New Orleans Saints head coach Sean Payton was suspended for one year after the NFL found that he had been involved in a bounty program.
New Orleans Saints head coach Sean Payton has been suspended for one year after the NFL found that he had been involved in a bounty program. In addition to Payton’s suspension, former defensive coordinator Gregg Williams has been banned indefinitely and assistant head coach Joe Vitt has been suspended for six games. This all stems from the NFL’s investigation into allegations of bounties being placed on players by members of the Saints team. The investigation found that there was indeed a bounty program in place, which led to these suspensions.
The NFL’s investigation started back in 2010 when it was revealed that several players were involved in a bounty program, where they would be paid money if they were able to injure or knock out an opposing player. This scandal came to light after the 2009 NFC Championship game between the New Orleans Saints and Minnesota Vikings, where several players suffered injuries as a result of illegal hits by members of the Saints team.
While there is no proof that any specific player or players received money for injuring another player, there is proof that bounties were placed on other players by certain members of the team. As such, Sean Payton was given his suspension as he is ultimately responsible for everything that happens within his team and Gregg Williams was given an indefinite ban as he organized and ran the bounty program while serving as defensive coordinator.
