“The quarterback must go down, and must go down hard.”
– Al Davis, whose Raiders won three Super Bowls.
It’s a brutally honest statement, one of the five most distinctive quotes to leap off the tongue of the late owner and football icon, who surely believed it until the day he died.
Davis wasn’t the only football expert sold on the concept of inflicting pain on the quarterback. It’s the goal of every defense, a significant component of those that achieved greatness and, frankly, one of the most exciting elements of the game.
Yet here is the NFL, in its latest effort to express concern about the health and welfare of its players, setting its law-enforcing sights on the unholy New Orleans Saints, charging them with corrupting a naturally violent game by advocating bodily harm.
The league is saying the Saints created and instituted a “bounty” system wherein defensive players were financially rewarded for intentionally hurting opponents and forcing them to the sideline.
It’s quite the intriguing allegation, considering the NFL makes its billions on the twisted spines and broken bones and mangled appendages of its gladiators.
And don’t forget the concussions with which – after a flood of early onset dementia cases – we’ve suddenly become frighteningly familiar.
The league’s investigation has a mountain of evidence saying these allegations are true, including an admission from former New Orleans defensive coordinator Gregg Williams, who apparently was the shot-caller. The report says head coach Sean Payton and general manager Mickey Loomis were aware of the system and did nothing to stop it.
The Saints ought to bow their heads in shame. It’s barbaric to deliberately hurt opponents and utterly criminal to create a system that pays those who succeed.
More embarrassing for the Saints, though, is getting caught. They immediately become the scalp the league will hold up as a trophy, proof of its newfound diligence.
New Orleans will pay a steep price – heavy fines, suspensions and more – not only for its sins but also for those of others around the league.
In the NFL, all 32 teams preach destruction. Every coaching staff urges players to be “physical,” to tackle “through” the ball carrier. Everyone, including fans, cheer the mighty wallop. It’s the culture.
But only one franchise gets busted for, in essence, expanding the manual.
The league will say the Saints are facing discipline because they are different, having crossed a line with an official “bounty” system. Such behavior, if you’re wearing jeans and a T-shirt, could result in arrest. It amounts to encouraging a “hit.” Folks have been ordered to the penitentiary for a lot less.
Are the Saints really different, though?
NFL defenses take the field with the purpose of smashing the opposing offense, and those who smash best usually win more games. Moreover, there tends to be a direct correlation between clobbering opponents and receiving pay raises. Those who inflict the most pain usually command the highest salaries.
In short, the league already exists within a system that financially rewards its most proficient human weapons.
Show me a defensive player who can intimidate, and I’ll show you one whose paycheck has grown because of it. The quickest way to the really big money is to leave really big bruises on anyone who dares to carry a football.
Or, as Williams refers to it, the “pay for performance” program.
While we’d like to believe the game is about superior athletes playing their hardest but always within the rules, we surely must realize this is a myth. Players are taught in youth leagues that football – like boxing or MMA – is a form of sanctioned war. The hardest hitters not only survive but thrive.
Ronnie Lott’s avenue to the Hall of Fame was littered with disabled receivers. The late Reggie White, perhaps the greatest defensive lineman ever, was a man of faith who pounded more than a few quarterbacks into submission. From Chuck Bednarik to Ray Lewis, linebackers have built reputations on bludgeoning people.
The Saints won the Super Bowl in 2010, one of the years during which the bounty system is said to have been in place. That season is the zenith of the franchise’s existence.
But the NFL faces lawsuits over its negligence in regards to player safety, and more lawsuits are coming. Commissioner Roger Goodell has to make a move, and it’s the right move, to send a message to players and coaches – and potential litigants.
Applaud his effort, but realize he walks a fine line, presiding over a game of sanctioned violence. There is, after all, a reason for helmets and padded uniforms and ambulances near the field.
