Gregg Williams talking about killing the head prior to the New Orleans Saints – San Francisco 49ers game might shock those naive enough to believe that these things don’t go on in NFL locker rooms. His suggestion to pay players for causing injuries is wrong, and he is suspended for good cause, but don’t think for a second that this doesn’t go on elsewhere.
Sean Payton actually has a case with his appeal after being suspended for the entire season. Gregg Williams? He’ll be sacrificed, his entire career will be. Bernard Pollard said not too long ago – This isn’t Flag Football. Players who go out know there’s a good chance they’ll get hurt. Defensive players are taught and trained all their lives to hit fast, hard, not thinking about the consequence. That’s the only way to play football.
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And if anyone needed more evidence that the Saints paid to injure? Here’s the tape. But do you honestly think that this is the only team, the only Defensive Cooridnator in the NFL that tells players to go out there and hit something, hurt someone? How do you think these guys are motivated? By hearing – Have a good game, do a good job?
Some players enjoy hurting others. It’s not a sadistic part of them. It’s the aggressive/violent nature of their game, in a VIOLENT and AGGRESSIVE game. People get hurt, careers end almost every week during the NFL season. It’s that rough of a sport. It’s that dangerous. And if some linebacker doesn’t put his whole heart into the tackle and hit he’s about to inflict, he’ll probably miss that running back each and every time.
No one wants to think of these guys as enjoying to hurt others, but they do, on the field at least. I don’t think the majority of players enjoy having the fact that they’ve caused damage to others linger, but some do. Some are good at what they do – defense and hurting guys, because they take pride in it, they enjoy it. They’ve been taught to do this for over a decade before entering the NFL – through High School and College and before.
Look, this isn’t a rant to defend Williams. A bounty system is wrong. Players shouldn’t be getting bonuses to injure quarterbacks and other players. I don’t mind the fact that he’s suspended for life because of what he did. But these players would have made the tackles anyway. They just wouldn’t have known that they’re getting a few extra bucks for succeeding.