Greg Williams Bounty Audio

This is audio of a 4 minute greg williams meeting with the saints defense, really disgusting, shouldn't be allowed to coach again, i said above i thought they were targeting gore and i was right, very dirty coach

http://theusof.com/

OK, as a coach and ex-player, I'm not condoning deliberate targeting of known physical weaknesses, and I'm no fan of Williams at all, but this doesn't incriminate him as anything other than a coach who wants his D to play hard and tough. The language is too raw for a coach of standing, but industrial language ain't new. I don't like the idea of mentioning specific injuries in this way, but other than that and the language, he's just talking about playing tough and putting fear into the opposition. That's what football is about. It certainly doesn't sound like he's paying his players to hurt people, just encouraging them to take advantages of weaknesses.

Maybe its the way its edited, and it is wrong in a number of ways, but its certainly not criminally incriminating, and referring to is as 'bounty audio' is misleading.

I don't like Williams, I don't like his style of play and I don't think he ever got the results that made him deserving of the previous regard he was held in. But this audio isn't much different to how I expect many other defensive meetings sound.

but to mention acl's, hitting alex smiths head everytime in the pile, kyle williams concussion history, vernon davis's ankles, im not sure that every coach talks like that and mentions past injury history and how to target them, and if reports are accurate he made cash signals with his hand to show the bounty throught the meeting

Yeah they do, hell I play rugby, if I say a guy has strapping on his leg, you're going to think if I put in a hard tackle on his legs, he could be out of the game.

ive only ever played football at a decent level, so maybe that happens in rugby and american football. I still think its wrong to encourage harm on someone, im fine with things ive been told by football coaches like 'let him know you are there' or 'take the man too' but thats too far, especially the encouragement of concussions, there have been so many lives ruined by the effects of them.

niners at saints is going to be a hell of a game though, niners played great D last time but this will be added incentive

It wasn't something the coaches would say, they would preach putting guys on their ass and big hits put if you see a guy with strapping or carrying a knock you subconciously think if I hit him there he probably won't come back. I suppose tackling in rugby/American football is different though.

I suppose the speeds of the games are so different that tackling in both require different skills, don't know as much about rugby but i'd imagine by and large the players aren't as fast or powerful

Ooooh, try saying that too a prop or a winger It's an entirely different skillset really. American Football is more about explosiveness and speed. Rugby needs you to be on your game for 80 minutes, it's similar in some respects. I think it would be easier to transition from rugby to football though. They tried recruiting some college receivers for the US 7s rugby team (shorter game of rugby only 20 minutes long, played with 7 people on each team at an incredibly fast pace) and they were panned after 4 minutes. Rugby players would have the fitness to channel into specific moments.

niner wrote:ive only ever played football at a decent level, so maybe that happens in rugby and american football. I still think its wrong to encourage harm on someone, im fine with things ive been told by football coaches like 'let him know you are there' or 'take the man too' but thats too far, especially the encouragement of concussions, there have been so many lives ruined by the effects of them.

I only played 6-a-side but as a defender who is quite bigger than the average attacking player I go into every game with the intention of making my presence felt by making sure the other guy comes out of our first collision hesistant to come back my way at the same speed. And by collision I mean going to shoulder to shoulder or block tackling and giving him a bit more than he's happy to take or give himself.

But having said that I would never go out to hurt someone or attack a certain body part. Just shake them up a little or if I know they have a temper get them angry.

Been playing that way for 3 years, only been booked four times.

Jay, is on the right track really, you don't go out thinking, this fella is good I want to break his leg, you think this guys good, I want to show I'm not intimidated by him and put in a big challenge if it's in soccer, GAA, rugby whatever.

i agree, i actually have been gutted in the past when ive injured people by accident, can't imagine actually going out my way to do it.

my knowledge of rugby is pretty poor, i found out a little more when i tried to get my dad into the NFL, i showed him calvin johnson and explained that he was 6'5, 230 but still had sprinters speed and he looked unimpressed and said 'go look up jonah lomu on youtube'

Lomu was essentially a bigger but slowe version of Calvin Johnson. Lomu obviously never did a 40 yard dash but had a 10.8 100 m time. Johnson reportedly ran a 10.23 time. Lomu is 30 pounds heavier though and when you consider that people think Megatron's speed is amazing, Lomu's is pretty phenomenal. When you consider that Lomu did this with serious kidney problems it makes him seem greater. Lomu wouldn't have been a receiver though. He might have been a tight end but he definitely would have been an amazing power back. Most power backs aren't that fast but Lomu would have blown them away!


I think there was a rumour that in his heyday, the Cowboys tried to sign him.

seems as though he had all the measureables to make the transition

i might try and get into rugby a bit too at some point, after all i thought american football was boring until about 5 or 6 years ago and i wasn't a big fan of basketball until 3 or 4 years ago when i saw an allen iverson dvd

we should have a 606 v2 40 yard dash competition where we can send in videos of our attempts. I think im pretty fast but considering some explosive nfl players run in the 4.6's, i'd be hoping to be in the 4.7's

A lot of former players on the radio are upset with Williams. Many of them are actually more upset about him telling his players to take out knees than head shots because while a head shot can have long-term health implications down the road, a blown out knee can end a career here and now.

I wouldn't be surprised if Williams never makes it back into the NFL.

I think this has gone off track, and what I wrote was in response to the title and the first post.

Any coach will tell players to look for weakness in the opposition, especially the pro's where a lot of money is on the line for winning. The audio I heard sounds a bit over the line, but nothing more than that. And I am only commenting on the audio. I do not condone attacking players injuries with a view to deliberately hurting them, but understand something. If a player steps on the field he is ready to play and knows the risks he is taking. A player with a bad knee or ankle is going to put strain on that anyway, and if a defender believes he can stop the guy or break a tackle by hitting that part of his body, then he's entitled to take advantage.

It doesn't mean that they should be deliberately targeted as part of the play or when the play is over (or virtually over in the pile).

I don't coach to hurt people, but I coach players to do their assignment and attack the play. If a guy gets hurt its a by-product of the sport and that's how it should stay. Playing to hurt someone is wrong, but playing to make them feel it and maybe shy away next time is part of the game.

Some of what he said about Smith's concussions is borderline, and maybe over it, but this audio is no in itself incriminating of a dirty coach. He doesn't talk about money, he doesn't talk about rewarding anyone for hurting the opposition, he just points out weaknesses.

Like I said I don't like Williams, and if he did pay players to hurt others, as it seems, he deserves to be out of football. Period. All I'm saying is that this audio is not evidence of wrongdoing in and of itself.