Redskins Won't Be Punished In Bounty Investigation, According To Report

• 11 months ago
• Update
• 0 comments

1. Link
2. Facebook
3. Twitter

Redskins Won't Be Punished In Bounty Investigation, According To Report

Forgotten in the wake of the New Orleans Saints bounty scandal was the fact that Gregg Williams worked for other NFL teams, such as the Washington Redskins, and was accused of utilizing a bounty program. The Redskins find themselves "in the clear" as far as punishment goes from the NFL for bounties, according to a report by Mark Maske of the Washington Post.

The NFL has no plans to penalize the Washington Redskins over allegations that the team's defensive players had an improper bounty program when Gregg Williams oversaw the defense between the 2004 and 2007 seasons, according to a person with knowledge of the league's investigation.

The league found no evidence that corroborated the allegation in regards to bounties, according to Maske. Despite not finding evidence enough to punish the Redskins, the league has left open the possibility to punish the team should more evidence come to light at a later date.

Stay tuned to SB Nation DC for more on this story. For all your Redskins news and notes, be sure to follow SB Nation's Redskins blog Hogs Haven. And all nuggets from around the league, be sure to visit SB Nation's NFL hub.

• about 1 year ago
• Update
• 0 comments

1. Link
2. Facebook
3. Twitter

Gregg Williams Bounty Investigation Could Impact Washington Redskins

The NFL's bounty scandal may not be going away any time soon. Speaking on Monday afternoon at the NFL owners meetings, commissioner Roger Goodell said that the bounty investigation will continue. He also left open the possibility for penalties to other teams for bounties, including the Washington Redskins.

Williams was the defensive coordinator for the Washington Redskins from 2004 through 2007. Allegations that he ran a bounty program there have surfaced since news of the scandal in New Orleans broke earlier this year.

Goodell said that the league will meet with others to pursue additional information about illegal bounties.

Earlier in the day, Pat Kirwan of CBS Sports reported via Twitter that NFL officials interviewed someone from the Williams' Washington days about bounties there. Here is Kirwan's tweet:

I just heard NFL officials interviewed former Redskin player for five hours yesterday about Greg Williams and bounty issues in Washington

— Pat Kirwan (@PatKirwanCBS) March 26, 2012

Williams was suspended indefinitely for his role in the bounty program in New Orleans. Head coach Sean Payton was suspended for the entire season, and GM Mickey Loomis is out for eight games.

Stay tuned to SB Nation DC for more on this story. For all your Redskins news and notes, be sure to follow SB Nation's Redskins blog Hogs Haven. And all nuggets from around the league, be sure to visit SB Nation's NFL hub.

• about 1 year ago
• Article
• 0 comments

1. Link
2. Facebook
3. Twitter

Gregg Williams Offered Redskins Defense $15,000 To Knock Out Brad Johnson Before 2006 Season Opener, According To Report

• about 1 year ago
• Update
• 0 comments

1. Link
2. Facebook
3. Twitter

Gregg Williams Suspended Indefinitely By NFL For Saints' Bounty System

After a couple of weeks of anticipation, the NFL announced the punishments for some of those involved in overseeing the Saints' bounty system. And oh, boy, the punishments are doozies.

Per ESPN's Adam Schefter, Saints head coach Sean Payton has been suspended for the entire 2012 season, effective April 1. General Manager Mickey Loomis received an eight-game suspension and a $500,000 fine, while the Saints organization was docked another $500,000 and a second-round pick in 2012 and 2013.

And what of the man who oversaw the program at its most immediate level, former Redskins defensive coordinator Gregg Williams? Jason La Canfora of the NFL Network came through with that.

Gregg Williams is suspended indefinitely. Commish will review Williams situation at end of 2012 season and consider reinstatement

— Jason La Canfora (@JasonLaCanfora) March 21, 2012

Wiliams' suspension is effective immediately. The NFL released a statement Wednesday afternoon explaining the punishments.

The NFL’s extensive investigation established the existence of an active bounty program on the Saints during the 2009, 2010, and 2011 seasons in violation of league rules, a deliberate effort to conceal the program’s existence from league investigators, and a clear determination to maintain the program despite express direction from Saints ownership that it stop as well as ongoing inquiries from the league office.

This is a punishment that goes above and beyond anything that the league has previously instituted for any non-gambling rule violations (Paul Hornung and Alex Karras were suspended for one year by then-Commissioner Pete Rozelle in 1963). It even goes beyond the punishment handed to the Patriots for taping opposing teams' signals in 2007.

Stay tuned to SB Nation DC for more on this story. For all your Redskins news and notes, be sure to follow SB Nation's Redskins blog Hogs Haven. And all nuggets from around the league, be sure to visit SB Nation's NFL hub.

