NFL Hall of Famer Brett Favre was once the target of a bounty hunting scheme by the New Orleans Saints and opened up about that experience in a thread on X Friday 15 years later.
In 2009, the Saints offered their players cash incentives for injuring certain players. Favre, then the quarterback of the Minnesota Vikings, was on that list.
The Vikings were considered the top obstacle in the NFC for the Saints to reach the Super Bowl that year.
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Brett Favre helps off the field after being injured. (Jerry Holt/Star Tribune via Getty Images)
The Saints defeated Favre and the Vikings in the NFC Championship Game that year, a 31-28 overtime thriller. Favre was never injured, but took several hard hits and threw a costly interception in overtime.
Favre said he bore no “ill will” toward the Saints for the scandal and wished he had played better in the game.
“I played with the mindset of being ready for anything: big hits, injuries and players trying to knock my head off. I never made excuses for not succeeding and played within the rules. , losing made me want to work harder and try harder next time.” My drive to win was fueled,” Favre wrote.
“I have no aversion to people involved with Bounty Gate. After we lost to the Saints, I picked Drew Brees and Sean Payton to win the Super Bowl. Looking back 15 years later, my opinion hasn’t changed. If I could go back on some of those plays Had I been able to and played my part, we might have been celebrating a championship victory in 2010.”
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Minnesota Vikings quarterback Brett Favre goes to the sideline after throwing an intercepted pass by Chicago Bears’ Julius Peppers on December 20, 2010 at TCF Bank Stadium in Minneapolis. (Reuters/Eric Miller)
The Saints won the Super Bowl that year against the Indianapolis Colts.
But once the scandal was uncovered, the Saints received some of the toughest sanctions in NFL history. Former head coach Sean Payton was suspended for a year without pay.
Defensive coordinator Gregg Williams, known as the mastermind of the scheme, was suspended indefinitely but later reinstated. Former general manager Mickey Loomis was suspended for the first eight games of the 2012 season, and assistant head coach Joe Witt was suspended for the first six games of that year.
Former Saints players Scott Fujita, Anthony Hargrove, Will Smith and Jonathan Wilma were suspended for their roles.
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New Orleans Saints head coach Sean Payton watches plays on the sidelines. (AP Photo/Bill Feig)
The Saints also had to pay a $500,000 fine and forfeit their second-round picks in the 2012 and 2013 drafts.
As many as 27 players and at least one assistant coach were involved in the team’s bounty hunting scheme, the league found in its investigation. Players also contributed to the cash pool.
Players were paid $1,500 for a “knockout”, when the targeted player could not return to the game, and $1,000 for a “cart-off”, when the player had to be carried off the field.
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