Lombardi Ave » Greg Williams

Stuffed shirts will hurt the game more than bounties

Raymond Rivard — Mon, 05 Mar 2012 13:28:34 +0000

New Orleans Saints defensive coordinator Gregg Williams talks with linebacker Jonathan Vilma (51). Williams will also be talking with Commissioner Roger Goodell about bounties. Derick E. Hingle-US PRESSWIRE

Bounties; Gregg Williams; New Orleans Saints.

The terms are synonymous these days and with the news that newly-hired St. Louis Rams defensive coordinator/New Orleans, Buffalo, Washington, et al, coordinator/coach being summoned by the league big wigs for a pow-wow about what’s transpired this past weekend, one has to wonder if the fire pit has already been built.

Williams, who has been connected with bounty schemes and play for pay incentives at just about every stop along his career, has been told that he has to report to league headquarters to talk about it. Yes, Williams has gone on record and apologized – publicly admitting that he was aware of his behavior, saying that it was wrong, thus setting up an awkward meeting that will have Williams sitting across from administrators who know deep down that what Williams has done isn’t anything new.

Locker rooms with players’ cigar boxes filled with cash to be handed out to those who fulfill specific incentives is nothing new in professional football and the practice goes back to the early days of the game when it was not only a lot rougher, but not as lucrative. Not only did it add spice to the day’s game, it provided a few extra bucks for the players who not only played the games on the weekends, but held down regular jobs during the week.

To be a fly on Roger Goodell’s wall during this meeting … to hear the noble gestures about ethics and the integrity of the game would be priceless.

No doubt some type of penalties will be incurred – not only by Williams, but by the New Orleans Saints. Press conferences and news releases will include demands by the league for teams to frown upon any future shenanigans and those involved in this most recent activity will again apologize.

Then hopefully everyone will get back to the business of football. There will be hard hits on quarterbacks, players will get injured and carried off the field … that’s the grisly nature of the game.

Will players again get back to slipping one another C-notes? Probably. Will it hurt the integrity of the game? Only if they get caught.

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Matt Bowen: Bounties are part of the game

Raymond Rivard — Sat, 03 Mar 2012 15:43:14 +0000

We would be naive, if not childish, to think that what went down with the New Orleans Saints over the past couple of days with the bounty situation isn’t really the norm in the NFL. We all know it as the No Fun League or the Not For Long League and the article below by Matt Bowen (which is a MUST READ, btw) tells it like it is.

Matt Bowen, who played a season for the Green Bay Packers and for Greg Williams in Washington, pulls no punches. He’s real, he’s sincere, and he doesn’t make any excuses. As he says, it’s part of the game. Live with it, Commissioner Goodell.

Matt Bowen tells us about bounties - bluntly and matter-of-factly.

So, if you haven’t already seen this post, click here or just see it pasted below:

Bounties part of game across the NFL

It might not be right or ethical, but if winning means crossing a line, you do it

Prices were set on Saturday nights in the team hotel.

In a makeshift meeting room, with the whisper of evening traffic pouring in from the Beltway, we laid our bounties on opposing players. We targeted big names, our sights set on taking them out of the game.

Price tags started low during the regular season — a couple hundred bucks for going after the quarterback hard or taking a running back out below the knees. Chop him down and give a quick smile when you got back to the huddle. You just got a bonus.

The pot was collected throughout the season through fines. Show up late? Ding. Blow an assignment during practice? Again. Walk on the field with your chinstrap unbuckled. Again. Break the rules, you gave to the bank.

The cash was kept stashed away at the team facility, in safe hands. After coaches reviewed Sunday’s film, we paid it back out. Our accountability, governed by our accounting.

That’s right. We got paid for big hits, clean hits by the rule book.

Money came in for more than watching a guy leave the field. We earned extra for interceptions, sacks and forced fumbles. If the till wasn’t paid out, we just rolled it over.

Money jumped in the playoffs. A bigger stage equaled more coin. Instead of a few hundred dollars, now you got a thousand, maybe more, depending on the player.

That’s the truth. I can’t sugarcoat this. It was a system we all bought into.

