Most of us will agree that football is a violent sport to begin with. Professionals in the NFL can end up with endless injuries from brain damage to torn ACLs to career-ending injuries. If you have read some of my past posts, from Thank You Teddy Roosevelt!, some 18 players even died playing football in 1905 back when the sport was first starting. However, now a new aspect has been introduced to the game to make it even more violent: cash rewards for giving an opposing player an injury. Coach Gregg Williams, defensive coach of the New Orleans Saints, has been offering his defensive players cash rewards for injuring opposing players. Sidelining: $1500 and being carried off the field: $1000. And both the head coach and the general manager knew of these dealings. As if that isn't bad enough, Coach Williams used this system on past teams of Washington Redskins and Buffalo Bills. Football players already have enough drive to protect their QB and injury anyone who threatens him, they don't need an added bonus.
The Editorial Board of the Washington Post expresses a strong opinion and does their research to establish credibility. The author believes that the NFL officials need to send Coach Williams and the receivers of his bounties a message with suspensions, fines, and other punishments. The Editorial Board shows this opinion when they write, "The NFL must send a resounding message that there is no place for such savagery even in a violent sport," (Editorial Board 1). Their effective research shows in how they questioned past players from not only the Saints, but also the Redskins and the Bills. They even questioned the head coach and general manager about the bounties. This technique shows the author's credibility of knowing who and what to ask. I have to agree with the Washington Post that these bounties are not necessary and should be punished profoundly.
Source: Editorial Board. "Punish football's bounty hunters." The Washington Post 8 Mar. 2012, sec. Opinion: n. pag. The Washington Post. Web. 11 Mar. 2012.
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