Bountygate CliffsNotes (Long)

My own take on Bountygate is that we were singled out, not because we were a small-market team, but because Sean Payton by his actions over the years had not made friends inside the league; because possibly the Saints and other teams had been warned to discontinue certain financial-incentive pools for players, and the Saints ignored the warnings; and most important because the allegations against the Saints arose during a major head-injury class-action litigation which the league was defending. It was something of a perfect storm--a convenient scapegoat was a gift to the league with the ongoing head-injury lawsuit, the Saints were a perfect scapegoat, and the league took full, and unfair, advantage of the allegations made.

I do not think we had clean hands, though other teams surely engaged in the same practices. In part by ignoring league warnings over his continued association with Reggie Bush's agent, who had a criminal past, Payton had little goodwill at Park Avenue. Also, the league may have previously warned us about what was being done, and we ignored the warnings.

On the other hand, the league for public-relations purposes grossly exaggerated what was done, imposed draconian penalties, and provided the coaches little due process.