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Many years have passed by since NFL commissioner Roger Goodell brought the hammer down on the New Orleans Saints during the “Bountygate” scandal, but Saints coach Sean Payton is just as angry now as he was then. Payton made an appearance on 105.7 The Fan with Jason La Canfora, taking the opportunity to talk shop on the strange 2020 offseason, his loaded quarterbacks room, the NFL’s abandonment of pass interference reviews, and curious comments recently made by former Pittsburgh Steelers linebacker James Harrison.
During a guest spot on the “Going Deep” podcast with Willie Colon, Harrison relayed a story from his Steelers days in which he was fined $75,000 by the league for an illegal hit on Cleveland Browns Mohamed Massaquoi back in 2010. Later on, Harrison claimed, Steelers coach Mike Tomlin handed him an envelope.
Harrison declined to say what it contained, but team president Art Rooney II felt the need to speak out against Harrison’s claim to the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, saying: “I am very certain nothing like this ever happened. I have no idea why James would make a comment like this but there is simply no basis for believing anything like this.”
The implication, of course, is that Harrison was hinting at a similar bounty system to the one Payton and his team were ostracized for back in 2012. That wouldn’t be very surprising. Brett Favre was one of the players supposedly targeted by the Saints defense in the 2009 NFC title game, making it awkward when he admitted his Minnesota Vikings practiced an identical strategy.
As for Payton: he’s not expecting an investigation like the one his organization was subjected to now that the Steelers are drawing scrutiny.
Payton said in his radio spot, “If people are waiting for the league to investigate that, they shouldn’t hold their breath. I think what took place with us back in (2012) in so many ways was a sham, and yet there wasn’t a lot we could do with it.”
The damage was already done, even if Goodell’s predecessor and appointed independent arbiter, Paul Tagliabue, overturned the player suspensions connected to the scandal. From Payton’s perspective, the spotlight put on his team was a one-off opportunity for the NFL to grandstand about player safety and make a scapegoat out of his team.
Payton continued, acknowledging that he has his own ax to grind with the higher-ups in New York: “I would be shocked (if the league investigates Pittsburgh). That’ll be something that’s tucked away under the rug (in the NFL league offices) at Park Avenue. They’ll look into it briefly.
“Listen, don’t get me started on that. I lost $6 million in salary, and honestly it was something that I’ll never truly get over because I know how it was handled and how it was run and the reasons behind it. That’s just the truth.”
We’ll see if Payton’s predictions come true. But while it’s early, it doesn’t appear the NFL is gearing up for a deep dive into the Steelers organization the way it once took aim at New Orleans.
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