Tipsheet: Did Rams hire an outlaw coordinator?
Tipsheet: Did Rams hire an outlaw coordinator?
BY JEFF GORDON | Posted: Monday, March 5, 2012 6:03 am | No Comments Posted
New Rams defensive coordinator Gregg Williams will meet with NFL commissioner Roger Goodell today. Odds are it won’t be a pleasant chit-chat.
That bounty system Williams administered in New Orleans? Yeah, Roger is not real happy about that. And word out of Washington says he did the same thing in Washington.
Suddenly, Williams has an renegade image that the late Al Davis would admire. Tipsheet expects Jeff Fisher to stand by his man, but heavy turbulence looms.
National media types have dug into this issue with their teeth and they aren’t letting go. Here is what some of them have been writing about this topic:
Gary Myers, New York Daily News: “It’s supposed to be a fraternity of 1,800 of the world’s greatest athletes who understand the physical beating they all go through every Sunday just to get back on the field the next Sunday and then stay on the field. There is a camaraderie, a bond, and most of all a respect that develops between NFL players, regardless of what uniform they’re wearing, just because it’s an accomplishment to survive the collision sport and have a long career. Play hard. Play clean. When players walk off the field after a game, the last thing they say to each other is, ‘Stay healthy.’ As it turns out, they all don’t mean it, especially those who play for former Saints defensive coordinator Gregg Williams, who should be thrown out of the NFL for life by Roger Goodell. He was financially motivating players to hurt players. It doesn’t get worse than that.”
Greg Cote, Miami Herald: “The past three years the New Orleans Saints have had an illegal bounty program in which defensive players were paid for hits that injured opponents. I cannot overemphasize how serious I think the NFL will take this. I believe the forthcoming penalties and sanctions will be severe, including major fines and significant forfeited draft picks. Watch and see.”
Mike Wise, Washington Post: “Damage control through a public apology is not enough. Goodell needs to suspend Williams for a full season, if not more — take away his livelihood for a while the way he promoted taking other livelihoods away. And the teams that employed him and knew of his bounty on many of the game’s stars — and knowingly supported it — need to lose draft picks and be reprimanded for terrible misjudgment. Failure to punish sternly would tell all those players writhing on the ground in agony that they don’t matter, they’re expendable whenever an egomaniacal coordinator believes he’s bigger than the tenets of the game.”
Les Carpenter, Yahoo! Sports: “It should surprise few in the NFL that Williams ran such a program. He was always talking about running a defense that would knock players out of games. Many of his players have been accused of playing 'dirty,' a moniker they wore with pride. When Saints linebacker Jonathan Vilma was asked in December what he thought of allegations his defense levied illegal hits, he laughed and replied: ‘I’d rather be known as a [dirty defense] than a finesse defense.’ But few coaches in the NFL have touched their players the way Williams did in Tennessee, Washington, Jacksonville and New Orleans where he was defensive coordinator. He created a pack mentality, bonding defenses in the united purpose of hunting down sacks, interceptions and yes, big hits. And generally his players loved this, enduring his verbal attacks and snide comments because he gave them the reward of playing with a relentlessness that other coaches didn’t offer.”
Mike Freeman, CBSSports.com: “This is what you hear from NFL players all the time. Commissioner Roger Goodell doesn't really care about players. Goodell is a dictator. A bully. Goodell is arrogant and oh, yeah, Goodell doesn't really care about the players. But what an investigation into the New Orleans Saints and a despicable bounty system revealed shows the opposite. It shows that sometimes players, who push for safety, are hypocrites. While talking on one hand about their concerns regarding concussions, in another moment they are openly contriving to badly injure fellow players for chump change. It shows that on occasion it is indeed actually Goodell who attempts to control the more primal and at times disgusting tendencies of some players who do things when the cameras are off and no one is looking.”
