New Orleans Saints: Sean Payton and GM Release Statement on Bounty Scandal

Head coach Sean Payton and general manager Mickey Loomis have broken their silence about the bounty scandal that has enveloped the New Orleans Saints franchise.

Payton and Loomis issued a statement on Tuesday. In it, they admit that violations did occur under their watch, and that they take full responsibility for allowing them to happen.

Via Saints VP of communications Greg Bensel, here is the full statement:

"

We acknowledge that the violations disclosed by the NFL during their investigation of our club happened under our watch. We take full responsibility. 

This has brought undue hardship on Mr. Benson, who had nothing to do with this activity. He has been nothing but supportive and for that we both apologize to him. 

These are serious violations and we understand the negative impact it has had on our game. Both of us have made it clear within our organization that this will never happen again, and make that same promise to the NFL and most importantly to all of our fans. 

"

This statement comes on the heels of reports that Saints owner Tom Benson is not backing off his support for Payton and Loomis.

''The bond between Sean and Mickey and Mr. Benson could not be stronger,'' a team official told The Associated Press on Monday, according to FoxSports.com. ''[Benson] is 110 percent behind his guys.''

The Saints have been accused of running a bounty program under former defensive coordinator Gregg Williams. An investigation carried out by the NFL found that the system rewarded players for inflicting injuries on certain players.

Williams, who is now the defensive coordinator of the St. Louis Rams, issued his own statement on the matter, calling it (via Pro Football Talk) a "terrible mistake."

Jay Glazer of FoxSports.com has reported that penalties for the bounty program will be handed down by the end of March.