The league constitution specifically forbids payment of bonuses based on performances against an individual player or team, as well as bonuses for on-field misconduct the NFL holds that such practices undermine the integrity of the game, and also would allow teams to use such payments to circumvent the salary cap. The NFL has long frowned upon bounties, or "non-contract bonuses" as it officially calls them but an underground culture of bounties is alleged to exist, with teams, it is claimed, turning a blind eye to the practice. Background Saints defensive coordinator Gregg Williams However, former commissioner Paul Tagliabue overturned all sanctions against the players in December 2012 after finding that despite the players being "very much involved," the coaches and the Saints organization were primarily responsible for the scandal. In May 2012, four current and former Saints players were suspended after being named as ringleaders in the scandal, with linebacker Jonathan Vilma also being suspended for the entire 2012 season. The Saints organization was penalized with a $500,000 fine and forced to forfeit their second-round draft selections in 20. Assistant head coach Joe Vitt was suspended for the first six games of the 2012 season. General manager Mickey Loomis was suspended for the first eight games of the 2012 season-the first time that a general manager was suspended by the league for any reason. Head coach Sean Payton was suspended for the entire 2012 season-the first time since Chuck Fairbanks in 1978 that a head coach had been suspended and the first time a head coach was suspended by the league. Defensive coordinator Gregg Williams was suspended indefinitely, though this would be overturned the following year. League commissioner Roger Goodell responded with some of the most severe sanctions in the league's 92-year history, and among the most severe punishments for in-game misconduct in North American professional sports history. A slush fund for paying the bounties was found to have operated from the 2009 season (the year in which the Saints won Super Bowl XLIV) to the 2011–12 playoffs. ![]() The New Orleans Saints bounty scandal, colloquially known as " Bountygate," was an improper program in which the New Orleans Saints were found by the National Football League (NFL) to have paid out bonuses, or " bounties," to their players for injuring players on opposing teams. Mass suspensions, federal court hearings and litigation ![]() Gregg Williams, Sean Payton, Michael Ornstein, Joe Vitt, 22 to 27 Saints players National Football League scandal (2009-2012) New Orleans Saints bounty scandal Date
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