NFL Hall of Famer Brett Favre Was once a target of a bounty hunting scheme by the New Orleans Saints and opened up about that experience 15 years later in a thread on x Friday.
In 2009, the Saints offered their players cash incentives to injure certain players. Favre, quarterback of the Minnesota Vikings At that time it was on that list.
The Vikings were considered the best obstacle in the NFC for the Saints to reach the Super Bowl that year.
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Brett Favre is helped 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 hurt, but he took several hard hits and ultimately threw a costly interception in overtime.
Favre said he had no “sick will” against the Saints before the scandal and wished he played better in the game.
“I played the game with the mentality of being prepared for anything: big hits, injuries and players trying to take my head off. I never made excuses for the times I was not successful and played within the rule set , losing just made me want to work harder and fueled my drive to win next time,” Favre wrote.
“I bear no ill will toward those involved in Bounty Gate. After we lost to the Saints, I rooted for Drew Brees and Sean Payton to win the Super Bowl. Looking back 15 years later, my opinion hasn’t changed.
Minnesota Vikings quarterback Brett Favre heads to the sideline after throwing a pass intercepted by the Chicago Bears’ Julius Peppers at TCF Bank Stadium in Minneapolis on December 20, 2010. (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 harshest sanctions in NFL history. Former head coach Sean Payton was suspended for a year without pay.
Defensive coordinator Greg Williams, identified as the brains 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 Vitt was suspended for the first six games of that year.
Former Saints players Scott Fujita, Anthony Hargrove, Will Smith and Jonathan Vilma were all suspended for their roles.
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New Orleans Saints head coach Sean Payton looks overplayed on the sideline. (AP Photo/Bill Feig)
The Saints also had to pay a $500,000 fine and forfeited their second-round picks in the 2012 and 2013 drafts
The team’s bounty hunting scheme involved as many as 27 players and at least one assistant coach, the league found in its investigation. Players even contributed to a pool.
The players were paid $1,500 for a “knockout,” when a targeted player could not return to the game, and $1,000 for a “cart-off,” when a player had to be carted off the field.
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