(Photo: NYDailyNews.com)

The period in question was 2002-2004, and now state and federal officials have opened up a wiretapping investigation on Loomis, to see if he violated any eavesdropping laws in the process.

For their part, and not surprisingly, the Saints vehemently deny these allegations. On Monday, Greg Bensel, Saints VP of Communications, had this to say on behalf of Loomis and the organization:

“This is 1,000 percent false. This is 1,000 percent inaccurate.”

Loomis himself flatly denied to the charges on Tuesday via an email sent out by the team:

“This report on ESPN is absolutely false. I have a monitor in front of me in my booth that provides the league issued stats for the game. I have a small TV with the network broadcast and I have an earpiece to listen to the WWL-AM radio (flagship broadcaster) game broadcast. To think I am sitting in there listening … and or doing something with the offensive and defensive play calls of the opposing teams makes this story and the unnamed sources that provided the false information that much more less credible … it just didn’t happen.”

Regardless of how this all shakes out, another scandal is not a good look for the Saints, whose image is already tarnished by the recent bounty scandal, nor Loomis, who is currently serving out an eight-game suspension for his part in that whole debacle.

Woof.  When it rains it pours in New Orleans (bad Katrina humor not intended).

In it, Silver reveals that defensive coordinator Gregg Williams specifically directed his players to injure members of the 49ers prior to their post-season meeting in January, and made “hand gestures” signalling that he would pay money to whoever took out QB Alex Smith.  

(Photo: Matthew Sharpe/Getty Images via BleacherReport)

Silver got the audio from filmmaker Sean Pamphilon of the United States of Football, who had access to Saints team functions for much of the 2011 season while working on a documentary. The speech in question came during a defensive team meeting the night before the Jan. 15 playoff game, in which Williams delivers a profanity-laced tirade intended to inspire his troops to battle. It would be the Saints last game of the season, and Williams would be fired two days later.

Perhaps most damaging to the Saints cause is the timing of Williams’ speech, which would have come well after the NFL had alerted the Saints that they were looking into the bounty program, and right after the league re-opened the investigation and specifically directed owner Tom Benson and Loomis to put a stop to it. The 49ers game was just two weeks later, and while you can’t actually hear the hand gestures, Pahmphilon says he believes “there’s no doubt at all” that Williams put a bounty on Smith in the meeting. And if that’s the case, it means that Loomis and Payton – who were not present at the meeting – clearly didn’t take enough action in policing their own staff.

UPDATE: The Saints are already trying to paint Williams as a “rogue” coach on his way out the door, who acted in defiance of his superiors. It’s clear that Payton and Loomis are going to set Williams up as the fall guy in an effort to lessen their own punishments, but we’ll see how much water that holds with Roger Goodell.

The relevant audio from Williams speech is below, but here are a few of the more notable gems:

QUOTES AND AUDIO AFTER THE JUMP

ON ALEX SMITH

‘We hit [expletive] Smith right there’ – then he points under his chin [and continues] – ‘remember me.’ Then he rubs his thumb against his index and middle fingers – the cash sign – and says, ‘I got the first one. I got the first one. Go get it. Go lay that [expletive] out.’

ON FRANK GORE

“We’ve got to do everything in the world to make sure we kill Frank Gore’s head,” Williams told the players. “We want him running sideways. We want his head sideways.”

ON KYLE WILLIAMS

“We need to find out in the first two series of the game, the little wide receiver, No. 10, about his concussion,” Williams said to the Saints’ defenders. “We need to [expletive] put a lick on him, move him to decide. He needs to decide.”

ON MICHAEL CRABTREE

“We need to decide whether Crabtree wants to be a fake-ass prima donna or he wants to be a tough guy … We need to find that out, and he becomes human when you (expletive) take out that outside ACL.”

And that, my friends, would appear to be the smoking gun. As we’ve said all along, once all the information comes out, we’ll be shocked if Williams ever coaches again in the NFL.

(WARNING: NSFW FOR LANGUAGE)

Payton was reportedly "stunned" by the news (Photo: SBNation.com)

As if that weren’t enough bad news for New Orleans fans, the Saints were also fined $500,000, and will forfeit their 2nd round picks in 2012 and 2013.  Furthermore, Saints general manager Mickey Loomis has been suspended for eight games, assistant head coach Joe Vitt has been suspended 6 games without pay, and individual player punishments are still forthcoming.  All of the suspensions begin on April 1st except for Williams, whose suspension starts immediately.

