Posted on March 5th, 2012
By DERON SNYDER
The case against Gregg Williams, the New Orleans Saints defensive coordinator from 2009 to 2011, continues to grow. After admitting and apologizing on Friday for a bounty pool that rewarded his players for “knockouts” and “cart-offs,” Williams was expected to meet with NFL officials on Monday.
Their discussion will cover much more than his three seasons with the Saints. Prior to arriving in New Orleans, he was the defensive coordinator for the Tennessee Titans, Washington Redskins and Jacksonville Jaguars and head coach for the Buffalo Bills. Since news of the Saints‘ bounty program broke last week, players on Williams’ former teams said that he instituted similar systems there, too.
The case shines a harsh light on a thin line: the difference between hitting as hard (and cleanly) as possible and hitting with malicious intent in hopes of causing an injury. Players who engaged in the latter have done a tremendous disservice to themselves and their fellow players, countering a recent push to make the game safer.
“I know players hate [the new rules],” Indianapolis Colts center Jeff Saturday, a member of the players union’s executive committee, said during Super Bowl week. “We get fined and we get suspended and all kinds of things. But if this saves a guy from his wife having to take care of him when he’s 50 years old, I’m all for it.”
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Posted on March 3rd, 2012
By DERON SNYDER
Football is an extremely physical sport by nature, filled with violent collisions between players who are big, strong and fast. Defenders are conditioned to hit often and hit hard, in hopes of separating opponents from the ball and maybe their senses, too.
All of that is well within the rules and the spirit of the game. But rewarding players with bonus money for certain hits encourages dirty, reckless play, which is why the NFL forbids the practice. Now that the league has uncovered a New Orleans Saints bounty system, it should issue harsh penalties to make an example of the team.
The Saints are accused of paying players $1,500 for “knockouts” and $1,000 for “cart-offs,” with payouts doubling or tripling during the playoffs. The team is also accused of targeting players such as former quarterbacks Brett Favre and Kurt Warner.
“The payments here are particularly troubling because they involved not just payments for ‘performance’ but also for injuring opposing players,” Commissioner Roger Goodell said in a statement released Friday. “The bounty rule promotes two key elements of NFL football: player safety and competitive integrity.
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Posted on March 1st, 2012
By DERON SNYDER
If TV ratings, Internet articles and column inches in print media are any indication, “The Big Miss” should be a huge hit when it goes on sale March 27, a week before the subject shoots for his fifth green jacket at Augusta National.
Tiger Woods hasn’t won the Masters since 2005, a major championship since 2008 or an official PGA tournament of any kind since 2009. In his last five PGA Tour events, he has tied for 17th, tied for 15th, tied for 30th, missed the cut (at the PGA Championship) and tied for 37th. He’s at the Honda Classic this week, a tournament he hadn’t deigned to play since 1993, three years before he turned pro.
But we not only remain fascinated by Woods, we’re arguably captivated like never before.
The upcoming book by his former swing coach will only increase the magnification on Woods since that fateful Thanksgiving night in 2009, back when we couldn’t imagine him as a more compelling figure. Yet, stuck on 14 majors with Jack Nicklaus’ record 18 looking safe once again, Woods is even more intriguing, thanks to the turmoil in his personal life and his struggles on the golf course.
Whether it’s his swing, his putter or Hank Haney’s take on those subjects and more, the scrutiny grows while the wins stagnate.
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By DERON SNYDER
