionable hits. They were hitting him after hand offs.

I also wonder what the tape of the Steeler game shows as far as late hits on Ben.

[feltdizz]

Re: Bounty system?

Goodell has shown that he reacts to media hype, not issues.

This same issue came to light a few years ago when the Ravens took out bounties on Ward and Mendenhall (when Ray Lewis cracked Mendenhall's collarbone, ending his rookie season in game #4). Terrell Suggs acknowledged those bounties himself on a radio show. But because it did not make national headlines like this Gregg Williams story has, it was swept under the rug for only folks like us on message boards to talk about.

If the Saints or Redskins or Bills lose draft picks because of these Gregg Williams bounties, so should the Ravens for their bounties (especially since one of the guys they put a bounty on was actually put on I.R.!).

Updated: October 24, 2008, 3:22 AM ET
NFL eyes Suggs' 'bounty' comments about Steelers
ESPN.com news services

Terrell Suggs' suggestion that the Baltimore Ravens had a "bounty" on Pittsburgh Steelers wide receiver Hines Ward and running back Rashard Mendenhall has gotten the attention of the NFL.

During the "2 Live Stews" syndicated radio show on Oct. 17, when he was asked, "Did you all put a bounty out on that young man [Mendenhall]," Suggs replied, "Definitely. The bounty was out on him and the bounty was out on [Ward] -- we just didn't get him between the whistles."

Also during the interview, Suggs called Ward "a dirty player" and "a cheap-shot artist. ... We got something in store for him."

Ward, who appeared on "PTI" on Thursday, said the bounty talk is "a big honor."

"I am really not going to comment," Ward continued. "But all I have to say to Mr. Suggs is there's a policy in the NFL [against bounties] he should read."

Ray Anderson, the NFL's executive vice president of football operations, said the league is looking into the comments.

"That 'bounty' notion is completely against the rules," Anderson told ESPN.com. "To the extent that someone is engaged in that activity, we will look into it and address it. Yes, we've seen the comments and we're trying to determine the completeness of the circumstances."

Mendenhall sustained a season-ending shoulder injury during the game on a hit by Ravens linebacker Ray Lewis.

Wednesday, Suggs clarified his comments, explaining that the Ravens were merely planning to keep a close eye on Ward, according to The Baltimore Sun.

"There wasn't any bounty," Suggs said, according to the newspaper. "He [the talk show host] asked me if there was a bounty and I just said I'm going to keep a watch on the guy. He [Ward] broke some guy's jaw last week, and he tried to cheap-shot JJ [Jarret Johnson]. He has also cheap-shotted Ed Reed. We're just going to be on alert the next time we play him."

Suggs also on Wednesday clarified comments supporting second-year quarterback Troy Smith as the Ravens' starter rather than rookie Joe Flacco, who currently has the job, according to the Sun.

During his appearance on "2 Live Stews," Suggs said, "Right now, I think [Flacco is] all right. ... But like I said, in the end, Troy should be the starter [because he's] the better man for the job."

Wednesday, Suggs denied saying Smith should start.

"That's not what I said," Suggs explained, according to the Sun. "When he asked me, I said there should be multiple packages. I think both should get a chance to play."

Suggs also said that Flacco and Smith have different strengths -- and that the Ravens should use both to their advantage.

"I think it would better if we had both of them playing," Suggs said, according to the report. "Then again, I ain't no damn offensive coordinator."

ESPN.com NFL writer James Walker contributed to this report.

[url]http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/news/story?id=3659317[/url]

Ruthless, this was my first thought when this whole bounty controversy broke out. The Ravens did the same thing a few years ago and admitted to it, but there were no fines or suspensions or any mention of it.

It seems that this story has gotten no play, which is unfortunate.

Definitely should have been addressed but the hit on Mendenhall was legal.

[phillyesq]

Re: Bounty system?

Definitely should have been addressed but the hit on Mendenhall was legal.

The hit on Mendenhall was. Ray's hit on Hines this past season was not legal. It would be nice to see the NFL probe into whether the Rats still had a bounty on Ward, but given the NFL's promotion of Ray the killer, it seems unlikely.

[hawaiiansteel]

Re: Bounty system?

Bounties seen as player safety issue

By Teresa Varley - Steelers.com


As NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell continues to investigate, the issue of bounties, i.e., players being rewarded for hits that knocked opponents out of games, has become the sport’s hottest topic. Some current and former players and coaches have offered the opinion that bounties are no big deal and are prevalent throughout the league, while others see the issue as critical to player safety.

Count Steelers General Manager Kevin Colbert among the latter.

“My position is the position of the (Steelers) organization,” said Colbert. “Never, ever would we condone anything like that.”

In an era where player safety and concussion awareness are at the forefront, Colbert said injuring another player intentionally does not belong in the game.

“To intentionally set out to injure another player, there’s absolutely no room for that in our game or any other game,” said Colbert. “Especially in the climate we are in where we are learning about the concussions and the severe lifetime problems that can occur in a normal course of our game or any other sport. To go out and try to intentionally injure somebody, there is absolutely no room for that in our game.”

Colbert said the Steelers monitor things like that, mainly by keeping their eyes and ears open to what is happening.

“You always think that you’re ahead of it, but you don’t know for sure,” said Colbert. “You always want to make sure that your own house is in order, and we are comfortable that our house has been in order. If we are going to say this is something we wouldn’t tolerate, hopefully we wouldn’t violate it as well.”

[url="http://www.steelers.com/news/article-1/Bounties-seen-as-player-safety-issue/688bcc61-73dd-4c2c-bd6d-797034ef26a0"]http://www.steelers.com/news/article-1/ ... 7034ef26a0[/url]

[fezziwig]

Re: Bounty system?

Thanks for the post Hawaiian.

What's everyones opinion of what if anything happens about this ? Think there will be fines, firings, draft pick losses or players missing games ?

If James Harrison or others are anytype of benchmark with their fines for not following the warm and fuzzy rules of the NFL what, will the NFL do to guys/coaches for trying to be brutal ?

[fordfixer]

NFLPA says it will do own bounty investigation

By HOWARD FENDRICH, AP Pro Football Writer 8 hours, 15 minutes ago

[url]http://sports.yahoo.com/nfl/news;_ylt=AsSf2d1t3_icju3cJlAJkKNDubYF?slug=ap-saints-bounties-nflpa[/url]

WASHINGTON (AP)—The NFL Players Association will do its own investigation of the New Orleans Saints’ bounty system and asked the league to help set up interviews with the team’s coaches and front-office staff.

In a statement released Wednesday, the union vowed to “vigorously protect the rights of all players.”

“If the facts prove that players voluntarily and willingly participated in conduct that jeopardized health and safety, we will work with them and the league to put in place additional safeguards to prevent this in the future,” the statement said. “Dangerous play and acts on the field by players intended to injure have no place in football. We must do better to ensure that this activity is not a part of our game.”
AdChoices

There was no mention of possible punishment for players involved.

After the NFL made its investigation public Friday, former Saints defensive coordinator Gregg Williams admitted to running a bounty pool of up to $50,000 over the past three seasons, rewarding players for knocking targeted opponents out of games. The league now wants to know whether Williams—who recently left the Saints to become defensive coordinator of the St. Louis Rams—ran a similar scheme while a head coach or assistant with the Titans, Redskins, Jaguars and Bills.

It took until Tuesday for current Saints head coach Sean Payton and general manager Mickey Loomis to also acknowledge the existence of the bounty system.

“We acknowledge that the violations disclosed by the NFL during their investigation of our club happened under our watch. We take full responsibility,” Payton and Loomis said in a joint statement.

Noting those comments, the NFLPA said Wednesday that it “negotiated vigorously to protect our players from coercive actions that compromise health and safety. The current CBA contains detailed rules on what clubs and coaches can and cannot do in terms of practice schedules and places limitations on the amount of contact. These rules include how clubs and coaches can be punished for violations of those safeguards.”

The union asked the NFL to give it “sufficient time” to finish its own inquiry into what happened in New Orleans.

According to the league, “knockouts” were worth $1,500 and “cart-offs” $1,000—with payments doubled or tripled for the playoffs. The NFL said the pool amounts reached their height in 2009, the season the Saints won the Super Bowl.

The league said between 22 and 27 defensive players were involved from 2009-11, but it hasn’t publicly cited specific players.

Spokesmen for the league and Saints declined to comment Wednesday.

[fezziwig]

do you think on film they were learn that, more opposing players when playing the saints were injured more than the typical ?