Buffalo Bills Latest Victim in “Bounty Gate”

“Bounty Gate” has claimed another team, this time the Buffalo Bills. Williams was the head coach for the Buffalo Bills between 2001 and 2003 and three different players have spoken up about Williams’ bounty system in Buffalo.  The severity of this program seems to be less than what is run by the Saints.

Cory Wire, a former Bills player says,  “That happened in Buffalo.  There were rewards.  There never was a point where cash was handed out in front of the team.  But surely, you were going to be rewarded.  When somebody made a big hit that hurt an opponent, it was commended and encouraged.”

The system seems to have been run more by the players than by Williams. Wire insisted he never received a bounty reward. He said he didn’t remember how the payment structure was set up or how much cash was doled out for particular hits. The other player who requested anonymity remembered his teammates, more so than Williams’ staff, advocating the system. (from http://www.buffalonews.com/sports/bills-nfl/article747663.ece)

“What the NFL labeled a ‘bounty’ on Friday, I thought that was the norm, so I accepted it. The purpose was to maximize our potential, to get us to be hungry, to get us to perform to the best of our abilities.”

But, Wire said, he thinks a line was crossed, though he didn’t realize it until Williams was fired and the environment changed at One Bills Drive. Wire said there was no such bounty system under subsequent head coaches Mike Mularkey or Dick Jauron or with the Atlanta Falcons, the team Wire joined in 2008.

“What Williams did was wrong, and I know that now,” Wire said. “My sense of normalcy was warped. I thought what I was doing was right.”

The Bills are not expected to receive any sort of penalty  as of today, though Williams could receive a suspension and Saints head coach and general manager could both be fined. It’s also possible that the Saints could lose a draft pick.

This is not really the kind of publicity the Buffalo Bills need entering Free Agency, hopefully the Bills can turn it around with their large cap space and make a play for a major difference maker, something the team has been missing for a long time.

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