NFL right to sack the Saints
New Orleans Saints head coach Sean Payton and defensive coordinator Gregg Williams (Sept. 26, 2010) Credit: AP
Talk about a flagrant foul.
Not only did the New Orleans Saints run a grisly bounty program that rewarded players with cash for injuring opponents.
Not only did they viciously target star quarterbacks such as Brett Favre and Aaron Rodgers.
Now it emerges that head coach Sean Payton and former defensive coordinator Gregg Williams lied about the program, at least according to the NFL, which yesterday meted out harsh-sounding punishment.
Payton was suspended for the 2012 season. Williams was suspended indefinitely, although he could be reinstated after the 2012 season if he cooperates with the league.
Saints general manager Mickey Loomis was suspended for eight games. Player penalties are no doubt coming; Saints defensive captain Jonathan Vilma, for instance, offered $10,000 to anyone who could knock Favre out of the 2010 NFC Championship Game, the league says.
Yet the penalties imposed do not sound so harsh given the magnitude of the wrongdoing.
Bounties of any kind are against league rules; bounties for injuring people are downright indecent. And then there’s the cover-up — all at a time when the league has been struggling to improve player safety in response to criticism over its handling of brain trauma.
Payton and Williams are lucky not to be banned for life. The NFL must tackle anyone involved in this ugly scandal — and inflict hits hard enough to deter any such wrongdoing in future.
