Punish Gregg Williams for His Wrongdoings, Not His Intensity

Former New Orleans Saints defensive coordinator Gregg Williams, reportedly the instigator and the man in charge of the bounty program that some of the Saints defensive players were a part of, is in the news again.

This time some pregame audio has been released (disclaimer: audio contains content than some might deem offensive) by documentary maker Sean Pamphilon on YouTube. Pamphilon also handed the audio over the Yahoo! Sports' Michael Silver. Pamphilon had access to the Saints for a good portion of the 2011 season and got this footage before the Saints playoff game against the 49ers. In an attempt to fire up his players, Williams spoke viciously about going after several San Francisco players.

“We’ve got to do everything in the world to make sure we kill Frank Gore’s head,” Williams told the players. “We want him running sideways. We want his head sideways.”

Williams also targeted Kendall Hunter, Gore's backup. “Little 32, we want to knock the [expletive] out of him. He has no idea what he’s in for. When he’s on the sideline, we’ve gotta turn that [expletive] over, turn their coaches over, turn the spectators over. Go and get that [expletive] on the sidelines.”

Williams also told his players to go after Kyle Williams, who had suffered several concussions earlier, and quarterback Alex Smith. The portion of the audio where Williams talks about Smith is where the Williams really goes over the top.

Pamphilon told Yahoo! that he started to get uncomfortable when Williams eluded to a cash payout for Smith's injury.

“At one point Williams says, ‘We hit [expletive] Smith right there’—then he points under his chin [and continues]—‘remember me.’ Then he rubs his thumb against his index and middle fingers—the cash sign—and says, ‘I got the first one. I got the first one. Go get it. Go lay that [expletive] out.’

Pamphilon watched the game the next day from the Saints sidelines and said the Saints players were in a frenzy. However, he also compared that frenzy to a number of other NFL sidelines he'd been on and said it wasn't too different.

“I was two feet behind the Saints’ bench,” he said, “and it looked like they were trying to kill each other every play. But I’ve watched about 15 NFL games from the sidelines, and I didn’t see anything different in that game than I’ve seen in any other football game. To me, they’re all trying to separate guys from the ball and all trying to get big hits that land them on SportsCenter on every play.”

Pamphilon's statement brings up a good point. Is it really that unusual that Williams told his players to target opposing team's weaknesses? Doesn't it make good football sense to attack an injured player to test his limitations, to get an upper hand if one exists?

A fiery speech to motivate a team is normal. Expletive-laden diatribes are commonplace in an NFL locker room prior to a game. However, as soon as Williams hinted that he'd pay for these injuries, that's where rules were broken. That's where ethics were tested. And it's because of that moment, that we now have a recording of, that Williams will likely never get back into the NFL.

Former NFL player Ross Tucker sent out a tweet Thursday that drives this point home.

Williams, who was already suspended indefinitely, isn't in any more trouble today than he was before this audio recording was published on YouTube and Yahoo!. He's been pushed out of the game and that's not going to change.

Now we have heard some of his bravado. Now we've witnessed his in-your-face motivational methodology. And now we're a little more disgusted with the man—but what he's done hasn't changed.

This kind of stuff apparently goes on all over the NFL. Attacking the weaknesses of opposing players happens everywhere. It's normal.

Williams' big mistake was that he offered to pay for injuries. Punish the man for that, not the fact that he was an intense coach that wanted every advantage for his team.