Saints they were not. A National Football League investigation has determined that some defensive players and at least one assistant coach on the New Orleans Saints cheated. And it wasn’t just any kind of cheating. The NFL says they violated the bounty rule. It’s been around for decades and reads, in part, ”No bonuses or awards may be offered or paid for on field misconduct, for example, personal fouls or injuries inflicted on opposing players.”
The league says defensive coach Gregg Williams administered a bounty program to pay Saints players bonuses for inflicting injuries on opposing players. Some of the injuries were quite serious. Read more here.
Certainly football is a rough sport and players get hurt, but the game is about scoring points, not collecting scalps.
- The NFL says dozens of players were involved. Do you think it’s odd that none of them spoke up to the coach or the league?
- Do people make different decisions when they are in a group instead of alone?
- If players were purposely trying to inflict injury on other players, do you think the offending players and the coach should be charged with a crime?
- If you were one of the injured players, would you try to sue the player that caused your injury through an illegal hit?
- Football players in grade school or high school try to emulate the pros. Do professional players have a responsibility to set a good example for them or is their only responsibility to play the game and win?