Chicago Bears LB Lance Briggs not pleased with bounty punishments handed down to New Orleans Saints players
Chicago Bears linebacker, Lance Briggs is not too happy with the punishments handed down by the National Football League (NFL) to New Orleans Saints players involved in the bounty scandal.
The NFL early last week handed down some of the most severe punishments to four players over their involvement in the bounty scandal.
Saints linebacker, Jonathan Vilma was suspended for the entirety of the 2012-13 season, Green Bay Packers defensive end and former Saints player, Anthony Hargrove received an eight-game suspension, Saints defensive end, Will Smith was suspended for four
games, and Cleveland Browns linebacker and former Saints player, Scott Fujita was handed a three-game suspension.
All four players will not receive any salaries during the time of their suspension according to an announcement by commissioner, Roger Goodell.
Briggs though does not agree and says that such measures will not stop player injuries from occurring.
According to the Chicago Tribune, he said.
"Player safety is best taken care of by providing health insurance for players' lives. Come on. It's like asking a boxer: 'Are your injuries related to taking blows to the head?' We throw our bodies around. It's physical. It's football. You can't stop the
violence from happening."
He also called the season long punishment for Jonathan Vilma as a
"A bunch of B.S."
Adding further he said that watching the Saints tapes he did not see any tackle that was illegal or against the rules.
"Let me make one thing clear: I in no way condone somebody putting money up to intentionally hurt someone, but bounty or not, what did the Saints do on the field that's illegal? All I've seen on TV is clean, physical football. You can get those same highlights
from any NFL team.''
Not everyone agrees with Briggs’ assessment though and the league’s decision has received praise from many quarters over its tough action over bounties.
The Saints were found to have run an illegal pay-for-injury program in the defensive roster during a three season from 2009-11.
Bounties were paid to players to injure targeted opponents during games with successful players receiving around $ 1,000 to 1,500 for knocking out opponents from the game.
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