The Green Bay Packers Put Happy-Face Bounties On Their Opponents

Apparently performance bonuses are the new thing in sports these days. Yesterday, “fans” were giving soccer players cars, and now the Green Bay Packers are giving out bonuses within themselves for certain goals. How middle management of them.

ESPN reported that Packers players offered to pay the team’s defensive linemen $500 each if they were able to hold Minnesota running back Adrian Peterson under 100 yards rushing two weeks ago. They offered another $500 for holding Carolina to under 60 yards rushing as a team on Sunday.

But Charles Woodson and Al Harris, the Packer players who were giving the cash out, have been defensive about it now that the NFL’s police have been poking their noses.

“I don’t see anything wrong with it, but obviously the league has a policy and they’re enforcing it,” Woodson said. “That’s all I can say about it.”

Harris was more evasive, insisting he hadn’t heard anything about it.

“You guys are calling me a liar,” Harris said. “I’m appalled.”

Wow, touchy. Let’s hope he’s never grilled by his wife on why there are two condoms in the pack instead of three. But Harris shouldn’t worry. The guy whose head he’s going to try to take off Thanksgiving day sees no problem with a little payola.

Woodson and Harris had an unlikely ally on Tuesday: Lions quarterback Jon Kitna, who will face the Packers’ defense on Thursday and didn’t seem to think it was a big deal.
“I don’t know if it is against the rules. If it is, it shouldn’t be,” Kitna said. “They’re not paying people to go out and hurt somebody. They’re just paying people to do their job.”

Funny, we thought that was the Packer’s HR department’s job.
Packers backpedal from defensive ‘bounty’ bonuses [Sporting News]
Image [Packers.com]