Anthony Hargrove denies voice on videotape was his

Posted by Darin Gantt on June 19, 2012, 3:39 PM EDT
AP

Anthony Hargrove continued in a long line of Saints and their associates poking holes in the NFL’s bounty evidence.

Hargrove said Tuesday that one of the statements attributed to him wasn’t his voice, according to ESPN’s Adam Schefter.

CBS Sports’ Jason LaCanfora obtained a copy of Hargove’s statement, which can be read here, where Hargrove says “I have felt like the target of a sophisticated mugging.”

Players and reporters were shown a video presentation Monday, which included what they were told was Hargrove saying “Hey, Bobby, give me the money!” to teammate Bobby McCray after they were told Brett Favre was injured and would have to be replaced.

He’s just the latest in a line of denials, including Mike Ornstein denying he told the NFL that Jonathan Vilma offered $10,000 to anyone who knocked Brett Favre out of the NFC Championship Game, and Joe Vitt’s attorney saying the assistant coach was never accused of putting money into a bounty fund, even though the league released evidence saying he had.

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27 responses to “Anthony Hargrove denies voice on videotape was his”

  1. If this is true the NFL will look pretty stupid. If not, the players should be banned from the league for this.

    It will be hard to prove either way.

  7. Why didn’t Hargrove go to the hearing before the suspension was handed down?

    Something or someone either showed or told that the NFL that Hargrove did these things. Why didn’t he defend himself. Why are we hearing all of this after the fact?

  8. The Saints players are treating this as if it were a criminal trial and that the burden of proof falls on the NFL. This is not the case. As unfair as it may be, the Commissioner has absolute unchecked power to make the decisions he already made.

    This case is already in the appellate stages, and the benefit of assumption is with the NFL. It is on the players to prove their claims.

  9. At first blush – I was following the statement on a message board and only getting snippets from someone essentially live blogging the event – I thought maybe Hargrove was trying to lay groundwork for another defamation suit. After reading the whole statement La Canfora posted, I think this is just more of a denial of NFL evidence while trying to drum up support from fans, media and players.

  11. Wait a minute; when SI first reported the voice was caught on tape Hargrove claimed his statement was being misunderstood. Now it’s not his voice? So which is it?

    Denials is nothing close to poking holes in the NFL’s bounty evidence. Was OJ poking holes in his prosecutor’s case with his denials??

  12. True or not true..if this was a case presented to a federal judge by the prosecution, the judge would throw the case out due to the sloppy handling of it..all this stuff going on in the media is only strengthening Vilma’s defamation lawsuit against Goodell in court

  13. It’s a pretty good read. And hey, if it’s not his voice and he’s one of the guys getting the hammer dropped on his head… I mean, come on, Roger. You gotta work a little harder than that.

    Concussion lawsuits. Concussion lawsuits. Concussion lawsuits.

    What this has been, and will continue to be, about.

  14. This is great, the players, coaches, and their alleged witnesses are denying the NFL’s mugging. This evidence in a courtroom is gonna be so much fun to watch. Get your popcorn boys and girls, this show has just started. Goddell may have bitten off far more than he than he bargained for. Y’all can stick your heads in the sand all you want, but this bounty situation will be settled in a court of law, much to the dismay of Roger Goddell and the NFL.

  16. 1. Sorry guys, D Smith sold you out for a few bucks. You are employed in a business governed by a CBA which pretty much give Goodell ultimate power to rule on disciplinary matters. You made the bed, now you are sleeping in it. The only person who you should be crying to is D Smith.

    2. You Saints players and coaches KNOW you did things wrong. And the league KNOWS you did things wrong even after they asked you to knock it off. You can scream and deny all you want. This is not a criminal court when you need to be guilty beyond a reasonable doubt. Goodell has seen enough evidence to know that this stuff went on.

  17. I’m stunned at how many of you believe that a contract or CBA can supersede and violate State and Federal laws in regards to employee rights.

    I’m stunned that many of you believe that an employer can suspend you and take 1/2 of your pay without providing any evidence to justify it.

    I’m stunned that I’m actually siding with the players over the Commissioner on this issue.

  18. The only thing worse about this event is the guys denying it. If it never happened then I sincerely apologize to the accused, but if it did and they denied it then I hope they are banned from the NFL for life.

  19. darthvincent says:Jun 19, 2012 4:24 PM

    I’m stunned at how many of you believe that a contract or CBA can supersede and violate State and Federal laws in regards to employee rights.

    I’m stunned that many of you believe that an employer can suspend you and take 1/2 of your pay without providing any evidence to justify it.

    I’m stunned that I’m actually siding with the players over the Commissioner on this issue.
    __________________________________
    Wrong, please try again. They collectively bargained their agreement, so anything in the agreet, which includes these provisions, is fair game. The players wanna blame someone, they should start by looking in the mirror, but of course $$$ trumps all and thats all the players cared about in the CBA talks.

  20. You would think that they could have Hargrove speak the same words into a microphone/computer and then compare them to what is being said on the video. Don’t know why a voice analysis isn’t being done.

  21. No one has denied that there was a pay for performance system, they have addmitted to that. The issue is that the NFL is trying to cover their butt in the pending lawsuits and make this into something that it isn’t so that they can say that player safety is their primary concern. There is absolutely no evidence to support a pay for injury or bounty system. Sure the NFL has pieced it together to appear that there was but it is all taken out of context and twisted to fit goodell’s needs.

  22. Hargrove was not involved in the play in which Vitt is talking about, so why would he say “Give me my money”? If you listen to the audio carefully you can tell Hargrove says “Bobby” and someone else says “Give me my money”. Ayodele and McCray were the ones that sacked Favre on the play in question, so maybe one of them said it. Either way, it’s just more proof of the sloppy job the NFL has done investigating this story.

  23. So why doesnt Hargrove just say who said it if he wasnt the one or the alleged player just man up? You know why…because it would mean there was a bounty. Next we will hear from the players or Saint fans that it was added to the audio and never really was said.

  25. Yeah it was probably Drew Brees. He seems to have the biggest blabber mouth on the Saints. Now go back to clubbing baby seals Hargrove.

  26. I agree with sdave1971. I don’t think it was Hargrove either. And I’m a diehard Favre fan.

    Like he said, why would Hargrove ask McCray for the money, when McCray wasn’t one of those offering the money. Will Smith, who Remi Ayodele was sitting next to, was. And Remi was one of those who was involved in the play that hurt Favre’s ankle.

    Mary Jo White said they believed it was Hargrove because you could see his lips moving, but you could only see him wink and say “Bobby”. I really do think it was Ayodele who said it.

    I do think Hargrove knew about the bounty, otherwise he wouldn’t have played dumb like his coaches asked him to, but I don’t think he asked for the money.

    As for why he’s not saying who said it, I think he doesn’t want to be a whistleblower and rat out a teammate. If he did that, his current teammates wouldn’t trust him at all. imo

  27. I find it funny that he is not actually denying that it wasn’t said, just that it wasn’t him and he keeps asking where’s the proof too about the bounties but not that it didn’t happen.

    On a side note…how did some of these guys make it through college with the way they are interviewed..dang I’m a niner fan thru and thru but him and Gore crack me up when they speak…lol

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