There’s been a report that the Saints had a $10,000 bounty on knocking Vikings quarterback Brett Favre out of the NFC Championship Game in 2010, but a starter for that team calls that and other allegations that there were rewards for defenders for causing injuries “ridiculous.”
Darren Sharper spoke to NFL.com and flatly denied that there were cash payments offered in the Saints’ locker room to players who injured members of other teams. Sharper did admit that cash was changing hands among members of the Saints defense, but that they were limited to interceptions, sacks and other legal plays and that practices of that kind go on around the NFL.
“I think this is something that, from when I got in the league in 1997, has happened thousands and thousands of times over,” Sharper said. “It’s ridiculous that someone is trying to say that we made bounties on knocking guys out, when basically all it was is that when a guy gets an interception, then he might get paid. That’s something that guys do amongst themselves.”
This probably won’t be the last we hear from other former Saints and players from around the league who have played for Gregg Williams. Retired offensive tackle Damien Woody, who never played for Williams, said on Twitter that bounty programs “happen all over the league.” The big difference is that the Saints got nabbed by the league for this one.