You can read the complete release from the NFL here, but we’ll go ahead and highlight the most relevant sections:

“We are all accountable and responsible for player health and safety and the integrity of the game,” Commissioner Goodell said. “We will not tolerate conduct or a culture that undermines those priorities. No one is above the game or the rules that govern it. Respect for the game and the people who participate in it will not be compromised.”

“A combination of elements made this matter particularly unusual and egregious,” Commissioner Goodell continued. “When there is targeting of players for injury and cash rewards over a three-year period, the involvement of the coaching staff, and three years of denials and willful disrespect of the rules, a strong and lasting message must be sent that such conduct is totally unacceptable and has no place in the game.”

It’s definitely a huge blow to a Saints program that has been at the top of the league in recent years, and one has to wonder if it was all worth it – all of this, just to give a little walking around money and bragging rights to a bunch of millionaires for doing what they’re already paid handsomely to do. The Saints clearly crossed the line when they added the layers of “knock outs” and “cart-offs” to the mix, but most high school and college football programs have similar performance-based incentives … they just use stickers instead of money.  Stick to the stickers, guys, and everything will be just fine.

A few other interesting tidbits from the league’s findings:

• The investigation showed bounties being placed on four quarterbacks of opposing teams – Brett Favre, Cam Newton, Aaron Rodgers, and Kurt Warner. 
• Coach Williams acknowledged that he designed and implemented the program with the assistance of certain defensive players. He said that he did so after being told by Saints Head Coach Sean Payton that his assignment was to make the defense “nasty.” 
• Coach Williams described his role as overseeing record keeping, defining payout amounts, deciding on who received payouts, and distributing envelopes with cash to players who “earned” rewards.
• In each of the 2009-2011 seasons, the Saints were one of the top five teams in the league in roughing the passer penalties. In 2009 and 2011, the Saints were also in the top five teams in unnecessary roughness penalties; in 2010, the Saints ranked sixth in the category. 
• In the January 16, 2010 divisional playoff game against the Arizona Cardinals, Saints defensive players were assessed $15,000 in fines for fouls committed against opposing players. The following week, in the NFC Championship Game against the Minnesota Vikings, Saints defensive players were assessed $30,000 in fines for four separate illegal hits, several of which were directed against quarterback Brett Favre.
• Coach Williams now acknowledges that when he was first questioned about this matter in early 2010 he intentionally misled NFL investigators and made no effort to stop the program after he became aware of the league’s investigation.

Mike Golic might have a unique perspective on all this bounty talk

Here’s a fun little trip down memory lane! Back in 1989, the Buddy Ryan-led Philadelphia Eagles played their rival Dallas Cowboys on Thanksgiving Day, in a nationally televised game that would forever come to be known as the “Bounty Bowl“.

In it, Ryan was accused by Dallas head coach Jimmy Johnson of placing a $200 bounty on kicker Luis Zendejas, and a $500 bounty on quarterback Troy Aikman. On the Cowboys’ only kickoff of the game, which Philadelphia won 27-0, Eagles linebacker Jesse Small sprinted straight at Zendejas (who had previously played for Ryan and the Eagles) in an obvious attempt to take him out. Zendejas dove to avoid the hit, but took a knee to the head resulting in a concussion, and setting off a firestorm of controversy.

Despite Johnson’s attempts to challenge Ryan to a fight in an alley, it was all fun and games in the media as Johnson made fun of Ryan’s “big, fat rear end”, who in turn deflected the controversy by making light of his own weight. Ryan also claimed that Zendejas was the one trying to injure Smalls, and wondered aloud “Why would we want to knock out that kicker? He wasn’t making any kicks at the time. We wanted him out there.”

On Monday, Mike Golic – who played for the Eagles in both games - said on ESPN that “there were bounties in that game”. But at the time, commissioner Paul Tagliabue turned the other cheek and exonerated Ryan of any wrongdoing - a claim that Ryan still clings to this day - and pretty much everyone got a big kick out the idea of bounties in football. Two weeks later, the league even promoted the re-match for ratings as “Bounty Bowl II”, which was marketed by CBS with wanted signs and became memorable for the snow/ice balls lobbed onto the field (and at announcers) by the Philadelphia fans.

BOUNTY BOWL VIDEO AFTER THE JUMP

But now, 20+ years later, it seems that the attitudes in NFL locker rooms haven’t changed all that much, with the Saints bounty scandal as the news of the day, and more and more stories coming out about similar pay-for-performance systems being commonplace around the league. And this should come as a surprise to absolutely no one. Now, there’s a big gap between rewarding someone for making an interception or a sack (or even a big hit), and putting a dollar value on injuring a specific player … but at the end of the day, it all stems from the same mentality, and is not a good look for the league as it tries to clean up its image as a violent game.