• over 1 year ago
• Update
• 0 comments

1. Link
2. Facebook
3. Twitter

Andre Carter Denies Bounty System Was In Place While Gregg Williams Was With Redskins

The NFL's investigation into the Gregg Williams bounty scandal is still ongoing, and probably will be for a very long time. But former players are beginning to speak out, and that includes Andre Carter, who played under Williams while with the Redskins. Homer McFanboy caught up with Carter who says very plainly that there was no bounty system in place while he was with the Redskins.

"When I was with the Washington Redskins there was no bounty system. Period," Carter said.

Carter also expanded a little bit more on his relationship with Williams, and how he dealt with his players.

"He knows his players and he knows how to use them," Carter said. "For a veteran player like myself, he didn’t really need to talk to me that much in terms of what needs to be done. Because I know what I need to do once we step out onto that field. But as far as a younger guy or a rookie, he would definitely talk to them more because he wanted to guide them in the right direction to help them become a better player. Did he ever get in someone’s face or yell at them? Yeah, because he expects a lot from his players whether they’re young or old. But like I said, he takes pride in what he does and loves the game."

So either Carter is flat out lying, there was a bounty system in place that one of the team leaders on defense was unaware of, or there was no bounty in place at all. Whatever the case, these are pretty strong words from Carter, and it will be interesting to see what the investigation turns up.

Stay tuned to SB Nation DC for more on this story. For all your Redskins news and notes, be sure to follow SB Nation's Redskins blog Hogs Haven. And all nuggets from around the league, be sure to visit SB Nation's NFL hub.

• over 1 year ago
• Update
• 0 comments

1. Link
2. Facebook
3. Twitter

Gregg Williams Bounty Investigation: Fred Smoot Says Players Pooled Money With Redskins, Not Williams

In an interview with Kevin Sheehan and Thom Loverro on ESPN 980's "The Sports Fix" on Monday afternoon, former Redskins corner back Fred Smoot responded to the allegations against former Redskins defensive coordinator Gregg Williams, that his bounty system was in place in Washington. His contention is that the players pooled money together and that it was never organized by the coaches.

Fred Smoot on @Espn980: "We put up pots to make great plays. Never to injure anyone. This was a player-to-player thing."

— HogsHaven.com (@HogsHaven) March 5, 2012

More Fred Smoot on @espnradio980: "It was incentive to be physical. The most physical team wins....the game is changing."

— HogsHaven.com (@HogsHaven) March 5, 2012

More Fred Smoot on @espnradio980: "It's like going to war and trying to make it clean."

— HogsHaven.com (@HogsHaven) March 5, 2012

Smoot's statements seem to go against the reports that this alleged bounty system was in place in Wiliams' time in Washington. His last statement also seems to identify the tight rope that the NFL is walking when it comes to player safety. Yes the league does want to make the game safer for players, but at the same time they run the risk of completely eliminating the physical aspect of the game which is a huge part of football in general.

Stay tuned to SB Nation DC for more on this story. For all your Redskins news and notes, be sure to follow SB Nation's Redskins blog Hogs Haven. And all nuggets from around the league, be sure to visit SB Nation's NFL hub.

• over 1 year ago
• Update
• 0 comments

1. Link
2. Facebook
3. Twitter

Gregg Williams Had Bounty System While Head Coach Of Buffalo Bills

Former Washington Redskins defensive coordinator Gregg Williams has found himself in a little bit of trouble with the NFL investigating the bounty system that he employed while serving as the defensive coordinator with the Redskins. The use of a bounty system so far can be traced back to when Williams was the head coach of the Buffalo Bills, as former Bills safety told the Buffalo News that Williams praised him for ending the career of then Detroit Lions running back James Stewart.

Wire ended the career of Detroit Lions running back James Stewart with a clean hit in a 2003 preseason game. Wire had trouble justifying the idea of waylaying a man's livelihood against the rousing praise heaped upon him by teammates and coaches.

"Now, it's unthinkable that was my reality," Wire said. "I shattered James Stewart's shoulder, and he never played again. I was showered with praise for that. It's a shame that's how it was. Now I see how wrong that was."

The punishment for Williams and the teams that allowed him to employ the bounty system is still to be determined, but the NFL will also need to check if the team as a whole we're as involved as they were like in the case of the Saints, which had the head coach and general manager ignore the owner of the team telling them to discontinue it. Williams has had stops in Buffalo, Washington, Tennessee, Jacksonville, and now is with the St. Louis Rams.

Stay tuned to SB Nation DC for more on this story. For all your Redskins news and notes, be sure to follow SB Nation's Redskins blog Hogs Haven. And all nuggets from around the league, be sure to visit SB Nation's NFL hub.

