Brett Favre talks ‘Bountygate’ & two biggest career losses



The New Orleans Saints bounty scandal, also known as “Bountygate,” happened over 10 years ago — but NFL MVP Brett Favre has joined Jason Whitlock on “Fearless” to discuss it now.

The scandal itself was an incident in which Saints players were accused of being paid bonuses, or “bounties,” for purposely injuring players on opposing teams.

Favre says “Bountygate” doesn’t bother him, and Whitlock wants to know why.

“Why doesn’t the bounty thing bother you?” Whitlock asks.

“Well, I think they’re always out to get the quarterback or the star running back,” Favre says.

“I mean,” he continues, “there’s a way to do it, there’s a way not to do it. It’s the way the Saints did it was the way not to do it. But I can’t say that I was hit any different than I’ve been hit in my career up to that point.”

Favre recalls that early on in his career, he thought offering bounties was “just the way it was.”

According to Favre, past coaches would walk into the locker room and say things like, “‘You know we got the Kansas City Chiefs tomorrow, I got $5,000 for whoever takes Steve DeBerg out.’”

He says he just thought that “it was a way to motivate the guys to get the best player out of the game.”

While according to sources, Saints linebacker Jonathan Vilma put a $10,000 bounty on Favre’s head, he says he’s not going to blame a loss on the bounty.

“I still had a chance to make a play. Just one play. I made some good ones, I played my heart out, but I needed one more, and I didn’t do it, and it wasn’t because of the bounty.”


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NFL levies more than $1 million in fines for violating mask rules: Report



Last week, the NFL threatened coaches who ignore the league's mask rules on the sidelines during games.

This week, EPSN reported, the NFL's higher-ups followed through on that threat and handed out more than $1 million in fines Monday.

What happened?

After week 1 of the season, NFL vice president of football operations Troy Vincent sent a stern memo to every team with a reminder that they are required to follow league edicts on mask-wearing.

"[W]e must remain vigilant and disciplined in following the processes and protocols put in place by not only the league, union and clubs, but also by state and local governments," he said.

"The NFL-NFLPA Game Day Protocol, which reflects the advice of infectious disease experts, club medical staffs and local and state governmental regulations requires all individuals with bench area access (including coaches and members of the club medical staff) to wear face coverings at all times," Vincent continued.

Players — including players who see little to no action — are exempt from the mask requirements.

"Failure to adhere to this requirement will result in accountability measures being imposed against offending individuals and/or clubs," he warned.

Turns out he was serious about this.

ESPN's Adam Schefter reported Monday night that the league fined three head coaches $100,000 each for failing to wear masks during week 2 games Sunday. The three coaches are Seattle's Pete Carroll, San Franciso's Kyle Shanahan, and Denver's Vic Fangio.

And to make sure the message was sent, the NFL also fined each coach's team an additional $250,000, Schefter said during halftime of the Monday Night Football matchup between the New Orleans Saints and the Las Vegas Raiders.

Following that game, at least two more coaches and their teams could be added to NFL's list of targets. Raiders coach Jon Gruden wore his face mask around his chin during the game, while Saints coach Sean Payton wore his gaiter around his neck.

Gruden apologized after the game, ESPN said, and revealed he had had COVID already:

Following the Raiders' 34-24 win over the Saints on Monday night, Gruden, who last week said he felt the league's memo was directed at him, revealed he'd had COVID-19 and apologized for violating the rules.

"I'm doing my best," Gruden said. "I've had the virus. I'm doing my best. I'm very sensitive about it ... I'm calling plays. I just wanna communicate in these situations, and if I get fined, I'll have to pay the fine, but I'm very sensitive about that and I apologize."

Sean Payton, like Gruden, was seen in week 1 not wearing a mask. And like Gruden, USA Today reported, Payton has had COVID. In fact, the paper said, he was the "first known NFL figure to test positive."

Asked about the week 1 mask-wearing hubbub, Payton noted to ESPN's Suzy Kolber that "as a play caller, you're allowed to pull it down while you're calling a play." To which Kolber quickly added, "but then you need to push it back up."