Bountiful Disaster – You Have to Pay to Play

By NickGuarisco on March 23, 2012

A friend of mine, Jonathan, recently offered to pay me $20 for an entire semester’s worth of notes for a class that consistently gives students fits. I was going to give him the notes free of charge anyway, but I decided I could use the extra gas money. So we made the exchange. Jonathan went to all the classes and edited the notes as needed. He did not cheat on the tests. He did not plagiarize any of the papers. He played by the rules, used my notes, and he got an “A” in the class.

A few weeks later, one of our mutual friends, we’ll call him Jeremey, had to drop the class because he was struggling so badly. When he found out that Jonathan used my notes to help him get an “A” in the class, he was so mad that he told the professor what happened. The professor didn’t really care, citing that Jonathan attended every class and was a good student, and that students do this kind of thing all the time, anyway. In fact, the professor was already aware there were entire websites devoted to rating professors and distributing notes freely online. She knew that students pass down notes all the time; she didn’t care. It was part of the system. Jeremey wasn’t a fan of this, so he got a hold of the Facebook conversation between Jonathan and I that discussed the exchange. Despite the teacher’s apathy, Jeremey printed out the proof and took matters to the dean.

The dean was completely outraged at this situation. He had no idea this went on, and the power-hungry dean decided to make a bold statement by punishing those involved, using us to send a message to the rest of the university. To make sure people knew that exchanging notes for money was strictly prohibited, the dean suspended Jonathan and myself from school for four weeks. The dean also placed the teacher on probation for a year for having knowledge of this common event. Then the dean made everyone in the class who had used the Note Swap website forfeit their next test, resulting in zeros for about 27 of the 53 students in the class.

Does the punishment fit the so-called crime?

Roger Goodell would say so. He dropped the hammer on the New Orleans Saints this week. The Saints were fined $500,000 as an organization. General Manager Mickey Loomis was suspended for the first eight games of the season without pay. The Saints had to forfeit two second-round draft choices. And our beloved head coach and leader, Sean Payton, was suspended from the entire team for a full year without pay, which means Sean Payton was basically fined $7.5 million. This is not to mention the lengthy suspensions yet to be imposed on multiple key players on defense.

All of that, for something undeserving of a punishment more severe than a simple slap on the wrist. For something that has been going on in the NFL throughout its existence. For something that multiple teams still partake in the league today. For something that didn’t change the outcome of any games. For something that did not even constitute cheating in any remote form.

But why?

There is ZERO evidence that any player got injured as a result of any bounties. Football is a violent sport played by, coached by, owned by and managed by violent people. It’s the nature of the game itself. And the NFL has made a lot of money from its violence. Vicious hits are cheered by fans and get the heart pumping. Unfortunately, the NFL is taking the violence away from the game.

One rule at a time, the league is turning into a finesse, passing-based flag football league that defense plays no part in. It started with cornerbacks not being able to contact receivers after five yards. Then the league banned corners from face-guarding, forcing them to turn around and “make a play on the ball,” whenever the ball was thrown at them. Then the league started protecting running backs and receivers by outlawing horse-collar tackles. Then the league banned hitting so-called “defenseless receivers,” even though they aren’t actually “defenseless.” Players can’t leave their feet when they tackle anymore. They also can’t lead with the crown of their helmets. Now players can’t block someone that isn’t looking or involved in the play. Protecting the quarterback became the next big thing. Defenders can’t hit quarterbacks a millisecond after he releases the ball. They can’t hit a quarterback below the thighs, or above the chest. The list goes on.

Let me ask you something: How are defenders supposed bring down massively strong and elusive quarterbacks like Cam Newton and Ben Roethlisberger if they have to focus on six hundred different regulations that force them to tackle a certain way? It’s like trying to bring down a moose without using your hands… or your feet.

It’s no wonder defensive coordinators have had to find extra ways to motivate defenders; defensive players stand no chance in today’s NFL. But as a defensive-minded fan, I completely support what Gregg Williams established. I’m much more upset that we GOT CAUGHT than what we did.

Whether you realize it or not, the bounty program helped give a bad defense some swagger, and more importantly, it helped us win a Super Bowl.

I have no sympathy for players getting hurt on the field; they are men, and this is football. The risk of injury is a major reason why players are compensated so much. I think defensive coordinators have every right to preach dirty play. If a defender can get to the quarterback, he should want to break his neck. It should be in his blood; he should want to take him out of the game. That’s the violent nature of playing defense on football. At least, it used to be.

Players are on the field do whatever it takes, within the rules, to win football games. You play to win the game. And the best defensive players are the ones who are out to attack. While I can’t say I’m GLAD the Saints did it, I certainly would never take back watching those hits on Warner and Favre that helped the team win its first Super Bowl.

Think about it: we won a Super Bowl. The New Orleans Saints won a freaking Super Bowl. Just based on that, no penalty is big enough to keep us down.

There’s a reason that almost every player who is publically reacted to this scandal has been on the Saints’ side. The players know what goes on in locker rooms. They know how the sport is played. Even Brett Favre, of all people, claimed the scandal was overblown.

The media sensationalized this story to the absolute max. If this bounty scandal involved the Cleveland Browns, nobody would care. But anything that a team like the Saints or Patriots do wrong is heavily scrutinized. It comes with the territory though. Everyone wants to see great teams fall. Every fan that is freaking out and outraged at what the Saints did needs to buy a mirror and some duct tape; they wouldn’t be talking if this were their team. There are a lot of external factors that make this entire situation unfair. But nothing is worse than the fact that the Saints didn’t do anything wrong ON the field.

It would be different if the Saints violated rules on the field and intentionally hurt players after the whistle. The Saints did not. They played within the league rules, and ironically, every single hit they repeatedly show on ESPN is a legal one. And if it wasn’t…that’s what flags are for, right?

Speaking of ESPN, how hypocritical are those former-player analysts that were talking about how common things like bounties were in team meetings and locker rooms when the allegations first surfaced? They spoke about how teams would teach their cornerbacks to go for the knees when tackling ball carriers. They spoke about how they would draw plays up that targeted specifically injured players to see how they’d react. They told us that players bit and clawed opponents under piles. They told us that defensive linemen sneaked groin punches to get past offensive linemen. They told us that fans would be appalled if they knew everything that went on during games and in locker rooms and team meetings. However, once the punishment was revealed, all anyone could talk about was how serious of an issue this was and that the punishment was deserving.

Come on, man. At least Goodell sticks to his word. At least he is consistent with his whole player safety message… even though his message is for the wrong reason.

The punishments were overly harsh, but it won’t affect this season like you think it will. Draft picks mainly affect the future. We played three or four games without coach Payton this year and we were fine. Drew Brees and our offensive coordinator Pete Carmichael called outstanding games last season. Play-calling won’t be an issue. Steve Spaguolo is a former NFL head coach and can make the necessary coaching decisions. As much as the egotistical, power-hungry commissioner and opposing fans want us to fail, these punishments won’t keep the Saints from winning the division…which we will.

We’ve been through tougher times than this. It took us 20 years before we ever had a winning season. We waited over 30 years to win our first playoff game. We wore paper bags over our heads to hide our faces. But we never lost faith. We fought through hurricane Katrina, and we’ll fight through hurricane Goodell. So go ahead, knock New Orleans down; we’re just going to be “Coming Back Stronger.” We always have. We always will.

WHODAT. SCREWDAT. TWODAT.

-Nick Guarisco

*Photo Credit: Kim Klement-US PRESSWIRE

Please follow and like us: