New Orleans Saints GM Mickey Loomis and coach Sean Payton apologise for role in bounty controversy - NFL Update
New Orleans Saints are embroiled in controversy after a National Football League (NFL) investigation confirmed that Saints defensive line had run an illegal bounty program that rewarded players who injured opponents.
According to the report both Saints general manager Mickey Loomis and head coach Sean Payton were fully aware of the bounty system yet took no action to stop it.
The illegal bounties were given from 2009-11 season and ran under the guidance of the then Saints defensive coordinator Gregg Williams, currently at the same post with St. Louis Rams.
Since the news emerged on Friday, both Payton and Loomis had maintained silence but all that changed on Tuesday, as both released a joint statement acknowledging their awareness of the program and apologised to the NFL, Saints fans and owner Tom Benson.
Payton and Loomis said in their statement to the media that.
"We acknowledge that the violations disclosed by the NFL during their investigation of our club happened under our watch. We take full responsibility,"
The statement further added that.
"These are serious violations and we understand the negative impact it has had on our game. 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."
However, their apology will have no impact on the NFL and both Payton and Loomis are in line to receive a heavy punishment from league commissioner Roger Goodell.
The Saints stand accused of running a bounty pool of around $ 50,000 under the guidance of Williams and most of the players contributed their own money.
Instead of paying for performance it is alleged that the Saints defensive line used the money to entice their defensemen to go out and injure opponents with $ 1,500 for a knockout and $ 1,000 if the opponent is carted off the field.
In their statement Loomis and Payton went on to say that team owner Tom Benson had no knowledge of the bounty system and was not involved in no way whatsoever confirming the earlier finding off the NFL.
"This has brought undue hardship on (owner Tom) Benson, who had nothing to do with this activity. He has been nothing but supportive and for that we both apologize to him.”
The league will take its time to decide on an appropriate punishment and it is expected to deliver its verdict in late March and more developments are expected on the issue in the coming days.
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