David Steele, FanHouse: “All this news about the Saints’ bounties, and the Redskins’ bounties, and the Titans’ bounties, and the players gleefully and smugly acknowledging how long it’s been going on and how widespread it’s always been … this is good. For every follower of the NFL, fanatic or casual, these revelations are extremely welcome. The hypocrisy can now end, and honesty can see the light of day. The NFL, its coaches, executives and especially its players can now stop the double-talk, the phoniness and the excuse-making. They can all face who and what they really are, and the fans can face them, too—and the fans, in turn, can face who they are. Nary a one of them gives half a damn about the players’ health, safety and long-term well-being. In that light, here’s hoping those extra $1,500 the players earned some afternoon when they gave that extra-hard body-slam to some vulnerable receiver, will buy them that extra day in the assisted-living facility they’ll be needing in about 30 years. If they make it that far.”
John Clayton, ESPN.com: “Football is a sport that's violent enough. Having an incentive to hurt players can't be accepted. Commissioner Roger Goodell should deliberate this case and then make the biggest example out of the Saints so this offense won't be repeated. In Spygate, Goodell acted too quickly and did not penalize the Patriots and (Bill) Belichick as severely as he should have. Because Spygate happened early during the 2007 season, the Patriots and Belichick should have received a penalty beyond the fines during that season. A two- or three-game suspension of the head coach was warranted. For a bounty, Saints defenders were encouraged to hurt opponents. Now, Goodell must make the Saints feel the pain for their actions over three seasons.”
Michael Lombardi, NFL Network: “I wonder what Pittsburgh Steelers linebacker James Harrison is thinking right now about ‘Bountygate’? I am sure Harrison is anxious to see what fines and suspensions Commissioner Roger Goodell has in store for the New Orleans Saints personnel involved with the implementation, as well as the cover up, of their bounty program. Harrison has a vested interest in this sort of decision, since the linebacker has been suspended, fined and clearly has been a point of emphasis in Goodell's crack down on player safety.”
Read more: http://www.stltoday.com/sports/columns/ ... z1oFPUGFFz
Tipsheet: Did Rams hire an outlaw coordinator?
BY JEFF GORDON | Posted: Monday, March 5, 2012 6:03 am | No Comments Posted
New Rams defensive coordinator Gregg Williams will meet with NFL commissioner Roger Goodell today. Odds are it won’t be a pleasant chit-chat.
That bounty system Williams administered in New Orleans? Yeah, Roger is not real happy about that. And word out of Washington says he did the same thing in Washington.
Suddenly, Williams has an renegade image that the late Al Davis would admire. Tipsheet expects Jeff Fisher to stand by his man, but heavy turbulence looms.
National media types have dug into this issue with their teeth and they aren’t letting go. Here is what some of them have been writing about this topic:
Gary Myers, New York Daily News: “It’s supposed to be a fraternity of 1,800 of the world’s greatest athletes who understand the physical beating they all go through every Sunday just to get back on the field the next Sunday and then stay on the field. There is a camaraderie, a bond, and most of all a respect that develops between NFL players, regardless of what uniform they’re wearing, just because it’s an accomplishment to survive the collision sport and have a long career. Play hard. Play clean. When players walk off the field after a game, the last thing they say to each other is, ‘Stay healthy.’ As it turns out, they all don’t mean it, especially those who play for former Saints defensive coordinator Gregg Williams, who should be thrown out of the NFL for life by Roger Goodell. He was financially motivating players to hurt players. It doesn’t get worse than that.”
Greg Cote, Miami Herald: “The past three years the New Orleans Saints have had an illegal bounty program in which defensive players were paid for hits that injured opponents. I cannot overemphasize how serious I think the NFL will take this. I believe the forthcoming penalties and sanctions will be severe, including major fines and significant forfeited draft picks. Watch and see.”
