The Hunter....is now the Hunted

There was many things I could talk about, football in L.A., how Calipari is part of the reason why college basketball isn't like it was 10 years ago, etc.  Football fans are going to be on one end or another of the spectrum in terms of whether one believes this is a issue or not.  But how many times does a sore subject such as bounties in sports come around?  The United States of Football has a full audio recording of Greg Williams' speech instructing his men to take out players from the San Francisco 49ers.  Before you read on, please know what was said prior to the game so that what I have to say makes sense.

After hearing what was said, it is bothersome at the least.  Of course the game of football is a violent, malicious and dangerous sport.   You hear of coaches wondering whose injured with the upcoming game and what not, trying to attack or "expose" a injury.  With a sport that is already violent, does there need to be an incentive to hurt other players?  Well, just ask the Rams D.C. Gregg Williams', in his time with the Saints and possibly the Redskins and Bills, he instituted a "pay for play" program.  It was unknown how much he was giving his players, but he was instructing them to "put a extra little mustard" on their hits.  In the recording, we hear of Williams telling his guys to take a shot at Alex Smith while still in a pile, attack wide receiver Kyle Williams and see just how well he recovered from his concussion and intentionally attack Michael Crabtree's ACL.  In all this, what as made this a more important subject to talk about?  It's the word BOUNTY.  If we didn't use the word bounty, and just looked at the actions attacking other players for cash would it be as big of a deal?  Maybe, maybe not.  If we take away the word bounty and look at the situation, I think of it in the lines of being a "extension of the player performance in a contract".  But the definition and negative connotation of the term bounty has also helped made this a bigger story.  

Sure, there is people who think that the game has gone soft, and I too agree.  But does it really matter what you or I think?  Not really, because the game will continue regardless of what we think. The game continues to change as well.  In a time where the NFL has reached out to third parties to help them conduct research on concussions, worry about player safety in terms rule changes and protecting players and former players suing the league for health and psychological problems, the NFL will make an example of the Saints.  And so they did, we recently heard that H.C. Sean Payton and G.M. Mickey Loomis were suspended for the season while assistants and coordinators are suspended indefinitely.  Following this new discovery thanks in part to Sean Pamphilon coming forward to Yahoo! Sports with the story, the NFL should reconsider.  We see Payton out for the year, Williams out "indefinitely" and we haven't heard anything about player suspensions.  With all this, I think that we should see a reduction of Paytons and Loomis' suspension to no more than half the season.  Williams on the other hand should receive WAY more.

Recently, former players have come out and expressed their distraught with Williams' actions.  Warren Sapp of the NFL Network spoke about this situation and had this to say:

"'This is the most heinous, egregious thing in the history of this game'.  'Not for one second would I sit in a room and listen to someone say', 'We're going to take out someone's ACL' without standing up and saying, 'What the hell are you talking about?' " he said. 'The way you play defense isn't about malice. It's about putting you in fourth-and-more than you can handle.'"

Michael Irvin also spoke up and had his own opinion on the situation:

"'Since you were a baby you’ve understood never take out a man’s knees and on this tape he’s talking about taking out an ACL,' Irvin said on NFL Network. 'I almost threw up when I heard it. I pulled back any covers that I may have had for a coach. If he is out of the league forever, it would be only the right thing to do.''

I tend to agree with what Irvin has said, this is a dangerous game, and players will play this way regardless.  But to specifically point out players and target a injury instead of a player is uncalled for in this game!  Irvin is right and I think that the NFL should ban Williams for some time, revisit the situation, see if Gregg Williams has learned from this act and become a better man for it.  Maybe one day he will be able to come back and coach in the NFL, but this kind of act CANNOT be tolerated and the NFL should make an example of the man.