In the news recently the world came to the realization that the New Orleans Saints have been placing "bounties" on opposing players heads. The intent was to knock key players out of important, and playoff type games. Two of these bounties in particular was especially brutal and upsetting. 1- The 2009 playoffs against the Arizona Cardinals. When, after an interception the Saints layed a cheap-shot on Kurt Warner, ending his game, his season, and his Hall of Fame career. He retired 2 weeks later. 2- The next week, Brett Favre, NFC Championship. The Saints went at Brett Favre with all they had, causing several injuries that plauged Farve through the rest of his career, he was never the same after the game. The Saints went on to win the Super Bowl that season, and after that game an audio clip was taken from coach Williams (The coach who started the bounty program)
"All Things Considered," Mike Pesca dug up audio of Williams speaking after the Saints' Super Bowl win. Williams says, "My whole life … I've been trying to get people to play nastier." Can he seriously think lack of aggression is a problem in football? Williams also had this to say about his two sons' youth football days: "I told their little league coaches my kids will play fast, they're going to play nasty, they're going to play tough. Tell the rest of the babies around them to speed up."
What kind of a man boasts that his sons are nasty and denounces as "babies" 10-year-olds who want to participate in a sport safely? Williams needs to take a long look in the mirror -- and by his distorted values, he has forfeited any claim to a leadership role.
If this is to be fixed the NFL needs to drop the heaviest punishments available to the team, and the coaches with blatant disregard to the NFL and its rules, but also the sport as a whole. To make an example to prevent other teams from taking up a similar program and ruining the beautiful game we have. Every time someone thinks of the New Orleans Saints, or Super Bowl 44, everyone needs to think of the cheating (defined here as breaking the rules of a sport/organization), and the players who were deprived if an attempt to be NFL champions. Please, for the sake of the sport, be swift and harsh on your punishments to this team, for the sake of the sport, and the players who were shorted their chance because of these sick and twisted "bounties".
-Taylor Packer
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