Penalties not harsh enough for players involved in 'bounty' program

By now we all know the discipline handed down to the players involved in the New Orleans Saints 'bounty' quicker picker upper scandal. (A gate is an opening that separates one area from another when closed, not something to be thrown on the end of a news scandal story just because Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein once did it)

Hawthorne to New Orleans

by Ryan Ebert

Seahawks loses linebacker David Hawthorne to the Saints after Hawthorne signs a 5-year contract with New Orleans.  Terms of the contract were not disclosed.  Last year Hawthorne put up 115 tackles, 2 sacks, 1 fumble recovery, and picked off 3 passes returning 1 for a touchdown.  The 26 year old linebacker undrafted out of TCU will join newly signed Curtis Lofton who came over from Atlanta in the Saints linebacker corps who will most likely be losing Jonathan Vilma because of suspension, year left on contract and other reasons.  Hawthorne led the Seahawks defense to be the ninth best defense in the league allowing 332.2 yards per game, and the team was 11th in pass defense with 219.9 pass yards per game allowed and was 15th in rush defense with 112.3 yards per game allowed.

Erasing a Legacy

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News broke today of the New Orleans Saints "Pay for Performance" program which offered players extra money for their onfield production on defense for such actions as sacks, interceptions, and number of tackles.  While that alone violated league policy involving player incentives, this program also rewarded players with cash bonuses for injuring opposing players.  If that sounds unethical and immoral, that's because it is.