New Orleans Saints QB Drew Brees had no idea of bounty system - NFL News
22 to 27 players of the New Orleans Saints were involved in a bounty scandal that was used to encourage players to injure opposition players, quarterback Drew Brees, though was not one of them.
The bounty scandal involved only the defensive unit of the franchise and the team’s management while the offensive line and team owner Tom Benson were kept in the dark about the illegal activities.
The quarterback like others across the game were shocked at the revelations in a recent National Football League (NFL) investigative report and in an interview to
Fox Sports Radio the quarterback revealed his shock at the accusations.
Speaking with the station on Friday, Brees said.
"For all us it was a big shock especially as all this was coming out -- all of us were kind of looking at each other like, ‘Was this stuff really going on right under our noses and all of us had no idea?’... I think the perception might be different from
the reality in certain cases with this thing, because it sure has been painted that we’re all guilty and we’ve all been doing these heinous things."
The Saints were found to be running the illegal program introduced by defensive coordinator, Gregg Williams, with players being paid $ 1,000 to $ 1,500 for injuring and knocking out targeted opposition players.
The most serious accusations are against defensive line captain, Jonathan Vilma, who is alleged to have offered $ 10,000 during the 2009 National Football Conference (NFC) Championship game against Minnesota Vikings.
Vilma offered the amount to any player who knocked out the then Vikings quarterback Brett Favre and the Saints were panned throughout the league after the game for putting in some crunching tackles on the veteran who limped off during the game.
Saints head coach, Sean Payton, and general manager, Mickey Loomis, also knew about the program but chose to ignore it.
Brees though is disappointed that the Saints had been found guilty of running the illegal program and said that.
“Well, obviously the whole bounty situation is disappointing for all of us, just because for me, I really had no idea what was going on...”
The NFL is likely to announce severe punishments on the franchise and the people involved during this month.
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