NFL: Before final game, Gregg Williams urged Saints to injure 49ers

[mdrake34]

Yeah, I know, ANOTHER freakin' thread on this. But this is the best evidence yet, and if for nothing other than the lulz I want our resident paranoid, delusional schizophrenic to attempt to deflect it.

http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/201...ure-49ers/
Before his final game as defensive coordinator of the New Orleans Saints, Gregg Williams stepped before his players and urged them to physically hurt players on the 49ers.

Audio of Williams’ speech to the Saints’ defense was captured by filmmaker Sean Pamphilon, who is working on a documentary about former Saints player Steve Gleason, who is suffering from ALS. Pamphilon has put part of the audio of the profanity-filled speech on YouTube.

Pamphilon also passed on the audio to Michael Silver of Yahoo Sports because, he said, he was extremely uncomfortable with what Williams said about trying to hurt 49ers quarterback Alex Smith and other players. Williams, who masterminded the Saints’ bounty program, hinted that he would financially reward a Saints player who hurts a 49ers player.

“At one point Williams says, ‘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,’” Pamphilon told Silver.

Williams has long loved the phrase, “Kill the head and the body will die,” and he used that phrase in talking to his players. He also specifically told them to go for the head of 49ers running back Frank Gore.

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

Williams also talked about trying to inflict a knee injury on 49ers receiver Michael Crabtree and referenced 49ers receiver Kyle Williams, who has had multiple concussions.

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

Gregg Williams has already been indefinitely suspended by NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell. This audio may make it difficult for Williams ever to get reinstated. This is the smoking gun that makes crystal clear that Williams wanted his players not just to play tough, physical defense, but to injure their opponents.

[AsylumGuido]

I hope that the league didn't already have this tape. Not only would it permanently spell an end to Gregg Wiliams' career, but it could lead to possible reductions to Payton's suspension and whatever punishment is laid down upon the players. The following portion of the tape and Pamphilon's narrative are just as important as the highlighted statements that are being promoted in the press right now.

Pamphilon emphasized that Saints coach Sean Payton and general manager Mickey Loomis were not in the room when Williams delivered his speech. (The filmmaker explained the jumps in the audio posted on his website thusly: “I was shooting off and on with two different cameras. I gave up every single word I shot him saying – in order – and if Gregg Williams wants an independent audio specialist to examine my files, I am cool with that.”)

Based on his time around the team and conversations with numerous players, Pamphilon said he believes Williams’ words carried tremendous weight with his players.

“During my time with the team, numerous sources told me that Williams used to go around bragging that he had a ‘[expletive] you’ clause in his contract – that he could basically do whatever he wanted in terms of running the defense, with complete autonomy,” Pamphilon said. “The message was clear: ‘I’m running [expletive]. If you don’t do it my way, you’ll be gone.’ ”

Pamphilon, who watched the Saints-49ers game from the New Orleans sidelines, said he doesn’t believe Williams’ speech translated into any actual harm to San Francisco players.

“I was two feet behind the Saints’ bench,” he said, “and it looked like they were trying to kill each other every play. But I’ve watched about 15 NFL games from the sidelines, and I didn’t see anything different in that game than I’ve seen in any other football game. To me, they’re all trying to separate guys from the ball and all trying to get big hits that land them on ‘SportsCenter’ – on every play.”

[AsylumGuido]

It appears that I'm not the only one who feels that this tape will benefit Payton, Loomis and the Saints players. The following is from the Atlanta Falcons' blogger, Dave Choate:

Gregg Williams Audio Surfaces, And It's A Doozy


The fact that he appears to be either a master of hyperbolic rhetoric or a gray-haired psychopath is also deeply unsettling. Knowing he's not alone in his attitude—Pamphilon references two Giants players who talked about knocking out Kyle Williams, the 49ers special teamer with concussion issues—actually makes me a bit less cynical about Roger Goodell's safety efforts here. Whether he's doing this for the right reasons (player safety) or the wrong reasons (to protect the shield), there's an ugly undercurrent to the sport that it's in the best interest of the commissioner, the owners, the players and the fans to erase. It's already a violent, hard-hitting sport, which is a big part of its appeal.

It doesn't need Williams and people like him urging players to end each other's careers, and it's rapidly becoming clear that Williams was one of the worst offenders the NFL had to offer. I would be amazed if he hasn't called for his last concussion in this league.

