The NFL has long frowned upon bounties, or 'non-contract bonuses' as it officially calls them but an underground culture of bounties is alleged to exist, with teams, it is claimed, turning a blind eye to the practice. Saints defensive coordinator Gregg Williams However, former commissioner Paul Tagliabue overturned all sanctions against the players in December 2012 after finding that despite the players being 'very much involved,' the coaches and the Saints organization were primarily responsible for the scandal. In May 2012, four current and former Saints players were suspended after being named as ringleaders in the scandal, with linebacker Jonathan Vilma also being suspended for the entire 2012 season. The Saints organization was penalized with a $500,000 fine and forced to forfeit their second-round draft selections in 20. Assistant head coach Joe Vitt was suspended for the first six games of the 2012 season. General manager Mickey Loomis was suspended for the first eight games of the 2012 season. Head coach Sean Payton was suspended for the entire 2012 season-the first time since Chuck Fairbanks in 1978 that a head coach had been suspended.

Defensive coordinator Gregg Williams was suspended indefinitely, though this would be overturned the following year. League commissioner Roger Goodell responded with some of the most severe sanctions in the league's 92-year history, and among the most severe punishments for in-game misconduct in North American professional sports history.

The pool was alleged to have been in operation from 2009 (the year in which the Saints won Super Bowl XLIV) to 2011. The New Orleans Saints bounty scandal, informally known as ' Bountygate,' was an incident in which members of the New Orleans Saints team of the National Football League (NFL) were accused of paying out bonuses, or ' bounties,' for injuring opposing team players. Mass suspensions, federal court hearings and litigation Gregg Williams, Sean Payton, Michael Ornstein, Joe Vitt, 22 to 27 Saints players

The hunter call of the wild money cheat