The image is troubling: Gregg Williams at the front of the room, doling out cash-filled white envelopes to his Saints defenders, their payout for a signature play in the previous week's game. Rewards starting at $100 for a special teams tackle inside the 20 and up to $1,500 for knocking out an opponent, money the players would be encouraged to give right back, to increase the kitty.
Peter King's Sports Illustrated investigation into the Saints' "bounty" program paints the picture of a team deeply entangled in a "pay for performance" culture that reached a fever pitch during their 2009 Super Bowl season.
The swelling pot of money at the center of this circus reportedly spiked before their January 2010 NFC title game against the Vikings, when Saints linebacker Jonathan Vilma allegedly offered $10,000 to anyone who knocked quarterback Brett Favre out of the game.
Saints defensive linemen Bobby McCray and Anthony Hargrove accounted for multiple penalties and $25,000 in fines for vicious hits on Favre in that 31-28 overtime win, and, as Favre was helped off the field with a sprained ankle, a fired-up Hargrove jawed with teammates, proclaiming: "Favre is out of the game! Favre is done! Favre is done!"
King reports that, amid the chaos, an on-field microphone caught an unidentified Saints defender shouting, "Pay me my money!"
When Roger Goodell caught wind of the bounty system, he was devastated, a source close to the Commissioner told King.
"God forbid this is true," Goodell said, according to the source. "This will be earth-shattering."