• over 1 year ago
• Update
• 0 comments

1. Link
2. Facebook
3. Twitter

Joe Gibbs Denies Knowing If Gregg Williams Had Bounty System With Redskins

Former Washington Redskins defensive coordinator Gregg Williams is being investigated by the NFL security committee for allegedly putting out "bounties" on other teams players for his defenses. Some have traced this back to Williams' days with the Redskins. Former Redskins head coach Joe Gibbs doesn't know anything about that, according to his recent conversations with the Washington Post.

The information about the bounty system, according to the players and coach, was widely known at Redskins Park. Considering that, Gibbs said he could understand why many would believe the head coach would also know, "but I didn't," Gibbs said. "In my life ... I wouldn't ever tell a player to hurt somebody. "They may say, ‘Well, Joe would know, because everybody else knew.' But I didn't know. I'm shocked by this."

It's hard to believe the head coach wouldn't know what's going on in a situation like this. While a bounty system isn't an uncommon thing among players in locker rooms, but something to the extent of the coaching staff and front office being involved is virtually unheard of.

Stay tuned to SB Nation DC for more on this story. For all your Redskins news and notes, be sure to follow SB Nation's Redskins blog Hogs Haven. And all nuggets from around the league, be sure to visit SB Nation's NFL hub.

• over 1 year ago
• Update
• 0 comments

1. Link
2. Facebook
3. Twitter

NFL Will Investigate Reports Of Gregg Williams' Redskins Bounty System, According To Report

It appears St. Louis Rams defensive coordinator Gregg Williams, already in hot water with the NFL for a supposed bounty system he instituted while defensive coordinator of the New Orleans Saints, will also be investigated for possibly running a similar bounty system when he was in Washington. Via Mark Maske of the Washington Post:

The NFL will investigate allegations that the Washington Redskins had a bounty program that paid players four-figure bonuses for jarring hits on opponents when Gregg Williams coached the team's defense between the 2004 and 2007 seasons, a league source said Saturday.

The source, speaking on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the topic, said it is standard procedure for NFL officials to look into any accusations that league rules have been broken.

As Maske notes, Williams was Redskins defensive coordinator from 2004 to 2007. One of his former players, defensive back Matt Bowen, posted a revealing article in the Chicago Tribune late Friday night about his time in Williams' system in D.C.

Stay tuned to SB Nation DC for more on this story. For all your Redskins news and notes, be sure to follow SB Nation's Redskins blog Hogs Haven. And all nuggets from around the league, be sure to visit SB Nation's NFL hub.

• over 1 year ago
• Update
• 0 comments

1. Link
2. Facebook
3. Twitter

Former Redskins Defensive Back Matt Bowen Discusses Gregg Williams And Bounties

A NFL investigation has revealed current St. Louis Rams defensive coordinator Gregg Williams instituted a bounty system while he held the same position with the New Orleans Saints. With that news came revelations that Williams also may have instituted a similar bounty system while the defensive coordinator of the Washington Redskins in the mid-2000s. Former NFL defensive back Matt Bowen, who played under Williams for two years in Washington, has penned a column for the Chicago Tribune confirming just such a bounty system existed:

Money came in for more than watching a guy leave the field. We earned extra for interceptions, sacks and forced fumbles. If the till wasn't paid out, we just rolled it over.

Money jumped in the playoffs. A bigger stage equaled more coin. Instead of a few hundred dollars, now you got a thousand, maybe more, depending on the player.

That's the truth. I can't sugarcoat this. It was a system we all bought into.

I ate it up.

It is a very open and honest article from Bowen, and if you have the time deserves a full read. Much is already being made of what punishment Williams and the Saints should be handed for this offense, and what it may mean for the league as a whole moving forward. It should be noted, though, that Bowen ends his column with what seems to be a common sentiment for those who have actually played and coached in the league: this happens often, and with numerous teams.

Bounties, cheap shots, whatever you want to call them, they are a part of this game. It is an ugly tradition that was exposed Friday with Williams front and center from his time coaching the defense in New Orleans. But don't peg this on him alone. You will find it in plenty of NFL cities.

Stay tuned to SB Nation DC for more on this story. For all your Redskins news and notes, be sure to follow SB Nation's Redskins blog Hogs Haven. And all nuggets from around the league, be sure to visit SB Nation's NFL hub.

• over 1 year ago
• Article
• 0 comments

1. Link
2. Facebook
3. Twitter

Gregg Williams Instituted Bounty System While Redskins Defensive Coordinator, According To Report

According to reports, former Redskin defensive coordinator Gregg Williams had a bounty system in place during his time with the team.