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| Hargrove admits that he said 'Favre is done!' but that there wasn't a bounty on the former Vikes QB. (Getty Images) |
By Ryan Wilson
The Saints' "pay for performance" bounty scheme that has led to apologies from former defensive coordinator Gregg Wiliams, head coach Sean Payton and general manager Mickey Loomis -- and will undoubtedly lead to stiff sanctions from the league -- has briefly taken a backseat in the never-ending news cycle thanks to Peyton Manning Mania.
But after Manning finds a new home, the Saints will still be on the hook for one of the biggest scandals in recent history: Williams rewarded players with cash payments for injuring opponents. Earlier this week, Sports Illustrated's Peter King reported several examples, including one from the team's 2009 Super Bowl season. CBSSports.com's Josh Katzowitz wrote about it Tuesday:
"During the 2009 NFC title game vs. the Vikings -- played in January 2010 -- in which New Orleans defensive linemen Bobby McCray and Remi Ayodel high-lowed Minnesota quarterback Brett Favre and badly spraining his ankle, defensive lineman Anthony Hargrove, after Favre temporarily left the game, excitedly proclaimed 'Favre is out of the game! Favre is done! Favre is done!' As King also writes, 'An on-field microphone directed toward the sideline caught an unidentified defender saying, ‘Pay me my money!’”
Not good.
On Thursday, Hargrove, who left the Saints after the 2010 season and played with the Seahawks in 2011, refuted King's report.
"In regards to the hit I made on Brett Favre that has been talked about: it was one of about five times I got to him and the only one that was late," Hargrove said in a statement. "I agree it was a late hit, but in the heat of the moment I was simply trying to make a play. I can assure you that when I got up, I was thinking two things, one, that I cost my team, and two, that I might have just cost myself some money if the NFL fined me.
"To put things in perspective, I received a game ball for my play that day and yet got fined while receiving nothing and expecting to receive nothing for the play some keep referencing. Kudos to Brett, he even asked me if that was all I had! Gotta love him."
Hargrove makes clear that he is speaking only for himself and admits that his "Favre is done!" comments were clearly in bad taste.
"But did I personally want Favre INJURED?" he asked. "Absolutely and categorically NO!"
Hargrove ends with this: "I have made many mistakes in my life and have paid dearly for some of them, and the late hit and the comments were both mistakes, in my opinion. But players all over the league do the same thing every Sunday, make late hits and say stupid things. But I can say with absolute certainty that neither the late hit nor the comment have anything whatsoever to do with the issue being so hotly discussed in the media."
Favre, for his part, said he wasn't upset by the hits he took in that NFC Championship game but we suspect commissioner Roger Goodell will feel differently, particularly in light of the evidence their investigation uncovered.
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