Another day, another awakening accusation regarding the Saints bounty program. This time, the alleged victim is Panthers wide receiver Steve Smith. During an interview with Dave Dameshek of NFL.com, Smith said he has always known about Gregg Williams’ bounty programs and that a Saints player once admitted to targeting him during a game.
“I actually had an altercation with a guy who told me firsthand,” Smith explained without naming the player. “I was going out of bounds, and the guy went for my ankle. I said, ‘Hey, man, cut that out.’ He’s like, ‘Well, we get fined if we don’t go after your legs when you go out of bounds.’ … And actually this past year, this last game when we played them, I had a little conversation with Gregg Williams. … He took responsibility, he was saying it wasn’t right, but that’s who he was.”
This sounds like more of the same, but it’s interesting that Smith said the player claimed he would be fined if he didn’t go for his legs out of bounds. To this point, most of what we heard centers on being paid for “kill shots” and injuring an opponent. We haven’t heard anything about being fined if you don’t try to injure an opponent. That certainly wouldn’t shock anyone, but it would add another disturbing element to the storyline.
H/T to NFL.com’s Around the League
Photo credit: Chuck Cook-US PRESSWIRE
