Bounty Shots

Wherever and however you are reading this today, thank you making the Gray Area Matters part of your day. This “Bounty” ordeal is getting way, way out of hand. By now most of you have heard about the Saints former defensive coordinator (now with the Rams) Gregg Williams placing bounties on star players. This broke on Friday and was an official NFL report. This is a huge deal because the year the Saints one the Super Bowl they knocked Kurt Warner (Cardinals) and Brett Favre (Vikings) out of the game. It is my opinion that any person with experience playing team sports wants to win. No one wants to permanently injure another player. However, knock them out of a game? Yes. You play harder when you are going against the best. Every person elevates their game when the stakes are at their highest. As I often quote, Herm Edwards said, “You play to win the game.”  

If that means you hit the best player a little harder, so be it. You want to slow them down any way you can. Those who say this is poor sportsmanship are the ones who crumble when the game is on the line. As a hockey player, I know people are going to take shots at me because I am good player, so I prepare for it. You prepare mentally and physically all week for your next opponent. Brett Favre doesn’t have a problem with it because he knows that is how the game is played. You don’t think every top player expect to get everyone’s best shot? They do. Example: my man, Sidney Crosby, comes back from almost a year off the ice and David Krejci goes right at him and nails him. This tested Sidney, and in this case, he was injured unfortunately. Ok, maybe that was a bad example. 

The point is that top players are going to be hit harder and tested more because they are the best. It is never going to stop. Let me be clear I am not for placing a “bounty” as in cash for knocking a player out. Incentives like sacks, touchdowns, goals, homeruns, etc. are acceptable.  Basically, I am ok with top players being pressed harder because it comes with the territory. If you have got a problem with it, run to a lesser league, for example Russia, like some NHL players (Radulov) or retire (Kurt Warner). 

My final thought for this whole “Bounty” shot idea is this. Trusts that 99% of all players do not want to hit someone and cause a long-term injury.  Money being passed for knocking players out of games is bad; no one will deny that. The professional leagues will monitor and take precautions to ensure player safety is the best it can be. Trust that the leagues and players will do the right thing with these sorts of situations. As always, thank you for making this blog of your day. Please be sure to follow me on twitter @chrisgrayarea and like the Chris Gray Area on Facebook.