The Game Isn't Played That Way Anymore

From across the country, NFL players rallied around the four Saints that were suspended yesterday. The players felt as though Vilma, Hargrove, Smith, and Fujita were being punished for "playing football." That trying to hurt an opponent was "part of the game."

Not anymore.

That's what the players and some fans don't seem to get. The NFL is trying to get rid of that part of the game.

The scandalous part of this scandal was the money. Pay-to-injure. The Saints coaches and players like Vilma paid cash to players for injuring opponents. Which is a salary cap violation. And it also goes against what the NFL has been trying to do in order to limit injuries.

And I know Goodell and the owners are concerned about the safety of their money more than the safety of the players. I know Goodell is an autocrat, a king operating without restrictions. But that's what his position requires.

Everyone in the NFL is concerned about money. Players hold out for money. Players switch teams for money. Neither the owners or the players can use the greed argument against the other. They're all greedy. We're all greedy.

The NFL wants to protect their investment. They invest in the players and invest in the game. The League wants the game to be as hard-hitting and as safe as possible. It's a tenuous balancing act. The NHL is struggling with a similar problem. The NHL wants the game to be as fast and physical as possible, but they don't want to see players carted off the ice with their heads in neckboards. Both leagues want the game exciting so fans watch, but not so violent that they turn away.

The Saints' bounty program unbalanced what the NFL is trying to produce. The Saints' bounty program was purely about hard hits and injuries. The NFL can't allow that.

Vilma, Hargrove, Smith, and Fujita helped Gregg Williams and Sean Payton set up this bounty program. And before this off-season, such a program might have seemed to be part of the way football has always been played.

But it isn't how the game will be played anymore.

Enough of this Saints stuff. I'm going to take Bills' linebacker Kirk Morrison's advice:

Instead of following this Bounty fallout, I'm going to google "Kate Upton Cat Daddy" again. Yeah that's a great idea. Now that's a fallout.
— Kirk Morrison (@kirkmorrison) May 2, 2012

-The Captain

Audio Tape Exposes Gregg Williams

"Documentary filmmaker Sean Pamphilon was following around the former Saints player Steve Gleason, who suffered from ALS. And during the final game of the season, he captured audio of Gregg Williams telling his players to injure members of the 49ers, uploaded it to YouTube and passed it along to Yahoo Sports Michael Silver. In the audio, Williams allegedly makes reference to a cash payment and repeatedly uses the word "kill" in addition to violent and intense language.

“At one point Williams says, ‘We hit [expletive] Smith right there' – then he points under his chin [and continues] – ‘remember me.' Then he rubs his thumb against his index and middle fingers – the cash sign – and says, ‘I got the first one. I got the first one. Go get it. Go lay that [expletive] out,'" Pamphilon told Silver.

Williams also made specific reference to 49ers running back Frank Gore and what we can only hope is a metaphorical decapitation.

"We've got to do everything in the world to make sure we kill Frank Gore's head," Williams said. "We want him running sideways. We ... want ... his ... head ... sideways."

Williams catchphrase on defense is "kill the head and the body will die" -- until he was busted for the bounty programs he (allegedly?) ran for multiple teams, it was viewed as a slightly crazy but effective motivational tactic (Sportsline)."

"Williams brought up the name of wide receiver Michael Crabtree, hinting about a severe knee injury, and told his players to "put a lick on" receiver Kyle Williams in an effort to “find out” if he was still suffering from the effects of a late-December concussion (WEEI)."

Sorry for the long paste job here, but kind of needed you to read the whole thing. I think this will be the last nail in the coffin for Williams, who is suspended indefinitely already. I would actually kind of be shocked if he is ever back, but I don't think he will be back for at least 2 years. There is no mention yet of Payton in this tape, but you would assume he has heard these kind of rants before. I don't see Payton getting a longer suspension or anything, but I this will all but kill his appeal of this.

Do I think the Saints were the only team doing this? No, but I think they were warned, I think that the most important thing to the NFL now is player safety, and I think the Saints did this the most blatantly. That's why they are getting hit this hard.