Bounty Hunting

[TheLionKing]

http://tsn.ca/nfl/story/?id=389327

[WestCoastJoe]

Not really a surprise. It is a violent sport, obviously. And the way some people are wired, they want to hurt others. That a coach might be involved is whacko. Whacko coach.

Personally I think they should go back to leather helmets. The modern day ones are a serious weapon.

[KnowItAll]

Not really a surprise. It is a violent sport, obviously. And the way some people are wired, they want to hurt others. That a coach might be involved is whacko. Whacko coach.

Personally I think they should go back to leather helmets. The modern day ones are a serious weapon.

lingerie anyone

[Coast Mountain Lion]

Not really a surprise. It is a violent sport, obviously. And the way some people are wired, they want to hurt others. That a coach might be involved is whacko. Whacko coach.

Personally I think they should go back to leather helmets. The modern day ones are a serious weapon.

lingerie anyone

I'm pretty sure I don't want to see any member of the Lions team, present or past, in lingerie. Or any of the other teams.

Felions, on the other hand....

[WestCoastJoe]

Not really a surprise. It is a violent sport, obviously. And the way some people are wired, they want to hurt others. That a coach might be involved is whacko. Whacko coach.

Personally I think they should go back to leather helmets. The modern day ones are a serious weapon.

lingerie anyone

Rugby players wear no helmets. Would you suggest they play lingerie style?

Leather helmets were good enough in the old days. Nobody really knew at the time that all these neck and spine injuries would happen when football moved to hard helmets. Some fans are not concerned about injuries; they want excitement.

Whatever ... you make light of a serious issue, involving concussions, neck injuries and spinal injuries. Said my bit ...

[TheLionKing]

Players weren't 6"5" 320 lbs back then

[Toppy Vann]

Commissioner Roger Goodell said he is troubled because the system, "involved not just payments for 'performance,' but also for injuring opposing players. The bounty rule promotes two key elements of NFL football: player safety and competitive integrity."

I have never understood this thinking but certainly have seen players deliberately out to injure opponents.

I can't understand how this could go on in a team and the HC not aware of it and put a stop to it This is disgusting and maybe if the NFL doesn't deal with it properly including the suspension of the coach/coaches involved, the DA's office or US Attorneys should . But what DA would go against his city's team? I think this is criminal behaviour and a coach telling players to hurt someone is in Canadian legal parlance counseling an offence - and that is seldom used but in the Criminal Code of Canada. Hard to prove I know but the NFL might get the message if some DA or US attorney took this on and regardless of conviction put these guys through the legal wringer.

I like how Phil Jackson describes it in the book Sacred Hoops where he mentions both respect for the game and respect for your opponent.

Reinebold now back in the CFL was alleged to have done something similar and if that was true - disgusting.

[TheLionKing]

I expect to see some substantial fines if the allegations are proven to be true.

[notahomer]

This issue has gotten weirder over the weekend.... Williams was summoned to NFL Security (Goodell's version of Blackwater or the CIA?) to explain his past actions with other teams....

Funny heard some calling for big fines when it was supposedly just a 'Saints' problem but since he may have had similar programs with other teams including the Redskins... If you fine and take away draft picks from the Saints don't you have to punish his other past teams and perhaps even his current team? Okay the current team doesn't make too much sense but I hope the Saints are not the only team punished since the guy isn't even coaching there anymore....

[notahomer]

WOW! Goodell don't mess around, IMO. Sean Payton---SUSPENDED FOR THE 2012 SEASON!!!! Saints GM---8 Games

The defensive coordinator behind it all (Gregg Williams) suspended INDEFINATELY!!!

Plus the Saints lose some draft picks (2nd rounders in 2012 and 2013 drafts) and $500 000!

Well the NFL has certainly made its position clear on all of this. Payton deserves to be suspended using the logic that even if its true he didn't know, as head coach he should have known. Wow! That kind of logic kinda makes sense but certainly not the kind of burden that needs to be met in a criminal case, IMO. But its not a criminal case (at least not yet).

