One of the biggest stories in the news on Wednesday was the NFL's punishment on the New Orleans Saints and all those involved in the paying of bounties. The Saints' head coach, Sean Payton, was suspended for a year without pay. The Saints lose a second-round draft pick this year and in 2013. Former defensive coordinator Gregg Williams, since hired by the St. Louis Rams, was suspended indefinitely -- at least for a year.
Williams had these sort of programs in which players were paid money as a motivation to knock opposing players out of the game.
Former Arizona State Sun Devil Adam Archuleta was on the Burns and Gambo show on Arizona Sports 620 on Wednesday and talked about how it was when he played under Williams on the Washington Redskins.
Archuleta didn't think anything of these bonuses and said that they were common throughout the league. However, Washington was different. It was much more organized than the culture of players putting in money for big plays.
"It was actually organized and done by Gregg, and it was more for the entire defense," Archuleta said, "and one of the things that was on there was 'knockout hits' or knocking somebody out of the game."
This is where the problem was. The coach had a very organized system.
He even got paid on a hit with former ASU teammate and current Arizona Cardinals player Todd Heap.
This is why the NFL came down so hard on the Saints -- it is an important statement to the players and coaches of the league.
Wouldn't you?