I agree with those blasting Williams and I'm glad he was suspended indefinitely. It certainly won't break my heart if he never coaches in the NFL again.
However, while the "money on the table", coach-sanctioned nature of bountygate has everybody justifiably upset and angry, I've said all along that it would be naive to think NFL defenders haven't been trying to beat up QBs for years to throw them off their game or knock them out of games. For decades, the stated goal of many defensive linemen (at least after they left the game and were comfortable talking openly) has been to knock out the opposing QB. It's
not new and it would be naive to think it is. I don't know how widespread cash bounties have been (hopefully, they aren't common) but the mentality of hammering an opponent right out of the game is as old as it is ugly. That doesn't mean it's right but it would be naive to think it wasn't going on and it's probably widespread.
All of this is meant to serve as an intro to the stories at the link below, which reveals that our beloved Vikes may have been coaching their defenders to injure opposing quarterbacks:
http://blogs.orlandosentinel.com/sports ... nents.html
Former Vikings defensive tackle Brad Culpepper claims coaches taught him and teammates how to injure opposing quarterbacks:
... when he broke into the league with the Minnesota Vikings in 1992, he and his defensive teammates were instructed by coaches on the most effective way to injure opposing quarterbacks and knock them out of games.
“We practiced techniques to injure players,” Culpepper said. “We would dive on a mat and aim for the knee portion of a pad like it was the quarterback, and we would practice going at that and trying to bust the quarterback’s knee. You knock the quarterback out, you win the game.”