The biggest difference today is that Roger Goodell certainly isn’t going to look the other way like Tagliabue, and is sure to drop the hammer on the New Orleans Saints and Gregg Williams (and possibly Sean Payton), to make an example out of them.

Interesting side note: Gregg Williams got his NFL coaching start as a member of the Houston Oilers staff in the early ’90s, where he worked under none other than defensive coordinator Buddy Ryan. Hmmmm …

I wonder what the bounty on Larry Johnson was for this game (Photo: one4theotherthumb.com)

Today, the NFL announced that the New Orleans Saints were engaged in a “pay-for-performance” system from 2009-2011, including bounty payments for injuries to opposing players. 

According to a league memo, 22 to 27 Saints players participated in the program that was administered by defensive coordinator Gregg Williams (now with the St. Louis Rams), and with the knowledge of head coach Sean Payton. Apparently, during their recent championship run, the Saints had specific payments of $1,500 for “knockouts” and $1,000″ for “cart-offs”, with escalating payments for playoff games. Sometimes, the incentives for less violent plays like interceptions or touchdowns, but the bounties occasionally came with specific targets attached to them, like Kurt Warner and Brett Favre.

The other big name at the center of all this is linebacker Jonathan Vilma, who reportedly plunked $10,000 on a table prior to the 2009 NFC Championship game versus the Minnesota Vikings, saying “this goes to the guy who knocks out Brett Favre”. 

And while it may not come as a surprise to many in the game that bounties like this still exist, this is going to be an absolute nightmare for the Saints, and particularly Williams, who reportedly ran a similar bounty program during his time the Redskins defensive coordinator, from 2004-2007.  For his part, Williams issued a lame apology, that rings wildly hollow when you realize that Williams has been guilty of this practice for no less than seven years, and probably with every team he’s coache with in the league:

“I want to express my sincere regret and apology to the NFL, Mr. Benson, and the New Orleans Saints fans for my participation in the ‘pay for performance’ program while I was with the Saints,” Williams said. “It was a terrible mistake, and we knew it was wrong while we were doing it. Instead of getting caught up in it, I should have stopped it. I take full responsibility for my role. I am truly sorry. I have learned a hard lesson and I guarantee that I will never participate in or allow this kind of activity to happen again.”

Yeah, good luck with that Gregg. It’s no secret around the league that Williams has had some questionable coaching tactics, and with the league’s increasing effort to decrease injuries in the game, this whole bounty thing isn’t exactly the look Roger Goodell was going for. Knowing Goodell, the hammer is going to come down on both the Saints and Williams, and we wouldn’t be surprised to see Williams suspended for a long time – if not banned from the game for life – to make an example out of him.

One thing’s for sure: this is an unqualified bombshell, on par with the Patriots’ Spygate, and could quickly turn into the story of the NFL’s off-season. Williams has been a coach in the league with no less than six teams over the last twenty years, so look for even more tales of similar pay-for-performance programs to emerge, indicting even more of the NFL’s Boba Fetts.

(Image via Sportsgrid.com)

We’re obviously a little late to the party on this, but the San Francisco 49ers took down the New Orleans Saints 36-32 in the game of the Divisional Playoff weekend, with Alex Smith delivering the game-winning TD to Vernon Davis on what will undoubtedly forever go down in San Francisco sports history as “The Catch III”. 

Both Smith and Davis turned in career-making performances and Smith finally delivered on his #1 pick expectations by out-dueling the NFL’s all-time single season passing leader (Drew Brees) in a game that saw four lead changes in the final 5 minutes! Smith had his NFL bar mitzvah and became a man on Saturday, finishing with 299 yards and 3 TDs passing, 0 INTs and one 28-yard rushing score to pus SF ahead late in the 4th.

For his part, Vernon Davis cemented himself in Niner lore with 7 catches for 180 yards and 2 TDs, including the game winner on a 14-yard strike from Smith with nine seconds remaining. After dominating all day long and when his team needed him most, Davis delivered a huge blow to Saints safety Roman Harper in the endzone and managed to hang onto the ball for the win.

On what was very nearly the 30th anniversary of the original “The Catch” – Dwight Clark‘s infamous touchdown grab in the 1981 NFC Championship game (1/10/82) – Davis’ play more closely resembled “The Catch II” by Terrell Owens in 1999, right down to crying on the shoulder of head coach Jim Harbaugh as he ran to the sideline (pic above).

