If Cardinals Employed a Bounty, We’d Know About It

I don’t think you are going to find anyone accusing the Arizona Cardinals of any bounties in the wake of the “scandal” with the New Orleans Saints, who have been charged by the NFL with having a bounty program.  If you don’t know what that is, well, I could make you look it up or just make your best guess, but for the sake of information, I’ll tell you.  A team’s defense places an order to injure and sometimes injure severely, also known as a “bounty”.  The Saints have been charged with doing as such.

Technically every team has some sort of bounty out on others.  It is a violent game after all.  The idea is to hit, but not hit with intent to injure to the point of sending a player to the hospital.  Oh and these bounties, they do this for incentive pay as well.  I think it is important to throw that in.  That’s where the Saints cross the line.

You can probably find talking to the Cards about it, most would know this goes on and would admit that some sort of “bounty” is placed on the other team.  However their definition and other players outside the Saints organization would probably define it as doing their job and getting after someone, and not for pay and not for the intent to put the guy in the hospital.

Of course if the Cards were to be suspected of a bounty, I think we’d know about it already.  Some guys are known to hit hard, such as Adrian Wilson, however Wilson is not a dirty player.  He does not play with the intent to injure and that is where the line is crossed.  I imagine the NFL will come down hard on the Saints and anyone else in the future who is suspected of having a bounty on a player.