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Report: Williams put $15,000 bounty on Brad Johnson in 2006
Everyone’s attention has been focused this week on the Saints after head coach Asshole Face and former defensive coordinator Gregg Williams were banished for the team’s bounty program. But the accusations that Williams doled out bounties aren’t limited to his time in New Orleans, and a new report offers some new details about the bounties that he allegedly oversaw during his time in Washington.
Citing multiple anonymous players, David Elfin writes at the Washington, D.C., CBS affiliate that when the Redskins opened the 2006 season against the Vikings, Williams (who was then the team’s defensive coordinator) made a specific point of telling his players to go after Brad Johnson, the Vikings quarterback who had previously played for the Redskins.
“Gregg came in and dropped $15,000 on the
Greg Blache, who was a defensive line coach under Williams at the time and later succeeded Williams as the team’s defensive coordinator, has said that he disliked and discontinued the bounty program. But Elfin quotes that same unnamed player as saying that in reality, Blache was offering players money to compensate them for any fines they got for illegal hits.
“Greg Blache said, ‘If you get fined, it will be taken care of,’” the player said.
Another unnamed player offered similar memories about Williams targeting Johnson before that Week One game in 2006.
“I can’t say for sure it was $15,000, but I definitely remember that happening before that Minnesota game,” the second player said. “And I can’t say for sure that those were G-Dub’s exact words about Brad Johnson, but that was certainly the message. I had never heard anything like that before from a coach, but I wasn’t shocked because that was G-Dub’s character, so in your face. His language was always X-rated and our meetings were usually pretty nuts.”
As it turned out, Johnson was not knocked out of the game, and he led the Vikings to a win over the Redskins. So Williams didn’t get what he wanted, and no players got that $15,000.
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Did Redskins have bounty on Alexander?
By Mike Sando
Allegations that the Gregg Williams-era Washington Redskins put a $15,000 bounty on Brad Johnson and also sought to injure Shaun Alexander caught my attention Friday.
Williams, suspended indefinitely from the NFL for his role in the New Orleans Saints bounty scandal, will miss at least the 2012 season, which was to be his first as the St. Louis Rams' defensive coordinator.
[wrapimg=right]http://a.espncdn.com/photo/2012/0323/nfl_g_salexander_jh_300.jpg[/wrapimg]Seattle Seahawks fans should recall Williams' Redskins knocking out Alexander with a concussion when the teams faced one another in a divisional playoff game following the 2005 season. Alexander had recently been named league MVP. Stopping him was obviously a top priority for the Redskins.
"Gregg wanted us to get Shaun Alexander," a former Redskins player said anonymously, according to David Elfin. "Now it happened that [linebacker LaVar Arrington] knocked Shaun out of the game, but he was just playing hard. Unless it’s a free shot at the quarterback, you have a really hard time trying to hurt a guy when you’re making a play on the ball."
I've re-watched the game this morning and found nothing unusual about the hits Washington put on Alexander.
Alexander didn't seem to take a significant blow to the head on the play in question, though he remained on the ground for an extended period. Arrington appeared to land a more significant blow to Alexander's head area on a draw play earlier in the game, but Alexander popped up instantly and appeared fine.
"That last play was kind of the finisher," Alexander said at the time. "It was one of those plays where you're not sure whether it was a shoulder or a knee. I just got hit in the right spot. That's the thing about football; it is a game of inches."
The NFL made it clear Wednesday that Williams' suspension stemmed only from his involvement in the Saints' bounty system over the past three seasons. The league indicated "additional discipline" could be forthcoming if warranted.
"While NFL staff has interviewed people in connection with public allegations of bounty programs at other clubs," the NFL said in its statement Wednesday, "no evidence was established showing that the programs at other clubs involved targeting opposing players or rewarding players for injuring an opponent."
