[Sajman01]

To me it's easy to see y if u have kids. If your kid is playing ball and gets a concussion then u find out the other team was doing this, how mad would u be then?

To be honest, I didn't think much of it because I figured every team just did it but this is an excellent point. I'd want to beat the ***** out of that coach (and probably would).

[jeremy0998]

Not that I'm trying to defend what has come out with the Saints nor what the Pats have done in NE with the "spygate" thing, but the bounty program happen all the time as this example will show: http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/news/story?id=3659317
With that said, I think putting a player at risk by knowingly going out to try to injure him by far trumps taping of practice/games/walk-throughs. Trying to end a career or a man's livelyhood is far more dispicable. Sure your practices get taped and you MIGHT lose a game because of it but when players are diving at knees or hitting after the whistle with the intention of putting a guy out will disrupt a whole season. If you need an example of this, look at Peyton Manning and how his absence affected the Colt's season this year. The game of football we all know and love is tough enough without having to worry about is this guy or that guy intentionally trying to hurt the team's star players. I hope the NFL fines the Saints enough and suspends that d-bag Williams from ever coaching in the NFL again.

[phinzphan1372]

Seem like Ex-NFL players agree spy-gate is worse than Bounty gate

http://espn.go.com/video/clip?id=7647515

[wavytiger1975]

Darren Woodson is the only ex-player on that panel

[all day baby]

Seem like Ex-NFL players agree spy-gate is worse than Bounty gate

http://espn.go.com/video/clip?id=7647515

You stick to your guns... You might convince SOMEONE here.

The truth of the matter is, the defensive players have always had bounties, and they always will. The Saints were told to stop, but they didn't. To make matters worse, they wrote their bounty amounts down on paper, and someone leaked that information to the NFL. I guess the defensive players were too stupid to remember, so they needed it written down. The Patriots were told to stop, and they DID. So which is worse...

Being told by the Commissioner to stop injuring players on purpose for money, and continuing to defy the Commissioner by not stopping?

Or filming a walkthru practice, which physically hurt no one, and later complying with the Commissioner by stopping?

[phinzphan1372]

@all day baby "The Patriots were told to stop, and they DID"

actually the league sent a league wide memo telling any and all teams to cease the taping practice... the arrogant mr belichick got caught the week AFTER the memo was sent.

the pats were Caught CHEATING OUTRIGHT.

The saints were caught playing FOOTBALL ( a little to rough but still football)

---

***From James Alder, About.com Guide September 11, 2007***

On Sunday, a member of the Patriots organization was caught shooting video of the New York Jets' bench as the team sent in defensive signals. NFL security confiscated the video camera and videotape, and shipped it to commissioner Roger Goodell, who, in turn, invited Patriots head coach Bill Belichick to New York for a little sit-down.

Tuesday ESPN's Chris Mortenson confirmed that Goodell has concluded the Patriots did in fact violate rules that all teams had specifically been warned about by the new commissioner. And now the team faces sanctions that could include the loss of multiple draft picks, suspensions, and/or fines.

Link to original post the clip came from
http://football.about.com/b/2007/09/11/p...eating.htm

[all day baby]

Here's your problem, phins... The major common misnomer about the Patriots videotaping scandal is that they knew they were breaking the rules the whole time, when that's simply not the case. The rule which the Patriots were punished for breaking states:

Any use by any club at any time, from the start to the finish of any game in which such club is a participant, of any communications or information-gathering equipment, other than Polaroid-type cameras or field telephones, shall be prohibited, including without limitation videotape machines, telephone tapping, or bugging devices, or any other form of electronic devices that might aid a team during the playing of a game.

They DIDN'T use the film during a game, so they felt they were clear. LATER, the memo was revised to read differently...

Video taping of any type, including but not limited to taping of an opponent’s offensive or defensive signals, is prohibited on the sidelines, in the coaches’ booth, in the locker room, or at any other locations accessible to club staff members during the game.

They were penalized by a reinterpretation of the rules and distributed in a memo AFTER they won their Super Bowls.

Additionally, the bounties are non-contract bonuses that violate NFL Constitution and Bylaws and the Collective Bargaining Agreement. Maybe it's me, but I'm thinking the Saints are gonna be hurting worse than the Patriots ever thought about hurting.

[Duchovny2]

Truth be told, both teams were WRONG, but I think this commissioner is going to punish the Saints a lot harder than he did the Patriots. I am still waiting to see if the axe falls anywhere else though, because if everyone did it, then there should be blame for all, not just the one that got caught. And ADB is right: the Saints were given the chance to stop, and not only did they not stop, but they tried to cover it up. Makes me sick what's going on down here