Greg Williams bragging about "knocking out three hall of famers."

[Renew Deal]

And if "you kill the head the body will die."

Disgusting

[joeybee12]

1. What a pig...and those sportscasters are pigs...knr

[MrSlayer]

2. Exactly what sport did you think you were watching?

That's the game, that's football. The Warner hit was clean, Manning got hit by two guys at once. A shame he got tangled up like that but it was still clean. Favre was a little late and the play was flagged. Fair enough.

Why don't we ask the players what they think?

http://espn.go.com/blog/nfcwest/post/_/id/59989/warner-saints-hit-legal-not-career-ending


http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2012/03/05/brett-favre-happy-that-truth-on-saints-coming-to-light/

“I’m not pissed,” Favre said. “It’s football. I don’t think anything less of those guys. I would have loved to play with Vilma. Hell of a player. I’ve got a lot of respect for Gregg Williams. He’s a great coach. I’m not going to make a big deal about it. In all honesty, there’s a bounty of some kind on you on every play.”

I haven't been able to locate Manning's feelings on this one way or the other.

It's an occupational hazard in a brutal game like football. If you don't like it, don't watch it and definitely don't play it.

But please stop the sanctimonious whining as if the sport was somehow pristine and fair and sportsmanlike before this "scandal" erupted.

[Renew Deal]

3. Football is sufficiently dangerous without the incentivized headhunting.

But the headhunting is one thing. Bragging about all the guys he paid to have injured is another.

Is football a sport or a death match? Are the fans better served with Manning on the field or out injured? Your comments about whining are ludicrous. There is an expectation that the game is played fairly and within the rules. There's going to be a ton of fines and suspensions coming down. If you don't like it, don't watch.

[MrSlayer]

4. It's not a death match obviously.

But is a simulation of one. Why do you think Fox has the little gladiator icon on the screen every five seconds? The violence is the game. It's why everyone watches.

When you go to the game, what gets the biggest crowd reaction? The big hit. TD passes are great but a big hit rocks the house or shuts it up immediately.

"Within the rules" is a great outlook and in a perfect world everyone would be good little robots that occasionally jumped offside or false started but the reality is that you are always looking for a way around the rules without being caught. Haven't you ever played competitive sports?

The play in the interior line is brutal as you can get in sports. O linemen blasting D linemen in the nuts. D linemen getting a double fister on the back of an O lineman's neck. Biting, spitting, outright combat. This is not a clean game. No sport is.

I don't know what to say, it just seems so crazy to me that people are shocked by this. As if the curtain has all of a sudden been swept away and there stands Greg Williams directing this heinous practice that has never before stained the hallowed NFL and has sullied its reputation forever.

People take professional sports way too seriously. As a Philadelphia sports fan that has traveled quite extensively, I know this all too well. You're paying for the blood and the skill....but mostly for the blood.