Eli Manning on bounties: ‘That’s not what this game is about’

The response to the Saints bounty program controversy has differed. Many NFL players have said bounties are part of football. Others are outraged because they feel the bounties led to their players getting injured. Offensive players seem to be more upset with the bounties while defensive players don’t see the issue. Eli Manning belongs to the first group.

“It’s not good for football. We can’t have that be a part of this sport,” he told WABC. “It’s already a physical sport, but you have to play within the rules and you never want to see a guy or a team go out there and try to hurt someone else. Injuries are a part of football, but you try to eliminate them as much as you can.

Manning made similar comments to the New York Post, saying “When you start talking about injuring a guy and carting him off and trying to end his season or career, that’s not what this game is about. I think we should have more respect for the game than that. It can’t be a part of football.”

NFL players are either being hit or doing the hitting. The guys who get hit want protecting and a crackdown while the guys delivering the hits don’t want anything more taken away from them. But like Eli says, trying to injure opponents and get them carted off is not what football is about.