Mike Wise, Washington Post: “Damage control through a public apology is not enough. Goodell needs to suspend Williams for a full season, if not more — take away his livelihood for a while the way he promoted taking other livelihoods away. And the teams that employed him and knew of his bounty on many of the game’s stars — and knowingly supported it — need to lose draft picks and be reprimanded for terrible misjudgment. Failure to punish sternly would tell all those players writhing on the ground in agony that they don’t matter, they’re expendable whenever an egomaniacal coordinator believes he’s bigger than the tenets of the game.”
Les Carpenter, Yahoo! Sports: “It should surprise few in the NFL that Williams ran such a program. He was always talking about running a defense that would knock players out of games. Many of his players have been accused of playing 'dirty,' a moniker they wore with pride. When Saints linebacker Jonathan Vilma was asked in December what he thought of allegations his defense levied illegal hits, he laughed and replied: ‘I’d rather be known as a [dirty defense] than a finesse defense.’ But few coaches in the NFL have touched their players the way Williams did in Tennessee, Washington, Jacksonville and New Orleans where he was defensive coordinator. He created a pack mentality, bonding defenses in the united purpose of hunting down sacks, interceptions and yes, big hits. And generally his players loved this, enduring his verbal attacks and snide comments because he gave them the reward of playing with a relentlessness that other coaches didn’t offer.”
Mike Freeman, CBSSports.com: “This is what you hear from NFL players all the time. Commissioner Roger Goodell doesn't really care about players. Goodell is a dictator. A bully. Goodell is arrogant and oh, yeah, Goodell doesn't really care about the players. But what an investigation into the New Orleans Saints and a despicable bounty system revealed shows the opposite. It shows that sometimes players, who push for safety, are hypocrites. While talking on one hand about their concerns regarding concussions, in another moment they are openly contriving to badly injure fellow players for chump change. It shows that on occasion it is indeed actually Goodell who attempts to control the more primal and at times disgusting tendencies of some players who do things when the cameras are off and no one is looking.”
David Steele, FanHouse: “All this news about the Saints’ bounties, and the Redskins’ bounties, and the Titans’ bounties, and the players gleefully and smugly acknowledging how long it’s been going on and how widespread it’s always been … this is good. For every follower of the NFL, fanatic or casual, these revelations are extremely welcome. The hypocrisy can now end, and honesty can see the light of day. The NFL, its coaches, executives and especially its players can now stop the double-talk, the phoniness and the excuse-making. They can all face who and what they really are, and the fans can face them, too—and the fans, in turn, can face who they are. Nary a one of them gives half a damn about the players’ health, safety and long-term well-being. In that light, here’s hoping those extra $1,500 the players earned some afternoon when they gave that extra-hard body-slam to some vulnerable receiver, will buy them that extra day in the assisted-living facility they’ll be needing in about 30 years. If they make it that far.”
John Clayton, ESPN.com: “Football is a sport that's violent enough. Having an incentive to hurt players can't be accepted. Commissioner Roger Goodell should deliberate this case and then make the biggest example out of the Saints so this offense won't be repeated. In Spygate, Goodell acted too quickly and did not penalize the Patriots and (Bill) Belichick as severely as he should have. Because Spygate happened early during the 2007 season, the Patriots and Belichick should have received a penalty beyond the fines during that season. A two- or three-game suspension of the head coach was warranted. For a bounty, Saints defenders were encouraged to hurt opponents. Now, Goodell must make the Saints feel the pain for their actions over three seasons.”
Michael Lombardi, NFL Network: “I wonder what Pittsburgh Steelers linebacker James Harrison is thinking right now about ‘Bountygate’? I am sure Harrison is anxious to see what fines and suspensions Commissioner Roger Goodell has in store for the New Orleans Saints personnel involved with the implementation, as well as the cover up, of their bounty program. Harrison has a vested interest in this sort of decision, since the linebacker has been suspended, fined and clearly has been a point of emphasis in Goodell's crack down on player safety.”
Read more: http://www.stltoday.com/sports/columns/ ... z1oFPUGFFz
