Roger Goodell, the commissioner of the National Football League, has handed down the punishment to the N.O. Saints and Gregg Williams for what is now being called "BountyGate". Williams has been suspended indefinitely for his creation of a bounty system - paying players bonuses for taking out opposing players, as well as other plays like interceptions and fumble recoveries - which he has apparently had in place with every team he has coached. The Saints lose head coach Sean Payton for as year, two second-round drafts picks (one this year and one next) and a 500k fine.. No players have yet been suspended or fined as of yet, but it only seems to be a matter of time until that happens. The interesting thing will be if Williams' former teams, the Redskins (already hurting from a questionable $36 million cap hit imposed by the league on the eve of free agency) and Bills, are also penalized for having a bounty system in place during Williams time with them.
Sure, the bounty's are bad form if the idea is to intentionally hurt an opponent with a cheap shot, and many people (if you read the comments section in the first link) seem to think the penalties are too light; that Payton and Williams should be suspended for life, and players guilty of bounty hunting should get jail time (?). Here's my question: what do we do with the player who goes to punish a QB, RB, WR with a devastating hit (70% of why we watch the game in the first place) but no bounty? When do we start fining and suspending players for hitting "too hard"? Isn't pounding your opponent into submission the name of the game? The game has changed so drastically over the last ten years because of "safety concerns" that it's hardly recognizable. Defenses have been so emasculated by the rules protecting QBs and receivers that it is no wonder that a rookie QB - Cam Newton - on a mediocre team can throw for 4,000 yards in a season. Why is a defensive player fined when he lowers his head and hits someone in the chest, but a running back is not fined for doing the exact same thing? I miss the football of my youth when big hits were what the game was about, and it took a brave man to catch balls across the middle of the field when Ronnie Lott or Jack Lambert were on patrol.
I'm a lifelong NFL fan, but I'm rapidly losing interest in the game. Might as well take off the pads and put on flags.
...and so it goes.
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