The New Orleans Saints were under investigation for running an alleged bounty program after they won the Super Bowl in 2009. The NFL was told by anonymous players that defensive coordinator Gregg Williams was urging players to injure opponents for money and the Saints knew, because they were being investigated. So maybe it was the relief of the NFL concluding its investigation with no penalty or maybe it was just extreme arrogance, but Williams kept running his bounty program, and he apparently did it while a camera was pointed at him the entire time.
According to Yahoo!, documentary filmmaker Sean Pamphilon (Run Ricky Run) was with the Saints at the team’s hotel the night before they played the San Francisco 49ers in their divisional playoff game. The Saints went on to lose that game 36-32, possibly because Williams wasn’t clear enough with his innuendos and hand signals.
Hold on, I think I have an artist’s rendering of Williams’ reaction to this…
Said Pamphilon: “At one point Williams says, ‘We hit [expletive] Smith right there’ – then he points under his chin [and continues] – ‘remember me.’ Then he rubs his thumb against his index and middle fingers – the cash sign – and says, ‘I got the first one. I got the first one. Go get it. Go lay that [expletive] out.’
You’d think that the quarterback would be the main the target, but since it’s just Alex Smith, the bull’s eye was actually on Frank Gore. Hell, even Kendall Hunter had a target on his spine.
“Little 32, we want to knock the [expletive] out of him. He has no idea what he’s in for. When he’s on the sideline, we’ve gotta turn that [expletive] over, turn their coaches over, turn the spectators over. Go and get that [expletive] on the sidelines.”
Williams also urged his players to hit receiver Kyle Williams hard to take advantage of his recent concussion, and that was the red flag for Pamphilon to come forward and say something now. Pamphilon is currently filming The United States of Football, which showcases Pamphilon’s decision to let his child begin playing tackle football after seeing how hard life has been for former NFL offensive tackle Kyle Turley.
Not to tell another man how to parent, but this is why I’m going to teach my kids how to play craps. Here’s a clip of Pamphilon’s recording of Williams’ rant about the 49ers, or as I like to call it – his retirement speech.