Thursday, March 29, 2012

Tulloch and Vanden Bosch say there wasn't a bounty program in Tennessee

With the NFL focusing on bountygate, it seems that everyone is trying to find a connection from the past. Any coach or player that played for Gregg Williams has had their credentials questioned.

Detroit Lions head coach, Jim Schwartz, coached under Williams in Tennessee while both were with the Titans. During the week, Schwartz did say they ran an awards system in Tennessee for big hits. Not a cash bounty system like the New Orleans Saints were busted for earlier this month.

Current Lions players, linebacker Stephen Tulloch and defensive end Kyle Vanden Bosch deny any bounty system was being ran in Tennessee.

"I've never been a part of that in my career," Tulloch said. "I think it's unreal, man, to go out and have in your mind you want to take somebody's career out. You have to look at it like people are trying to feed their family. To go out with the mindset of taking them out is not right."


Cornerback Reynaldo Hill, who played for Schwartz from 2005-08, told The Tennessean, "There was never any talking about hurting another team's quarterback.


"That's a lie. I never heard anything like that. There never was a bounty; that is crazy."  

Schwartz said they gave out boxing gloves or a lacquered and engraved baseball bat to the weekly winner, but if they were penalized for the hit they couldn't win the award.

If you ask former Indianapolis Colts coach Tony Dungy if the Titans ran a system similar to the Saints, he'll tell you otherwise.

It's a case of he said/he said and I'm sure that Roger Goodell will have his boys investigating any possible bounty system.

No comments: