NFL commissioner Roger Goodell heard the story, assessed the damage, and then dropped the hammer.
As punishment for a scandal in which the New Orleans Saints paid cash bounties to defensive players for knocking out or injuring their opponents, Goodell suspended current Saints coach Sean Payton for a year, fined the franchise $500,000, docked the team second round draft picks in 2012 and 2013 and suspended former bounty mastermind, defensive coordinator Gregg Williams, indefinitely.
Goodell’s ruling has the potential to bury a franchise that just won the Super Bowl three seasons ago, but was his response appropriate? Perry Green and Stephen D. Riley of the AFRO Sport Desk debate.
Riley: I agree with the ruling. It sounds harsh, but so is a bounty program. Paying players bonuses to hurt other players is ridiculous. Payton’s lucky he didn’t suffer a harsher punishment, because such a program destroys the integrity of the game. Most players go into a contest intending to hit their opponent with all of their might anyway. An added injury incentive does nothing but put both the injurer and the injured at risk. A linebacker who goes all out to make a bone-jarring hit has the potential to hurt himself just as much as his target.
Green: That punishment was a complete joke. If top management is going to point fingers now just to save face after they’ve already made billions off the so-called “scandal,” it’s ridiculous. Defenders should be able to pride themselves in knocking out players, whether physically or psychologically. That’s what makes the NFL.
Riley: Correct, players should be able to pride themselves on big hits but that’s the basis of football anyway. Why does there need to be added money on the line? Once you start introducing money behind-the-scenes, then that’s when integrity just goes out the window. Just think about the whole topic here: a coach paid his players to intentionally injure other players. That’s sick in it’s own right.
Green: But who exactly was injured over the course of this bounty system anyway? Nobody. As long as the hits are legal, based on NFL rules and standards, then what’s the big deal? If I’m a coach, I want my defense motivated to hit quarterbacks so hard that they psychologically feel that they can’t take it anymore. A physical defense alters a quarterback’s mindset and thus their ability to deliver passes downfield, and makes them skittish in the pocket. If the quarterback happens to get the wind knocked out of them in the process, that’s just a bonus on top of doing their job as defenders.
Riley: Although no one was seriously injured as a result of the bounty system, the intent still stands. Williams and Payton didn’t even factor in how injuring a player could potentially affect his career, life and family. Football is more than just the players involved on the field. Thankfully for those coaches, no one was seriously hurt, or we could be talking lawsuits and jail time. You may not agree with Goodell, but his motive to protect and preserve the NFL was clear in his ruling.
Green: I think Goodell is just trying to make a big splash with this so he can cover up all the safety lawsuits that the league is going to face from disgruntled vets who never got paid. Player safety and football don’t go together. It’s an oxymoron. So instead of trying to pull the wool over the people’s eyes and act like he’s doing a great service to protect players, just admit that the league has botched a lot of players’ lives even before this Saints scandal came up. The league should pay the appropriate amount to pension plans to help former veterans get their bodies back up to par.
