A Look Back at the New Orleans Saints’ Bounty Scandal

One of the craziest events to ever occur in the NFL was the Saints’ bounty scandal. On March 2, 2012, the NFL announced the findings of its investigation into the New Orleans Saints’ bounty scandal, a scandal also cleverly known as “Bountygate“. The New Orleans Saints were found to have operated a bounty system in which players were paid bonuses for, among other things, hard hits and deliberately injuring opposing players. The system was in place from 2009 — the season the Saints won the Super Bowl — to 2011, and between 22 and 27 Saints players participated in the program.

The NFL concluded that the players and defensive coordinator Gregg Williams pooled their money to pay out the bonuses over three seasons. In addition, head coach Sean Payton was aware of the bounty system, and while he was never directly involved in these matters, he did nothing in order to stop the system and shut it down. Saints GM Mickey Loomis had been ordered by owner Tom Benson to shut down the program but failed to do so.

Greg Williams was accused of running similar bounty programs during his coaching stints with the Tennessee Titans, Washington Redskins (now Commanders), and Buffalo Bills.

The NFL handed down various punishments for the people involved. Head coach Sean Payton was suspended for one year without pay. GM Mickey Loomis was suspended without pay for the first eight regular-season games of 2012. Saints assistant Joe Vitt was suspended for the first six games of 2012. Gregg Williams, with the Rams while punishments were handed, was suspended indefinitely, effective immediately. The Saints franchise was also fined $500,000 and docked second-round picks in the 2012 and 2013 drafts.

As for the players, four people were suspended for leadership roles and activity in the bounty system. Linebacker Jonathan Vilma was suspended for the entire 2012 season, DL Anthony Hargrove was suspended for eight games, Will Smith for four and Scott Fujita for three. The craziest part is that former NFL commissioner Paul Tagliabue would go on to vacate those suspensions.

https://twitter.com/foreiign_cam/status/863422798689181697

Damn near ten years ago. The $$$quote:

“The day after Paul Tagliabue vacated the suspensions of the four players penalized in the Saints bounty scandal, NFLPA head DeMaurice Smith went on national television and claimed there is no evidence the bounty program ever existed.” https://t.co/6SJcbm7ve5

— Reid (@ReidG75) January 28, 2022

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