New Orleans Saints Bounty-Gate Takes an Interesting Twist with Latest NFLPA Brief

The NFL Players Association filed a brief in court that could be a pretty big game changer in this whole never-going-away-Saint-bounty-scandal disaster. At this point, we're all pretty much sick of it, but now things might get interesting.

As it turns out the NFL has condoned a similar pay for performance scheme in the past. Apparently back in 1996 the late, great Reggie White ran a program dubbed "Smash for Cash" where he gave out $500 for big hits.

It was no secret that he was doing it either. ESPN even filmed a segment on the program. As far as the league was concerned it was okay since White used his own cash, the amounts were not too high, and illegal hits were not rewarded. Other players talked about similar programs on their teams as well.

Hmmm…I'm no economist, but I'd be willing to bet that $500 in 1996 got you a lot more than $1000 does now. Considering how salaries have exploded over the years the amounts then were relatively higher than what the Saints have been accused of doing.

If we're talking overall numbers, White was quoted in an article  saying that he handed out his entire playoff bonus of $13,000 after a big win over the 49ers. When you consider that his base salary was $3.625 million he paid out a higher percentage than Jonathan Vilma did in the 2009 NFC Championship ($10,000; his base was $3.3 million).

The NFL was on record back then as being completely fine with the whole operation. On the face, it doesn't appear to be anything different than what the New Orleans Saints did. So why is the league cracking down on the Saints for something it once approved of?

It will be interesting to see how the league responds to this. Ignore it and follow through with the current suspensions and the league will look like a big bully. Take it into consideration and the only choice would be to vacate the suspensions making NFL commissioner Roger Goodell look like an idiot.

The NFL has said it won't comment on the 1996 program until their response is made in court.