One of the alarming details from the Saints bounty program that got Jonathan Vilma into trouble involves Kurt Warner. The NFL says their investigation revealed that Vilma, who has been suspended for the entire 2012 season, pledged $10,000 to any teammate who knocked Warner out during a 2009 playoff game between the Cardinals and the Saints. During an appearance on the Dan Patrick Show Thursday, Warner said he felt as though he took some high hits during the 2009 playoffs, but not from the Saints.
“There was actually a game, it might have even been the week earlier, against the Packers where I really felt like I was getting a lot of hits to the head,” Warner said. “That’s just one game that I remember and it might have just been my thought process, but I felt like there were a lot of shots going toward my head in that game.
“I played in a lot of games where (teams) were really trying to take me out. When I went back and looked at that game (against the Saints) … I don’t ever remember thinking it was anything more than a tough playoff game. I don’t remember anything that was beyond the whistle. Even the big hit was legal.”
The “big hit” that Warner is referring to was one he took after throwing an interception against the Saints in the divisional round of the playoffs in 2009. He says the NFL did not ask him about that game and that he is “surprised” by the length of Vilma’s suspension.
Warner’s point was not to say the NFL should look into a possible Packers bounty program, but rather that quarterbacks are targeted all the time. From Warner’s perspective, the way he was being hit by the Saints is not much different from the way other NFL teams hit him throughout his career.
H/T Pro Football Talk
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