Gotta wonder if thats that for Payton. Drew Brees is NOT HAPPY. Respects the Coach, Respects the Person. This is a tough issue, IMO. Certainly I don't condone the bounty program but these 'penalties' seem a little stiff. Highly doubt it will ever happen again though and thats been accomplished via this stance. If a Head Coach takes over for the season, does Payton get his job back next season? Obviously he'll work in the NFL again, Williams? Not so sure. Sean Payton was gotten enough success and done things differently enough, he'll be back prowling the sidelines in 2013, no doubt....

[TheLionKing]

Those are unprecedented sanctions. Football players have short career as it is but to have players go out and intentionally injure another player is inexcusable

[Toppy Vann]

Those are unprecedented sanctions. Football players have short career as it is but to have players go out and intentionally injure another player is inexcusable

YES.

It shows that as the lawsuits from former players mount that the NFL realizes it has to do something before these suits make it very difficult to keep the public on their side.

The HC is a tough call but a needed one. This intent to injure stuff in pro sport is wrong.

I'm connecting the dots here to this issue of growing concern. I am sure the NFL legal eagles are worried for the NFL's future.

Head-trauma lawsuits against NFL grow into hundreds
By David Ariosto, CNN
February 5, 2012 -- Updated 0513 GMT (1313 HKT)

Critics, meanwhile, say the league should have made the changes years ago and have called for more protections.

Part of the issue, noted a former Atlanta Falcons linebacker, is a sports culture that largely encourages behavior out-of-step with the recognized risks of head trauma.

A recent study conducted at Boston University's Center for the Study of Traumatic Encephalopathy found evidence of a condition called chronic traumatic encephalopathy -- a dementia-like brain disease -- had been found in the brains of 14 of 15 former NFL players. Their cases shared a common thread -- repeated concussions, sub-concussive blows to the head, or both, according to the study.

Many of those named in the recent claims, meanwhile, describe a range of common symptoms that include headaches, sleeplessness and dementia. But whether the league can be proven liable for alleged mistreatment of players, who often acknowledge the risks and likely also suffered head trauma during their high school and collegiate years, is expected to be the source of a drawn-out legal battle involving a growing number of plaintiffs.

Still, family and friends close to the players are often left to deal with the gritty aftermath of day-to-day living once the bright lights of prime time fades.

and this:

Part of the claim, the former players' attorneys say, would be used to establish a fund for former players.

Earlier this week, a panel of judges ruled that mounting claims against the league -- including class-action lawsuits filed in New York, New Jersey, Florida, Georgia and California -- will be consolidated in a federal court in Philadelphia.

http://edition.cnn.com/2012/02/04/healt ... index.html

The risk to the NFL is lawsuits.

I was meeting with a highly successful still quite young US entrepreneur here in Hong Kong recently and he says he came to Asia (China and later Hong Kong) when in his own highly successful company in the US he found that his board meetings became 80-90% legal issues and not on the business. The US has a highly litigious culture and lawyers know how to get it. He was in California in high tech.

[notahomer]

Oh, and I think there maybe player suspensions to come too! I can't see any players getting the kind of suspension Payton and Williams is getting but who knows? No question they deserve some of the blame. Based on what I have heard in the past couple weeks the Players Assoc. is doing its own investigation and wants it completed before the NFL punishes any players.

[WestCoastJoe]

I Respect Goodell's decision. IMO he could have been even more strict in his punishments and been supported by many.

The injury lawsuits are going to be numerous and expensive and could go back decades.

Contact sport, for sure. But these guys nowadays are built like superhero warriors, with special hitting skills.

I recall a player, Joe Jones? sacking Terry Bradshaw. He held Bradshaw upside down, and drove him headfirst into the ground like a pile driver. Except for Bradshaw's extremely strong neck and physique, IMO he would have been killed.

IMO football is a contact sport gone too far. Personally I am more of a fan of running, throwing, catching, covering, blocking, and tackling than of pure contact, especially head shot contact.

What had become noticeable in the NFL was after an interception how the defence went after the quarterback, for a killer block, even if he was not pursueing the guy with the ball.