Green Bay Packers DE and former New Orleans Saints player Anthony Hargrove furious over leaked statement
On Monday the public got its first look at the written statement submitted by Green Bay Packers and former New Orleans Saints, defensive end, Anthony Hargrove to the National Football League (NFL).
Hargrove’s leaked statement which was first made available by Yahoo! Sports reporter, Jason Cole revealed that former Saints defensive coordinator, Gregg Williams and assistant coach, Joe Vitt had asked the player to “play dumb” in front of NFL
investigators who were about to interview him in relation to the bounty scandal.
The release of the statement though was not intended by Hargrove and on Wednesday the 28-year-old told
ESPN that he thought the statement would remain confidential and would not be leaked to the public.
"I'm disappointed that 'the Declaration' was leaked. The intent of 'the Declaration' was to let the NFL know exactly what happened in March of 2010. Call me naive, but I did not expect them to publicize the fact that I had sent them 'the Declaration.' But
since they did, and because they grossly mischaracterized my words, it obviously became a hot item and subsequently was leaked by someone.”
Release of the statement led to a flurry of media activity on Monday and New Orleans Saints assistant coach, Joe Vitt told the New Orleans Times-Picayune that he never asked the defensive end to do what he claimed in the statement.
"At no time did I ever tell Anthony Hargrove to lie or deny the existence (of the alleged bounty program),”
The NFL had used the contents of Hargrove’s statement in order to punish the players involved in the bounty scandal.
Four players were suspended by commissioner, Roger Goodell early last week for their alleged leadership role in the bounty scandal.
Hargrove for his part received an eight-game suspension for the upcoming 2012-13 season and would not receive any pay during that time.
All four players are prepared to appeal their sentences and it is just a matter of time before the date of their appeals is set by the NFL.
The leaked document showed just how far Williams was ready to go to stop details of the bounty programme come into the knowledge of NFL investigators.
More developments on this hot issue are expected in the coming days.
Tags: