New Orleans Saints Bounty System

The Bounty System

The desire to win for an individual is of grave importance.  Especially, if this individual is a pro athlete.  Unfortunately, it is quite common nowadays to hear about pro athletes getting caught taking sport enhancement drugs, in order to increase their chances of winning.  Even the most unlikely of athletes are being caught; the ones that have been role models for the youth.  It is true, that pro athletes are steadily going to more extreme measures, just to win.  However, coaches of these professional athletes are also doing the same.  These coaches are performing unethical acts in unambiguous ways, in hopes of not getting caught.  Fortunately, some have been caught and publicly shamed.  In the case of the New Orleans Saints Football team, their coach (Sean Payton) has been caught in the act of a “crush-for-cash” bounty system (ESPN, 2012).  Further investigation into this system reveals the true danger that this unethical system put on all players in the NFL.

The New Orleans Saints had been at the bottom of the league for many, many years (Samuel, 2013).  The fans were so embarrassed of their team’s performance, that they would in fact wear paper bags to home games (ESPN, 2012).  However, this all began to change in the mid 2000’s.  The team began to turn around, acquiring great players, and great coaches (Brady, 2013).  One of these coaches was Sean Payton.  He has been praised for his coaching ability, and his treatment towards players (Brady, 2013).  Many believe that he was an integral piece in the New Orleans Saints winning the Super Bowl in 2010 (Corbett, 2013).  They then went on to have another successful season in 2011, but the end result was not another Super Bowl ring.  However, that was not the big news of that season.  The big news was that coach Sean Payton and staff had been allowing the pooling of large amounts of cash to be handed out to defensive players that took out specific players of opposing teams (Holder, 2013).  This news rocked the NFL world.

As reported, the “crush-for-cash” system worked in a simplistic way.  A player would receive $1,500 for a knockout, $1000 for a cart off, and these payments could double or triple in the playoffs (ESPN, 2012).  Another appalling fact about this system is that it was targeted towards star players of the opposing teams (ESPN, 2012).  Some of these players included the talents of Aaron Rodgers, Brett Favre, and even the up and coming quarterback Cam Newton (ESPN, 2012).  Due to the unveiling of this system, the NFL cracked down hard on all members associated with it.  The individuals that were hit the hardest were general manager Mickey Loomis, assistant coach Joe Vitt, and head coach Sean Payton (ESPN, 2012).  Mickey Loomis was suspended for the initial 8 games of the 2012 NFL season (ESPN, 2012).  Some believe that this punishment was not harsh enough, as they believe Mickey obviously knew what was going on with the bounty system imposed.  Although, Mickey does own up to the actions of the team, he does not entirely state that he was integrally involved.  Joe Vitt was suspended for the first six games of the 2012 season (Fox News, 2012).  He was suspended because it was believed that he associated with the bounty system.  Next, Sean Payton received the severest punishment of them all.  He was banned from coaching for the entire 2012 NFL season (Fox News, 2012).  On top of all of these suspensions, the team was also fined 500,000 thousand dollars, and stripped of their second round draft pick in 2013 (Holder, 2013).  All of this happened due to a coach’ desire to win, at any means necessary.

Many would think that Sean Payton would never get hired by another professional football team ever again.  The bounty program that he supported was unfair, unethical, and posed serious risks to the health and safety of professional athletes.  Most fans and players seemed to be absolutely disgusted that such a program even existed (ESPN, 2012).  However, fast forward a year later, and Sean Payton’s suspension has been served.  Almost simultaneously, he was given his job as head coach of the New Orleans Saints back to him (ESPN, 2012).  Sean Payton has been quoted for saying that he has learned from his mistakes, and his previous unethical behaviours are not acceptable (Corbett, 2013).  He has also taken full accountability of the situation and blames no one.  He has demonstrated (to most) that he is once again ready to gain back the respect of the League (Corbett, 2013).  However, every step he now makes will be under a microscope.  Only the 2013 NFL season will reveal whether or not Sean can recapture the magic that won his team the Super Bowl in 2010.

To conclude, I believe that Sean Payton has learned from his mistakes.  As stated above, he has taken one hundred percent of the responsibility for the bounty system.  He also served his suspension with little to no despair.  These actions alone show that he is ready to leave his past behind him, and move forward towards the 2013 NFL season.

References

Brady E.  (2013, September 4).  The Payton Saint of New Orleans returns.  USA Today.  Retrieved from http://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/nfl/saints/2013/09/04/sean-payton-returns-from-suspension-high-expectations-new-orleans/2761281

Corbett J.  (2013, August 18).  Sean Payton Marches on With New Outlook.  USA Today.  Retrieved from http://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/nfl/saints/2013/08/18/saints-sean-payton/2669429/

ESPN.  (2012, March 22).  NFL Hammers Saints for Bounties.  ESPN.  Retrieved from http://espn.go.com/nfl/story/_/id/7718136/sean-payton-new-orleans-saints-banned-one-year-bounties

Fox News.  (2012, March 21).  Saints coach Sean Payton suspended for 2012 season by NFL.  Fox News.  Retrieved from http://www.foxnews.com/sports/2012/03/21/saints-coach-sean-payton-suspended-for-2012-season-by-nfl/

Holder L.  (2013, August 30).  New Orleans Saints' bounty scandal timeline as Sean Payton prepares for return.  NOLA.  Retrieved from http://www.nola.com/saints/index.ssf/2013/08/new_orleans_saints_bounty_scan_2.html

Samuel E.  (2013, January 22).  New Orleans Saints coach Sean Payton reinstated by NFL after season-long BountyGate suspension.  NYdailynews.  Retrieved from http://www.nydailynews.com/sports/football/saints-payton-reinstated-nfl-year-long-ban-article-1.1244854