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Move over, Bill Belichick. You have been supplanted as the NFL’s biggest rule-breaker.
The Saints defense has awarded bounties for injuring opposing players over the last three seasons, the NFL announced yesterday. The stunning pronouncement comes after a lengthy investigation by the league that included multiple interviews and a review of some 50,000 pages of documents.
The findings include:
l Between 22 and 27 Saints players contributed money into a bounty fund over the 2009, ’10 and ’11 seasons. That fund totaled as much as $50,000. Players were awarded $1,500 for knocking an opposing player out of the game and $1,000 for injuring a player so badly he needed to be carted off. Those awards doubled and tripled in the playoffs. In some instances, specific players were targeted.
l Former defensive coordinator Gregg Williams, who now holds the same post with the Rams, administered the program and sometimes contributed money.
l Head coach Sean Payton and general manager Mickey Loomis were aware of the bounty program but did nothing to stop it.
NFL commissioner Roger Goodell has not announced disciplinary action yet for the Saints, but it could include fines, suspensions and the forfeiture of draft picks (though the Saints do not have a first-round pick this year). In 2008, Belichick was fined $500,000, the Patriots $250,000 and the team had to give up its first-round pick after the Spygate scandal.
The Saints are expected to face an even stiffer penalty, considering the league’s push for player safety. It also casts a pall over their Super Bowl victory after the 2009 season.
“The payments here are particularly troubling because they involved not just payments for ‘performance,’ but also for injuring opposing players,” Goodell said. “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.”
The NFL began investigating New Orleans in early 2010 when allegations were made that the Saints had targeted players, including Cardinals quarterback Kurt Warner and Vikings quarterback Brett Favre in the playoffs. At the time, the NFL found no evidence the program existed and the player who made the original allegation retracted his statements. But the league recently received new information Goodell called “significant and credible,” and the NFL reopened the investigation near the end of last season.
According to SI.com, Saints linebacker Jonathan Vilma, a former Jet, offered $10,000 in cash to any defensive teammate who knocked Favre out of the NFC Championship game. Favre sustained several vicious hits in that game.
Williams issued a statement apologizing for his role in the bounty program.
“It was a terrible mistake, and we knew it was wrong while we were doing it,” Williams said. “Instead of getting caught up in it, I should have stopped it. I take full responsibility for my role. I am truly sorry. I have learned a hard lesson and I guarantee that I will never participate in or allow this kind of activity to happen again.”
The Washington Post reported the Redskins had a similar bounty program when Williams was the team’s defensive coordinator.
Saints owner Tom Benson did not know about the program, the league said. He cooperated fully with the investigation and ordered Loomis to put an end to the program. According to the NFL, Loomis did not follow Benson’s instructions.
“I have been made aware of the NFL’s findings relative to the ‘Bounty Rule’ and how it relates to our club,” Benson said in a statement. “I have offered and the NFL has received our full cooperation in their investigation. While the findings may be troubling, we look forward to putting this behind us and winning more championships in the future for our fans.”
The NFL has a “non-contract bonus” rule prohibiting teams from paying players bonuses based on performance. The Saints were found to have paid players awards for interceptions and fumble recoveries, which is also illegal, in addition to the more serious allegations of bounties for “knockouts” and “cart-offs.”
Before this, the most famous bounty allegations in the NFL centered around the Thanksgiving game between the Cowboys and Eagles in 1989. Cowboys coach Jimmy Johnson accused Eagles coach Buddy Ryan of putting a bounty on Cowboys kicker Luis Zendejas. The allegation was never proven.
The NFL of 2012 is much different than 1989, though. Goodell has made player safety a priority. This undercuts that effort in a remarkable way.
The league reviewed approximately 18,000 documents totaling more than 50,000 pages, conducted many interviews and used outside forensic experts to verify the authenticity of certain key documents.
These Saints are sinners
A look at how the New Orleans Saints operated their bounty program, revealed yesterday by the NFL:
l Defensive coordinator Gregg Williams administered the pool of up to $50,000 the last three seasons rewarding injuries to opposing players, including quarterbacks Brett Favre and Kurt Warner.
l “Knockout” hits were worth $1,500 and “cart-offs” $1,000 with payments doubled or triple for the playoffs.
l SI.com reported Saints linebacker Jonathan Vilma offered teammates $10,000 in cash to knock Favre out of the 2009 NFC Championship.
l The NFL said between 22 and 27 defensive players were involved.
l Coach Sean Payton and general manager Mickey Loomis were aware of the allegations, the NFL said, but did not stop the program.
brian.costello@nypost.com