VIDEO OF ALL THREE 49ERS “CATCHES” AFTER THE JUMP

But after the game, rather than embrace the obvious connection to his predecessors, Davis insisted that his catch go by a different name:

“You’ve got to call it “The Grab,’ ” Davis said of his play. “We were down. I had to make it happen to take my teammates where we want to go.”

“This is huge for us … It’s history, legendary, anything you can describe.”

Yeah … good luck with that, Vern.  It’s “The Catch III”. Get used to it.

The high-powered Saints offense also contributed five turnovers to the Niners’ cause, including 2 Brees interceptions, but give credit where credit is due. Much like their adopted team mascot the honey badger, Jim Harbaugh’s team took what it wanted and proved themselves the better team on this day. The win gives SF their first playoff win in nine years, and they’ll next play host to the New York Giants in Sunday’s NFC Championship game.

Now thanks to the wonders of Youtube, here are all three of the historic 49ers “Catches” in chronological order – Clark>Owens>Davis:

(Image via ninersnation.com)

As the San Francisco 49ers prepare for their upcoming Divisional Playoff showdown with the New Orleans Saints, head coach Jim Harbaugh is using a rather unusual motivational tactic to get his players ready for battle. It seems that the crazy, nastyass Honey Badger has become the unofficial mascot for the Niners during their 13-3, NFC West championship run.

In addition to being the world’s most fearless animal, the Honey Badger is also the subject of a wildly popular (and hilarious) viral video. Apparently, prior to a recent game, Harbaugh spliced the video together with 2011 49ers highlights and showed it to the team. You see, much like their ferocious weasel-esque inspiration, the San Francisco defense “just takes what it wants”, leading to a league-high 35 takeaways this year. And since then, the “honey badger don’t care” mentality has taken over the locker room.

Check out this report from CSNBayArea:

VIDEO AFTER THE JUMP

We can dig it, but the Niners better hope they do better against the Saints than LSU’s Tyrann Mathieu, who had previously adopted the Honey Badger nickname, and got shut down by Alabama in the national championship game on Monday.

It's a good thing we're not the betting type (Image via Reddit.com/r/nfl)

And so it was that bizarro NFL Week 15 ended the quest for both the perfect and winless seasons in 2011.

Packers lose, Colts win. Up is down, in is out, bad is good … except for the Saints crushing the Vikings, not much from the early round of games made sense today.

Let’s see if Tebow can restore some sense of normalcy by pulling out a miraculous win against the Patriots.

UPDATE: Nope. Not only couldn’t Denver summon the late-game magic today in their 41-23 loss, but “Tebow Time” actually came during the first quarter instead of the fourth, with the Broncos scoring on their first three possessions and New England forced to mount the comeback.

Bizarro Sunday remains fully intact.

(AP Photo via MLive.com)

This season, the Detroit Lions have been working hard to change their image from perennial NFC North doormat to the new bad boys of the league. And along the way, part of this new image has included getting busted for dirty play and – as exemplified by Ndamukong Suh – committing all sorts of foolish personal fouls that ultimately hurt the team.

Well, following their week 13 loss at the hands of the Saints, in which Detroit committed 11 penalties for 107 yards, including several critical unsportsmanlike conduct calls, Lions’ veteran center Dominic Raiola had finally seen enough.  Check out this profanity-laced, post-game diatribe from the Lions’ captain, in which he delivers a fairly singular message to his fellow teammates: “Grow the f@#k up!”.

Audio below (Curses are bleeped out, so its relatively SFW):

(Image via Imgur.com)

Packers rookie WR/KR Randall Cobb made a pretty strong impression on his new team last night with this record-tying 108-yard kickoff return in the 3rd quarter, which helped Green Bay on to a thrilling season-opening 42-34 victory over the New Orleans Saints.

The most impressive part of the play came as Cobb crossed the 20 yard line and got seemingly upended by Saints CB Leigh Torrance. Cobb then performed a “barrel roll” maneuver and managed to put down a hand as one of his teammates helped prevent his fall and keep him moving forward.  The 2nd round draft choice then burst from the pack and used his speed to do the rest.

Since the NFL seems determined to have all kickoffs go into the endzone, it’s nice to know that there’s still plenty of young kids with no fear who are willing to eschew taking a knee in favor of taking one to the house.

WATCH THE VIDEO AFTER THE JUMP