[Queerasfck]

Originally Posted by Cajun_dee

This whole thing is breaking my heart and i wonder if the Saints were the only team investigated.

That's a really good question. I think the focus was on the Saints because someone gave the NFL offices the info. The "someone" is rumored to be ex Saint Jeremy Shockey. You may want to check out this article by Peter King of SI. It was written several weeks ago before the league handed out the punishments today.

Some interesting points here by King:

The league said there was an initial investigation, after the 2009 season, into a bounty system led by Williams that could not be corroborated. Then, Goodell said "significant and credible'' new information was forthcoming late in the 2011 season that led to the findings the league acted on Friday. Those conclusions found that Saints players were paid off-the-books incentives for some outstanding performances such as interceptions -- obviously in violation of the league's salary cap -- as well as $1,000 and $1,500 payments for injuring opposing players.


The league, led by director of investigative services Joe Hummel and chief league security officer Jeff Miller, discovered these violations:

• Players pooled their own money to fund the bounty club, and players were paid $1,500 if a foe was knocked out of the game, and $1,000 if an opponent was carted off the field.

• Between 22 and 27 players contributed to the bounty pool over a three-year period, with amounts guaranteed if a certain opposing player was knocked out of the game.

• Ex-Saints Coach Gregg Williams (now defensive coach for Rams) occasionally reached into his own pocket to contribute to the bounty pool.