I think Sean Payton, Mickey Loomis and the Saints players will be able to appeal and potentially get their sentences reduced, because it will be harder to prove their involvement and the punishments were and will be heavy. The Saints will move on because they still have a good football team and a rabid fanbase that admirably supports them through rough times and not-so-admirably refusing to see what the team has done wrong. Within a year or two, it will be business as usual in New Orleans with a couple of changes, and that's as it should be.

I don't think there's any such hope for Gregg Williams.

[mdrake34]

LMAO. So because those two weren't in the room when this speech was given, they're exonerated? And BTW, this is irrefutable proof that the bounty system went on this past season, despite your claims otherwise.

[FullMetalFalcon23]

Basically so long as it fucks ~Williams and Not Payton and Loomis he couldn't give a shit. what you fail to realise is this happened on there watch. There is already the information on 5,000 on Rogers email from Payton. As well as the admission that it was going on on their watch. 3 fucking years. You trying to absolve them of their responsibility is as ludicrous as Brees claiming he did not know. Come on man the ignorance of this is beyond reasonable.

Personally I think the punishment on the mainstays in the saints organisation needs to be harsher, as all that has happened is the Saints have offloaded the tainted players, or will offload them and are taking in new ones. Meanwhile the Rams have been fucked over by Williams what about them? and the Saints fans have the unmitigated gaul to act as though their franchise is being victimised. Or that their should be some sort of pardon because its the saints.

[AsylumGuido]

(04-05-2012 10:45 AM)mdrake34 Wrote:  LMAO. So because those two weren't in the room when this speech was given, they're exonerated? And BTW, this is irrefutable proof that the bounty system went on this past season, despite your claims otherwise.

My claims have been that there was no proof, not that there were never any bounties. What this does do is imply that there was a bounty on Alex Smith when Williams said to hit him here while pointing to his chin and rubbing his forefinger and thumb together.

And no, it isn't the fact that Payton or Loomis were not in the room that could aid them, it is the fact that Williams boasts of being autonomous and having a "fuck you" clause in his contract. This implies that even if instructed, and even ordered, to stop any bounty program Williams could have easily ignored it and continued on his own.

[AsylumGuido]

As for all of this not being so out of the ordinary in the NFL, the following tweets are from the past few minutes:

Rachel Nichols ‏ @Rachel__Nichols

Not sure which is more revealing - this graphic story by @MikeSilver on Gregg Williams & the Saints http://yhoo.it/HfZqCc ...

...Or the subsequent comments from NFL players about how common speeches like this are

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Mike Greenberg ‏ @Espngreeny


Greg Williams may sound bad to normal folks,but I don't think there are too many NFL players who find it shocking.This is the way they talk.

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tim hasselbeck ‏ @tthasselbeck

in light the the gregg williams audio. i don't think i was ever on a team where a coach didn't mention an opposing players injury. #reality

speeches like that can be heard across the league. sounds brutal outside the boundaries of a teams facility, but it's the standard.

if a corner has a hamstring injury you make him run. test him early & then test him again after the half...no different w/ other injuries.

if he had a concussion you want to see how willing he is to tackle your rb. that's how it works. sounds harsh but it's part of strategy.

@SI_JimTrotter $ & acl comment not standard.but not totally uncommon. the other aspects of that speech are the standard across the league.

never said it was ok. said never on a team that didn't talk about opponent injuries.head,ribs,hamstring..why were we being told about them?

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[dmo_dlo]

(04-05-2012 10:53 AM)AsylumGuido Wrote:  What this does do is imply that there was a bounty on Alex Smith when Williams said to hit him here while pointing to his chin and rubbing his forefinger and thumb together.

Then what does "put me down for 5000 on Rodgers" imply in your homer opinion?

[AsylumGuido]

(04-05-2012 11:07 AM)dmo_dlo Wrote:  Then what does "put me down for 5000 on Rodgers" imply in your homer opinion?

I have heard that that was in a P.S. in an email to Sean Payton. While that appears to be referencing a bounty it isn't as damning as Williams 'saying' it on a tape and on film.

[ATLBound]

(04-05-2012 11:13 AM)AsylumGuido Wrote:  I have heard that that was in a P.S. in an email to Sean Payton. While that appears to be referencing a bounty it isn't as damning as Williams 'saying' it on a tape and on film.

What are you talking about? Payton confirmed that "P.S" was in reference to a bounty. We've had this discussion before.

Payton knows he is guilty so lets stop acting like he isn't along with the rest of them. Him trying to get the punishment reduced is one thing. Him being absolved of the whole situation is another. Yeesh!