Saints coach Sean Payton calls Bountygate investigation a 'sham'
New Orleans Saints head coach Sean Payton is already among the most hated opponents in Vikings country, and what he said during a radio interview on Thursday probably won't help establish any new friendships in Minnesota.
Payton, of course, has been the coach of the Saints since 2006. He's best known for, perhaps, being the coach of the 2009 Super Bowl champion Saints that beat the Vikings in the "Bountygate" scandal of the NFC title game.
And that's where the conversation turned Thursday on Inside Access with Jason La Canfora & Ken Weinman on 105.7 The Fan in Baltimore after the hosts asked Payton what he thought about former Steelers linebacker James Harrison saying on a podcast that Pittsburgh coach Mike Tomlin handed him an envelope after Harrison's 2010 hit on Browns wide receiver Mohamed Massaquoi rendered a $75,000 fine.
"If people are waiting for the league to investigate that, they shouldn't hold their breath. I think what took place with us in 2011, in so many ways, was a sham. There wasn't a lot we could do with it. The players were vindicated, but from a coaching standpoint there's no union, there's no representation," said Payton.
"I would be shocked ... that'll be something that's tucked away under the rug at Park Ave. They'll look into it briefly. Don't get me started on that. I lost $6 million in salary and honestly it was something I'll never truly get over because I know how it was handled and how it was run and the reasons behind it. That's just the truth."
The Bountygate scandal left then-Vikings quarterback Brett Favre hobbled and badly bruised, with a league investigation revealing in March 2012 that former Saints defensive coordinator Gregg Williams paid players for malicious hits on opponents.
Payton was suspended for the entire 2012 season and Williams was kicked out of the league until being allowed to return to coaching in 2013. He's now the defensive coordinator of the New York Jets.
Tomlin, meanwhile, remains the head coach of the Steelers, where he's been since departing as Vikings defensive coordinator after the 2006 season.
Title: Bring Me The Sports co-owner, editor Email: joe@bringmethenews.com Twitter: @JoeBMTN Education: Southwest Minnesota State University Location: Minneapolis, Minnesota Expertise: All things Minnesota sports Nelson has covered Minnesota sports for two decades, starting his media career in sports radio. He worked at small market Minnesota stations in Marshall and St. Cloud before joining one of the nation's highest-rated sports stations, KFAN-FM 100.3 in the Twin Cities. There, he was the producer of the top-rated mid-morning sports show with Minnesota Vikings announcer Paul Allen. His radio experience helped blossom a career as a sports writer, joining Minneapolis-based Bring Me The News in 2011. Nelson and Adam Uren became co-owners of Bring Me The News in 2018 and have since more than tripled the site's traffic and launched Bring Me The Sports in cooperation with the Sports Illustrated/FanNation umbrella. Nelson has covered the Super Bowl and numerous training camps, NFL combines, the MLB All-Star Game and Minnesota playoff games, in addition to the day-to-day happenings on and off the field of play. Nelson also has extensive knowledge of non-sports subjects, including news and weather. He works closely with Bring Me The News meteorologist Sven Sundgaard to produce a bevy of weather and climate information for Minnesota readers. Nelson helped launch and manage the Bring Me The News Radio Network, which provided more than 50 radio stations around Minnesota with daily news, sports and weather reports from 2011-17.