Could Gregg Williams have been the man to, through his illegal bounty system, take out three of the best quarterbacks since the turn of the millennium: Brett Favre, Peyton Manning, and Kurt Warner?
Let's take a look at all three:
Brett Favre: Though reports today deny it, a lot has been made of the conduct of the Saints in their NFC Championship victory over the Vikings when Favre was the quarterback.
(Yes, this is the same game in which I honestly believed Favre literally threw the game with a ridiculous last-minute interception in regulation leading to the Saints winning it in overtime.)
There are a number of hits being examined in a recently-posted YouTube clip (let's hope the name is not prophetic -- it's a new account calling himself "Retaliatein2012") of the Saints taking liberties (to varying extents) with Favre in the game.
(I have a feeling the music will not be long for this video, but...)
The first one off the top is marginal at best, though the ball was clearly out before #55 pushed Favre to the ground.
The second one, appearing to be the next play or two, has #55 being held (and the Viking flagged for it), but here comes #41 at about :11-:12 into the video with a fairly clear helmet-to-chin shot -- no call on that one by the refs.
The third play, starting at about :15, is the one which a lot of people believe effectively ended Brett Favre's playing career as a top-flight quarterback. Favre play-actions into a reverse to the near side of the field, and Favre is literally TATTOOED by a Saint (couldn't see who) long after he handed off the ball (Chad Clifton Rule, anyone???) as the play was going far away from him.
Many people claim that, after this play, he was never the same quarterback again.
The next play has #42 (former Packer Darren Sharper?) for the Saints going helmet on Favre and almost launching on top of it.
What follows are a number of hits which are probably legal (though certainly should be re-examined under what we know now about what was going on in New Orleans!) seeing Favre getting quite seriously hammered out there -- with a turned ankle from the hit on the reverse!
By the end of the third quarter, the effects on the hits (which some now believe were a targetted effort to screw up his ankle further) lead (~1:35 or so) to a Vilma interception, another questionably-late hit, and the trainers finally needing to help Favre off the field in obvious pain!
This was the most flagrant of them all, it appears, as he gets nailed in the back of the knee by #93, and then another guy comes in over the top -- not only is that hit near the knee illegal (Tom Brady Rule), but going high-low like that also is.
Then, at about 2:00, a blatant gousle -- high-low hit -- which basically went uncalled.
Just watch this clip, and understand how ineffective Favre was in his final season.
Tell me honestly that there is not evidence to believe (ESPN reports notwithstanding) that Brett Favre was put out of the sport by the illegal bounty system that Greg Williams had.
I think there is -- and if we had a league with an ounce of integrity (say, if the Patriots had been stripped of at least their Super Bowl win over the Rams), this might be enough to get the Saints Super Bowl win reversed.
Kurt Warner: This goes back to a 2010 playoff game between the Saints and Arizona Cardinals. 2nd quarter, 28-14 Saints. Here's the YouTube clip of this one.
It would be Warner's last in the NFL. He throws an interception, and is near the play. (No "defenseless player" rule here -- he's right near the ball-carrier to make the tackle.) However, he gets abjectly laid out and injured by another Saints player.
The announcer said it was a clean hit -- it was anything but. The initial contact might've been clean, but it was clear a helmet-to-helmet was thrown in there. Watch the LAST replay closely at about 1:00-1:03 of the clip, and you'll see what I mean.
Peyton Manning: This has to go back, first, to this week's "Monday Morning QB" column by Peter King on SI.com -- the second page thereof.
Tony Dungy, then on an NBC telecast during the football season last year, stated that the on-going neck injury which has ended Peyton's tenure in Indianapolis (and, I truly believe, his career as well!) stems from a 2006 game in which the Colts were playing Washington.
Who was the defensive coordinator there? Gregg Williams, and the NFL is investigating him with the Redskins as well!
I'll let the article speak for itself:
"Manning's neck got wrenched and his helmet ripped off on a hit by two Washington defenders. We showed the highlight on our show. Manning, after being hit and crumbling to the ground awkwardly, lay there for a second, and when he rose, he stretched his neck and shook his right arm for a second, as if trying to get the feeling back in it.
Afterward, as I wrote last fall in this column, Dungy told me: "Earlier in the game, I'm outraged that there was a flag for roughing-the-passer on Dwight Freeney for just grazing the quarterback's helmet. So I'm yelling at the ref [Scott Green], 'Where's the flag! Where's the flag!' And I don't yell much, but I did then. So I didn't notice Peyton calling timeout and being shaken up. Peyton came to the sideline and said to [backup] Jim Sorgi, 'Jim, start warming up.' As the timeout went on, he said to us, 'I can stay in, but we need to run the ball here.' '' Which the Colts did, settling for a field goal deep in Washington territory.
"Then we sort of forgot about it at halftime, and Peyton seemed fine," said Dungy. "He lit it up in the second half. He was on fire [throwing for 244 yards and three touchdowns]. But that's the year we started cutting back on his throws at practice. I'm not putting two plus two together. I just figure he's getting older and he needs some time off, he's made enough throws. But now, as I look back on it, there's no doubt in my mind that this was the start of his neck problems.'' There's no evidence that Washington's defenders had a bounty out on Manning that night. But it's a question, surely, that begs to be asked. And if I were one of the league investigators interviewing Williams today, it's certainly something I'd explore."
Here's the clip of that play on which the neck gets completely wrenched. It looks like, when he takes the hit at about :06-:08, that someone should've been tossed for this one. This was clearly a dirty hit beyond much compare in the annals of the league. It looks like the second guy, with one guy already engaging Manning low, comes in and clotheslines Peyton's head almost completely off his shoulders! (Definitely knocks the helmet off!)If this is true, we can all but assuredly say that the aggressive nature encouraged by an illegal bounty system contributed to Manning's end, ended Warner's career directly, and pretty much indirectly ended Favre's.
So why do I say that this allegation could kill the NFL if it's true that this bounty system is taking out the top quarterbacks of the game?
Consider, as has been discussed, the legal ramifications of this situation off the field, and also consider a very prescient column Grantland did: "What Would the End of Football Look Like?", regarding the increasing liability concerns, especially vis-a-vis concussions, which could decimate, if not kill, football at all levels!
(So much so that Brian Tuohy is convinced that the entire anti-bounty situation is nothing short of a publicity stunt!)
What if we now add to that a deliberate campaign by a defensive coordinator, spanning at least two teams, of eliminating the better number of the elite quarterbacks since the year 2000?
What if we now add to THAT that the campaign was illegal under not only NFL rules, but probably under criminal laws as well??
Roger Goodell, you better hammer the Saints like no team ever before.
I would not be against some form of removal of the ownership (forget just firing the GM and coaches, and a life ban on Gregg Williams (John Clayton of ESPN has told "Mike and Mike in the Morning" that a life ban is actually possible for Williams!)) to basically "reset" the Saints. You handed them a Super Bowl on a silver platter, and this is the thanks you get.
You lie down with dogs, Mr. Goodell, and you will get fleas!
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