NFLPA wants time from league to complete investigation into bounty scandal - NFL News
The National Football League (NFL) is gearing up to announce the punishment that New Orleans Saints will face for running an illegal bounty system in their defensive unit, however, on Tuesday the players union NFL Players Association (NFLPA) asked the league
to delay their punishment until they could complete their own investigation.
The Saints were found to be running a bounty system involving around 22 to 27 players under the then defensive coordinator Gregg Williams for three seasons.
It was alleged in the NFL’s report that New Orleans players received $ 1,000 to $ 1,500 for injuring opponents during games and that players’ personally contributed money to the pool.
Saints defensive line captain Jonathan Vilma was named in the report for offering $ 10,000 to any player who successfully knocked out the then Minnesota Vikings quarterback Brett Favre in the 2009 National Football Conference (NFC) Championship game.
The players union though in a statement through spokesman George Atallah said that.
"We asked the league to hold off on any punishment until our information gathering was completed."
There is no doubt that a bounty system was running at the Saints from 2009-11 as Gregg Williams now defensive coordinator at the St. Louis Rams apologised just a day after the report’s release while both Saints head coach Sean Payton and general manager
Mickey Loomis released their own statement taking blame for not putting an end to the illegal activities.
"These are serious violations and we understand the negative impact it has had on our game," Payton and Loomis said. "Both of us have made it clear within our organization that this will never happen again, and make that same promise to the NFL and most
importantly to all of our fans."
The NFLPA had announced on Wednesday, March 7, 2012 that they will start their own probe into the scandal to provide another perspective into the bounty scandal.
As of now there is still no response from the league over whether it will delay the announcement.
The NFL is expected to severely punish the Saints with multiple suspensions and fines for both players and coaches while the franchise will lose some of its draft picks.
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