The Unsaintly Saints

One for the money!
Two for the show!
Three to get ready!
And...... $1500 for the first guy to take him out!

That was the motto in the New Orleans Saint's locker room from 2008 to 2010.  The saints defensive players were being payed under the table for targeting specific players.  In essence they were placing bounties on the star players of the other team to try to take them out of the game.  The players got $1000 for a player getting knocked out of the game and got $1500 for the player having to get carted off of the field.  It came to the pinnacle in the 2009 NFC Championship Game against the Minnesota Vikings where there was a $10,000 cash bounty placed on Brett Favre's head.

So "Bounty-gate" is fully underway and the investigation is just crucifying the Saints.  Not only did the Saints management know about the bounty system going on they lied to league officials about its presence in their organization.  Once all of this was found out NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell laid down the ban hammer on the Saint's franchise.  Putting some of the harshest sanctions on a NFL team in recent memory.  Head coach Sean Payton was suspended for a year starting on April 1st, G.M. Mickey Loomis was suspended for 8 games from the start of the season, assistant head coach Joe Vitt was also suspended for 6 games, former defensive coordinator Gregg Williams was suspended indefinitely, they were fined $500,000 as an organization, and were stripped of two second round draft picks for this year.  All of these penalties were appealed back to NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell, except Gregg Williams, but he upheld all of the penalties.

Gregg Williams the man behind the bounty system at New Orleans, did not appeal his suspension.  Williams left the Saints organization last year and had recently hired over to the Ram's organization but hasn't coached or worked out with the team due to his suspension.  In his last time coaching as the Saints defensive coordinator he made some comments about players on their upcoming opponent (49ers) that essentially put the nail in his coffin so to speak.  Here is an excerpt from the story:

• On running back Frank Gore: "We've got to do everything in the world to make sure we kill Frank Gore's head. We want him running sideways. We want his head sideways."
• On running back Kendall Hunter: "Little 32, we're going to knock the f--- out of him."
• On quarterback Alex Smith: "Every single one of you, before you get off the pile, affect the head. Early, affect the head. Continue, touch and hit the head."
• On receiver Kyle Williams: "We need to find out in the first two series of the game, that little wide receiver, No. 10, about his concussion. We need to f---ing put a lick on him right now. He needs to decide. He needs to f---ing decide."
• On receiver Michael Crabtree: "We need to decide whether Crabtree wants to be a fake-ass prima donna, or he wants to be a tough guy. We need to find out. He becomes human when we f---ing take out that outside ACL."
• On tight end Vernon Davis: "We need to decide how many times we can bull rush and we can f---ing put Vernon Davis' ankles over the pile.

In a sport of increasing violence the NFL is trying to stifle that with increased player protection and new rules to help reduce the risk of injury.  With this though, it not only puts a black eye on the Saints but on the NFL as a whole.  People still remember the infamous "Pacers-Pistons Brawl" which left a huge black eye on the NBA for a long time.  After the brawl happened, which not only included players but also fans too, the NBA had to do a lot to restore their image.  They revamped their social outreach programs with the players and also reinforced the dress code for players when coming to or sitting on the bench at games.  One can only wonder what changes are going to be made by the NFL and what this mark is going to leave for them.  I bet there are a lot of bruises though.