Nov

21

NFL Should Leave Packers and Their “Bounty” Awards Alone

Posted by Matt Loede under Green Bay Packers 

Looking to hurt Peterson?  

The NFL is looking into a story that the Packers are offering payments to players on their defensive line for keeping players and teams under certain numbers. For example, the D-line was given some cash for holding down Vikings running back Adrian Peterson a few weeks back. Then they were rewarded for stopping the Panthers this past week. ESPN is reporting that the league is looking into these allegations. Lions QB Jon Kitna, who play the Packers tomorrow on Thanksgiving, says he has no issue with the payments, since it’s not a situation where they are being paid to hurt anyone.

The league frankly has to lighten up on this one. It’s not like the Packers are out there giving cheap shots, or hurting anyone on purpose. It’s not the money, trust me, these guys have more than enough cash. It’s just the incentive to go out and make a play. It’s been going on for years in the game, with teams having things like “hit reels” with highlights of big hits, and players challenging each other and making “bets” on making plays.

I realize that if the Packers were saying they would pay players for hurting other players, that’s wrong and that’s not cool. But let’s remember that this is not hopscotch, it’s football. Your paid to make plays, make hits, and come up with big time ESPN-like highlights. What’s next, you can’t have incentives in contracts? The league should let this one go, let the Packers conduct their own business, and forget about any sort of “bounties” that they are looking to collect. The whole league does it, and it’s not an uncommon thing.


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