As NFL teams scurry to distance themselves from the highly sensitive issue of bounties, perhaps the league needs to distinguish its line of fair play.
“I never went out there to try to hurt someone,” former Broncos safety John Lynch said. “But I did try to make it hurt.”
At a time when it is facing numerous lawsuits from former players, the NFL is trying to change its culture by stepping up its enforcement of player safety rules. It began legislating head-to-head contact out of the game in 2010, and commissioner Roger Goodell is expected to severely punish the New Orleans Saints and former defensive coordinator Gregg Williams for violating the “bounty rule” during the 2009 playoffs, when $1,500 was awarded for a “knockout” and $1,000 for a “cart-off.”
Dennis Allen was on Williams’ staff as a defensive backs coach in 2009 before he joined the Broncos last season as defensive coordinator.
Allen, who now is head coach of the Oakland Raiders, was not named in any wrongdoing in the league’s investigation of Williams and the Saints.
The league has asked each team to review the severity of the issue with its coaches. Broncos coach John Fox will meet with his staff today to discuss the subject.
“We were never part of anything like that,” Fox said. “There’s no place in the game for intentionally hurting another player.”
Among the questions all coaches must be asking is: Where exactly do you draw the line?
On the proper side, Broncos left guard Zane Beadles donates $250 to Brent’s Place, which provides a sterile environment for families with children whose immune system have been compromised by cancer, for every “pancake block” recorded by a Denver offensive lineman.
“That’s physical football that’s within the rules,” Lynch said. “If you pancake someone, that’s as good as it gets for an offensive lineman. Same thing with big hits. The league may not want to talk about it, but part of the allure of this game that has made it the most popular game in the world is that it’s a physical and violent sport. Do you keep it safer? Absolutely. But pancake blocks are something that’s part of it, part of what makes the game great.”
If there were any “bounty” programs going on with the Broncos in recent years, two of the team’s hardest hitters with 18 Pro Bowls between them said they were unaware.
Lynch said never in his 15 seasons with Tampa Bay (1993-2003), the Broncos (2004-07) and briefly with the New England Patriots (2008) was he offered pay for hurting another player.
“Now, in position meetings, where there was incentive programs where a guy got $10 for an interception or a sack or a big hit — which is different from a bounty of trying to hurt someone? Yes, that went on,” he said. “But that’s different from saying you want to hurt someone.”
Lynch and Brian Dawkins are tied for second among safeties in Pro Bowl appearances with nine.
“I would say that type of incentive type thing is happening in every locker room,” Dawkins said. “It’s not so much about the money. It’s just an added motivation because we’re all competitors.
“It was never a monetary thing regarding knocking a player out of the game, and that’s what we’re talking about here. They’re talking about intentionally causing a guy to stop playing that day.
“I’ve never gone out and said, ‘I’m going to wreck this cat’s knee up.’ Or ‘I’m going to rip his Achilles.’ That’s not my mind-set. But when I do touch the field and you come into my area, I want to do something where you mark it on your mental calendar before you go back in that vicinity again.”
In other words, the game by nature features enough contact and collisions that it doesn’t need any superficial enhancements like bounty programs.
Mike Klis: 303-954-1055 or mklis@denverpost.com
