Rams defensive coordinator Gregg Williams will meet with officials at the NFL office in New York today to talk about his “pay for play” program that he and players on the New Orleans Saints defense were running for the past three seasons. There is wide spread speculation that Williams could be fined and/or suspended.
The NFL said payoffs were made by the Saints for inflicting game-ending injuries on targeted players, including quarterbacks Brett Favre and Kurt Warner. “Knockouts” were worth $1,500 and “cart-offs” $1,000, with payments doubled or tripled for the playoffs. All payouts for specific performances in a game, including interceptions or causing fumbles, are against NFL rules.
This is nothing new to the NFL. Buddy Ryan, father of New York Jets coach Rex Ryan, was accused of putting bounties on Dallas Cowboys players when he was the head coach of Philadelphia in 1989. Former NFL players also say this sort of bounty business is league wide.