Friday, the NFL and commissioner Roger Goodell released a statement revealing an investigation looking into the allegations that the New Orleans Saints had a bounty program in place for their players. Adam Schefter was one of the first to break the story via his twitter page.
According to The Big Lead, the program was initially implemented back in 2010 to target players such as Brett Favre and Kurt Warner. Furthermore according to Bob Glauber, Saints GM Mickey Loomis was told to halt the bounty program by Saints owner Tom Benson but failed to do so.
The NFL reportedly reviewed 18,000 documents stemming all the way back to 2010 which revealed that the program was administered by defensive coordinator Gregg Williams (now with the St. Louis Rams) and was made well aware of to the rest of the Saints’ coaches.
Williams has since issued an apology for his involvement in the program.
“I want to express my sincere regret and apology to the NFL, Mr. Benson and the Saints fans for my participation in the ‘pay for performance’ program while I was with the Saints. It was a terrible mistake, and we knew it was wrong while we were doing it.”
It what is seen as the biggest institutional problem since Spygate, Roger Goodell is expected to hand down very heavy penalties which could include fines, loss of draft picks and heavy suspensions. Back in 2007 when the punishments were handed down for Spygate, Bill Billichick was given a $500,000 fine and the Patriots lost their first round draft pick in 2008.
The Saints do not possess a first rounder in 2012.
Ref: The Big Lead, ESPN.com, Twitter