New Orleans Saints and Bountygate: The Hypocrisy of the NFL

"In today's NFL culture there is no place for bounties."

You can hear that line uttered by just about any analyst that has an opinion on this situation. And I agree, players shouldn't be paid bonuses for big hits and having the intent to injure others. So, why is there signs that point to the contrary?

Before the Bountygate situation came about, player safety was a hot-button issue for the NFL. The Gregg Williams audio tape of his speech before the 49ers game didn't make things any better.

His profanity laced rant included terminology that can be misconstrued in the wrong light. He highlighted some weaknesses and previous injuries that 49er players had. Going after those players with an intent to hurt should not be in any game plan. But people are kidding themselves if a player doesn't hit a player harder to knock him from being 90 percent to being 60 percent.

With the exception of targeting an injury, Williams' terminology is not far off from just about any defensive coach on any level: "Kill the head and the body dies." That doesn't mean to decapitate.

It's a war metaphor. In less colorful words "Take out the leader and the others will fall." Take out his intent to hurt, and his words could be meant in an entirely different way.

The culture of the NFL has changed you say? Under Roger Goodell, right?

He has brought the hammer down and has changed the NFL into hypocrisy that it stands on today. While Roger has been having everyone looking one way, thinking that he is watching out for player's safety, the NFL release a DVD that glorifies the big-hit culture of the league.The name of it is "Moment of Impact," and was released in late October 2007.

That is a full year after Goodell, supposedly, changed the culture from the care-free Paul Tagliabue days.

If you can't get that through Amazon.com with just a few clicks, the league's own network run's a "Top-10" program that caters to this subject. Like Peter King, I was watching the NFL Network during the time when all of the bounty suspensions and penalties were handed out. I also kept watching that same channel as they ran a program called "Top-10: Most Feared Tacklers of All-Time."

That program had Hardy Brown, a linebacker best known for playing with the 49ers, on it at No. 5.

In that show, Brown talked very openly about the Los Angeles Rams putting a bounty on him while he was playing. He said, "The Rams had a $500 deal for my getting knocked out of the game." He would later go on to add, "The guy that told me was Paul Barry (of the Rams). I said, 'Paul, hit me and I'll fake it, and we'll split it, $250 apiece.' " 

The NFL is changing its culture, yet still has the time to dedicate an hour-long special and a DVD to promote that "dying" culture of big hits.

What Gregg Williams did was wrong. I get that, but don't come down this harshly on a team when you still have your hand out behind your back, Mr. Goodell.