Thursday, March 22, 2012

Backpage Headline



The gavel has fallen. The punishments have been dealt. One year suspension, without pay, for Saints’ Head Coach Sean Payton. Indefinite suspension for former Defensive Coordinator Gregg Williams, currently with the St. Louis Rams. Eight game suspension for General Manager Mickey Loomis. Six game suspension for assistant Joe Vitt. These are huge penalties for what some analysts and writers have called a heinous and thoughtless crime of placing bounties on NFL players during games.

Yet Facebook, Twitter, and every other social media outlet are yet to blow up in disgust or outrage, at least outside of New Orleans.

They didn’t blow up when the news broke last month. There was no outcry when the punishments came down, except maybe a few links with the comment “Ouch” above them.

So if this is considered a serious issue and an inexcusable action, why is there not more shock and awe?

The answer is simple; Nobody was surprised.

The media tried to ram this down our throats and make a story out of it. PFT, ESPN, FSN, and any other lettered network or outlet that covers sports had endless stories, interviews, and articles pouring out. But like the spoiled children we all are, we closed our mouths and didn’t want to eat the crap they were trying to force feed us.

Most people probably believe that this story hasn’t gotten as much coverage because it’s been overshadowed by free agency and the Peyton Manning sweepstakes, followed immediately by the Tim Tebow trade, on the same day that NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell handed down his sentences.

But was anyone out there really surprised when this story broke? Sure, there were probably a few gasps at the thought of purposely inflicting serious or severe injuries on another human being for a monetary reward, but c’mon, was it really THAT shocking? When you first heard about this, did you think back to a vicious hit that knocked a player out of a game and ask yourself “I wonder if there was a bounty on him?” Did you ask yourself “I wonder how far this goes?” or “Does my team do this too?”

That was probably the more common reaction than being speechless that this could happen in football. This isn’t soccer. It’s a violent animal of a game where everyone is looking for an edge.

We all know that players and coaches bend the rules, especially when it comes to rewards for big plays. The mentality of coaches, athletes, and teams as a whole today is if you ain’t cheating, you ain’t trying. In their minds, the risks outweigh the rewards. From college players getting paid under the table to steroids and PEDs to stealing other teams signals and calls, cheating and rule bending are everywhere in sports. And in a sport based on running, pushing, and tackling, this was just another way of getting that big play.

What’s a bigger play than knocking out an opposing team’s star player?

Immediately after the story broke, former players and coaches on ESPN defended less severe bounty systems. They would have pools and rewards for players that made interceptions, sacks, big tackles, and other notable plays. If Jock was a language that none of us normal folk could speak, the subtitles would have read “Yeah, we knew this was going on and we did it too. We just didn’t get caught.”

Ask Brett Favre. He was the target of a bounty during the 2009 season NFC Championship Game against New Orleans. If you watched that game, it was blatantly obvious that the Saints were trying to knock Favre out. As much as I despise him, those hits were so hard that I could feel them in Cleveland.

And while the Saints’ defense was trying to kill Favre, the NFL was investigating this for the first time. And even though the teams’ bad cover up proved successful, they were slapped with a warning and cautioned that the league is watching them. Instead of quitting while ahead, Williams decided to keep the bounties going and Payton, regardless of his direct involvement or lack there of, did nothing to stop it.

Still, when the news broke of “Bountygate,” I didn’t pay much attention.

It wasn’t shocking. It wasn’t even news to me. It was just confirming something that every fan knew was going on. These were just the guys that were dumb enough to get caught.

Payton, Williams, Vitt, and Loomis’s punishments are severe. They are the most severe punishment that Goodell has handed down so far and one of the toughest ever imposed on an organization. However, I do not agree with their punishments, not for the bounties at least.

On the other hand, I do not believe they’re severe enough for the sheer amount of stupidity and thoughtlessness that prevailed in the Saints’ locker room. If you’re going to commit the same crime when the league is watching you closely, you should at least change your name, wear a fake mustache, or blame it on the other guy. The bounties were inexcusable, but the continuing of this illegal system was idiotic as well.

Dangerous and stupid; The worst combination.

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