NFL Rumors: Should 'Bountygate' Be Renamed 'Buddygate?'

As more details emerge about the "bounty scandal" that is rocking the New Orleans Saints, the fallout seems to grow by the hour, as fans and the media pile on indignation and scorn about the callousness shown by New Orleans players and coaches in this era of increased concerns about player safety and as NFL commissioner Roger Goodell issues ominous statements from New York.

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God forbid this is true. This will be earth-shattering. It is our responsibility to protect player safety and the integrity of our game, and this type of conduct will not be tolerated. We have made significant progress in changing the culture with respect to player safety, and we are not going to relent.

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It's true that the health of players both while and after they're in the NFL has become a much hotter topic in league circles over the past few seasons, which only adds to the outrage being expressed that in this day and age, bounties are still being offered for players.

But as former Dallas Cowboys great Darren Woodson recently told Rant Sports, the Saints are hardly pioneers in this regard.

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The term bounty never came up. We always talked about big hits. We always rewarded ourselves, as far as the secondary is concerned. All the guys would say, ‘Hey, if you got an interception, here’s a little cash for you.’ If you got the big hit. ‘Here’s a little cash for you.’ If you knocked a guy out of the game. ‘There’s a little bit more of a bonus.’ 

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It's important to note that at no point did Woodson say that Dallas coaches had any knowledge of these "incentives," but there have been reports that not only has this sort of thing has been going on for years, but it was once condoned by one of the most mercurial coaches in NFL history.

After the Philadelphia Eagles defeated the Dallas Cowboys, 27-0, in a Thanksgiving Day game in 1989, then-Cowboys head coach Jimmy Johnson accused Philadelphia head coach Buddy Ryan of placing bounties on two of his players, telling CBS Sports at the time via a Yahoo! Sports report:

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I have absolutely no respect for the way they played the game, I would have said something to Buddy, but he wouldn't stand on the field long enough. He put his big, fat rear end into the dressing room.

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Ryan scoffed at the accusation, and the rematch between the two teams a few weeks later was a beer and snow-fueled near riot that was attended by then-commissioner Paul Tagliabue (who did absolutely nothing about anything that allegedly transpired), but the bounties were looked at more with laughter than disgust, including the sale of "Bounty Bowl" t-shirts before the teams' second meeting.

The fact that the current scandal engulfing New Orleans has generated a much more visceral and negative response some two decades later speaks to the maturation of NFL fans borne of increased knowledge about the potential effects of bone-jarring hits on a player's long-term health. But, this little trip down memory lane also underscores that it's not just the Saints that need to change, but also attitudes and schools of thought among NFL players and coaches that have existed for many years and likely still do in many corners of the league.

This particular onion is still being peeled back, and its pungency is certainly going to leave some coaches and players in tears (not to mention a lot lighter in their wallets), but while we're setting the table for this buffet of buffoons, let's be sure to save a spot for Ryan, who may have (yep, sure, like water may be wet) done the same thing over 20 years ago and didn't exactly have a reputation as being the most stable person in the NFL.

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