New Orleans Saints Bounty Program: Gregg Williams Deserved Lifetime Ban

Former New Orleans Saints defensive coordinator Gregg Williams should consider himself very lucky.

The NFL announced its rulings Wednesday on Williams' operation of a bounty program which paid players for injuring opponents.

While there were plenty of penalties to go around, none was harsher than the indefinite suspension Roger Goodell laid on Williams.

Under the terms released, Williams will receive a review after one year to reevaluate his case and determine how much longer to punish Williams.

Given that Saints head coach Sean Payton received a one-year suspension for his involvement and reported concealment of the bounty program, Williams will likely not stand on an NFL sideline for at least two years as the program's architect.

But two years or even three is not a lifetime ban, and that's what Williams deserved for promoting a culture that encouraged players to actively harm another human being.

This isn't a situation where Williams made a mistake once, can learn a lesson and become a model coach going forward. Williams fostered an environment which minimized the humanity of an opponent by offering money for "knockouts" and "cartoffs."

Those knockouts are concussions, and concussions have already contributed to the deaths of multiple NFL players. The New York Times released an article in January 2009 reporting on six players who died by the age of 50 because of a condition caused by "repetitive head trauma."

A seventh player can be added to that list. Former Chicago Bears safety and 1987 NFL Man of the Year Dave Duerson shot himself in the chest in 2011. His method of suicide was to enable his family to donate his brain to the "NFL brain bank" at Boston University, his final wish.

Later studies show Duerson suffered from this same condition, called chronic traumatic encephalopathy or CTE. Duerson, once a caring, articulate man, could no longer face the pain, lack of impulse control and oncoming dementia caused by repeated concussions and killed himself.

And Williams ran a system that paid players for causing these injuries. Ignorance of the long-term effects cannot be an excuse, given the attention afforded to brain injuries in recent years.

Ignoring the current climate where the NFL now stresses player safety more than ever before, Goodell could not let this pass with a fine and  slap on the wrist.

But Goodell afforded Williams an opportunity to redeem himself, even if he didn't deserve it. Williams paid one human being for causing harm to another human being for the purpose of winning a game. For that, he deserves at least a lifetime ban and possibly even criminal charges.

Despite all that, Goodell left open a door to return in the future with an indefinite suspension, and Williams should fall to his knees in gratitude.