I ate it up.

It’s hard not to, not when you’re playing for a coach like Gregg Williams, my defensive coordinator while I was with the Washington Redskins.

Williams is an excellent motivator. You do what he wants: play tough, push the envelope and carry a swagger that every opponent sees on tape. When you lined up against us, you knew we were coming after you. It was our gig, our plan, our way to motivate, to extra-motivate.

I wanted to be That Guy for him, playing the game with an attitude opposing players absolutely feared. If that meant playing through the whistle or going low on a tackle, I did it.

I don’t regret any part of it. I can’t. Williams is the best coach I ever played for in my years in the NFL, a true teacher who developed me as a player. I believed in him. I still do. That will never change.

Your career exists in a short window, one that starts closing the moment it opens. If making a play to impress a coach or win a game pushes that window up an inch before it slams back down on your fingers, then you do what has to be done.

Some day, when my three sons grow up, I will make clear to them that this league isn’t for everyone. No doubt, it can be downright disgusting living by a win-at-all-costs mentality. It’s a fundamental part of the NFL’s culture that isn’t talked about outside of team facilities.

I’m not saying it’s right. Or ethical. But the NFL isn’t little league football with neighborhood dads playing head coach. This is the business of winning. If that means stepping over some line, you do it.

Bounties, cheap shots, whatever you want to call them, they are a part of this game. It is an ugly tradition that was exposed Friday with Williams front and center from his time coaching the defense in New Orleans. But don’t peg this on him alone. You will find it in plenty of NFL cities.

Win or else. That’s the drill.

Special contributor Matt Bowen, who played at Glenbard West and Iowa, spent seven seasons in the NFL as a strong safety. You also can find his work at nationalfootballpost.com

Mutiny on the Bounty: Packers nearly hired Saints’ Williams, Payton

Raymond Rivard — Sat, 03 Mar 2012 05:09:34 +0000

Though New Orleans Saints head coach Sean Payton wasn't directly involved in the bounty scheme, he didn't stop it when he learned about it. Cary Edmondson-US PRESSWIRE

Today’s news that the New Orleans Saints players and coaches were involved in a bounty payoff system in which money was pooled and exchanged for various on field actions is disturbing … especially in light of the fact that defensive coordinator Greg Williams and head coach Sean Payton were nearly hired by the Green Bay Packers before they took over in New Orleans.

While bounties are hardly something that’s not been a part of football over the past century, today’s announcement by the league is the first such case in recent memory. Given the incredible amounts of money paid to these athletes, it’s unusual to see this type of behavior occurring in the NFL.

According to published reports, Williams is said to have helped manage the scheme and that while he wasn’t directly involved, Payton didn’t stop the action when he was told about it. Williams was a finalist for the Packers’ defensive coordinator’s job a few years back before Green Bay hired Dom Capers and Payton is known for saying he really, really wanted the Green Bay head coaching job before the Packers hired Coach Mike McCarthy.

What will happen with the Saints is not known, but the league clearly has its sights on some sort of punitive action.

League commissioner Roger Goodell will determine the appropriate punishment.

He had this to say today:

“The payments here are particularly troubling because they involved not just payments for ‘performance,’ but also for injuring opposing players. The bounty rule promotes two key elements of NFL football: player safety and competitive integrity.

“It is our responsibility to protect player safety and the integrity of our game, and this type of conduct will not be tolerated. We have made significant progress in changing the culture with respect to player safety and we are not going to relent. We have more work to do and we will do it.”

But to say other teams, including the Packers, haven’t had this type of behavior associated with their franchise would be naive. A few years ago, Charles Woodson and Al Harris were accused of offering bounty dollars to defensive linemen if they held Minnesota Vikings running back Adrian Peterson below 100 yards. Though accused, coach McCarthy said at the time the Packers and the league handled the matter.

One might go back a few more years and remember the name of Charles Martin and his body slam of Jim McMahon – though many felt McMahon deserved it.

So, how this latest chapter of NFL football follies will end remains to be seen. It has certainly caused a ruckus that won’t soon be forgotten.

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