In this photo from Oct. 22, 2006, Manning loses his helmet after getting hit in a game against the Redskins. (Getty Images)

By Ryan Wilson

Former Saints defensive coordinator Gregg Williams apologized Friday evening for his part in the team's "pay for performance" bounty program that rewarded players for injuring opponents. In fact, one NFL source told CBSSports.com's Mike Freeman that linebacker Jonathan Vilma offered up $10,000 to any teammate who knocked then-Vikings quarterback Brett Favre out of the game.

New Orleans' forgettable offseason

Judge: Make Payton, Loomis, Williams pay Freeman: Players' cries of safety ring hollow Rang: Saints can't afford to pay with draft picks Freeman: Vilma offered $10K for Favre? Williams issues apology for bounty program Saints had bounty program to injure opponents Team, Brees $5M apart per season on new deal More New Orleans Saints coverage

Freeman says to expect more leaks in the coming hours and days.

(Apparently, Williams had a similar program when he was with the Redskins; a former player told the Washington Post that compensation ranged from "hundreds to thousands of dollars" with the biggest payout thought to be $8,000.")

One story we should expect to hear more about: Peyton Manning. He missed the 2011 season with a chronic neck injury, and he's probably taken his last snap for the Colts. Back in September, Tony Dungy, Manning's former coach who now serves as an NFL analyst for NBC, traced Manning's neck issues to a 2006 game.

The opponent? The Redskins. And the defensive coordinator? Yep, Gregg Williams.

Sports Illustrated's Peter King wrote about Dungy's remarks in his Week 1 Monday Morning Quarterback column:

Dungy had an excellent observation on our ... NFL special on NBC. He said Manning's neck history dates to Oct. 22, 2006, when his neck got wrenched and his helmet ripped off on a hit by two Washington defenders. We showed the highlight on our Saturday show, and Manning, after being hit and crumbling to the ground awkwardly, lay there for a second, and when he rose, he stretched his neck and shook his right arm for a second, as if trying to get the feeling back in it.

"Earlier in the game,'' Dungy told me, "I'm outraged that there was a flag for roughing-the-passer on Dwight Freeney for just grazing the quarterback's helmet. So I'm yelling at the ref [Scott Green], 'Where's the flag! Where's the flag!' And I don't yell much, but I did then. So I didn't notice Peyton calling timeout and being shaken up. Peyton came to the sideline and said to [backup] Jim Sorgi, 'Jim, start warming up.' As the timeout went on, he said to us, 'I can stay in, but we need to run the ball here.' ''

Former Colts president Bill Polian told King that Manning was fine at the end of the 2010 season and had "no recurrence of the neck problems that caused his first surgery after the 2009 season."

In January 2010, a week before the Saints faced the Colts in the Super Bowl, Williams (by then New Orleans' defensive coordinator) was asked about some controversial hits on Brett Favre in the NFC Championship Game.

“Here’s the deal," he said. "When you put too much of that type of worry on a warrior’s mind, he doesn’t play all out. If it happens, it happens. And the only thing you’d like for me to say is that if it happens you hope he doesn’t get back up and play again.”

Williams may have been sincere when he apologized Friday, but the remarks above makes them seem less geniune. More than that, you might think that the only reason Williams is sorry is because he got caught.

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Follow all of CBSSports.com's Full Super Bowl Coverage (Ryan Wilson, CBSSports.com)

By Josh Katzowitz

INDIANAPOLIS -- Three of the game best receivers -- one who is a surefire Hall of Famer, one who is potential Hall of Famer and one who’s one of the best up-and-comers in the league -- sat in a conference room on the first floor of the JW Marriott on Thursday afternoon and compared stories.

Of how they grew up, of the obstacles they faced and of how they overcame those barriers to become successful athletes.

Steelers receiver Hines Ward faced racial epithets because he is half-Korean. Saints tight end Jimmy Graham faced the loneliness of living in foster homes. Falcons tight end Tony Gonzalez reminisced about the bullies that used to terrorize his childhood.

All came together to promote a documentary that will air Feb. 10 on the USA Network called “NFL Characters Unite” in which Ward, Graham, Gonzalez and Tony Dungy meet school-age kids facing the same circumstances they did when they grew up.

“We were impressed with the candor and depth the players showed,” said producer Charlie Ebersol. “The effect was profound.”

The four were introduced to children whom they could help and give advice about how to deal with their life trials, particularly since the foursome had tough times living out their own childhoods. Dungy quit his high school football team his senior year because of racial discrimination, and Gonzalez feared leaving his house because of two older kids who picked on him constantly.

“It was very personal for me,” Graham said. “The things that (his adolescent partner) went through were a lot more than I went through. His father and brother were murdered, his mother was on drugs. The people who were supposed to have been there for him and love him weren’t there.”

Ward worked with a Pittsburgh-area high school student named Carlton Dennis, who wrote a song called “City of Prayer.” Through their documentary’s producers, he was flown to Los Angeles to lay down the track in a music studio. It’s available today on iTunes and is featured in the documentary. Ward heard the full song for the first time Thursday, and he immediately pictured one image.

“I can just see the smile on his face,” Ward said. “That’s all he wanted to do.”

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By Josh Katzowitz

With his time as the Jaguars owner coming to an end (the team will be turned over to Shahid Khan next Wednesday), Wayne Weaver took a look back at the past 17 years he was in charge of the organization.

In this interview with the team’s official website, he was in a nostalgic mood and he shared perhaps his biggest regret as owner: firing original head coach Tom Coughlin in 2002.

At the time, Weaver said the franchise needed to go in a new direction -- Coughlin had been there eight years at that point -- and pointed out, “There's a point in this business where you have to say, 'We need innovative new ideas, new fresh approaches,' and you have to move in different directions and that's what this is really all about.”

A decade later, Weaver is remorseful about that stance (which, by the way, must make Jack Del Rio feel pretty special).

“If hindsight you could change, I’ll be honest with you: I probably would have never changed Coughlin,” Weaver said. “I would have tried to have Tom take a step back and just be the coach. I thought about it, but I didn’t think Tom would do it. I thought Tom’s pride would never allow him to take a step back and me take the general manager’s position and all power and say, ‘Go coach the football team.’ He did that in New York, but I thought it would hurt his pride too much.”

Weaver also blamed himself for not fully understanding the salary cap and all its implications when Jacksonville first entered the league. In retrospect, though, it’s easy to regret firing the coach who took your expansion team to the playoffs in four of its first eight seasons.

“If you remember, my three short list names I had narrowed it down to were (Mike) Shanahan, (Tony) Dungy and Tom,” Weaver said. “I hired Tom because I felt he was more autocratic and I felt that not knowing anything about this business I needed somebody where I could say, ‘You set the stage here. You build the platform we have to build this franchise around.’ I felt he would be the best guy to do it and as it turned out, he was the best guy to do it. We had tremendous success. Our draft choices were probably better than the average team at the time. That was Tom’s work ethic. He was very involved and he was a good evaluator. He held people accountable to develop those players.”

Alas, this seems to be Coughlin’s lot in life. He can take your expansion team and make it a winner almost immediately and he can win the Super Bowl for his second franchise, but for some reason, he always seems to be on the precipice of getting fired.

Jacksonville did it and now regrets the move. You wonder if the Giants will make the same mistake.

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By Josh Katzowitz

Each Saturday, we’ll take the best -- and most clever -- odds collected by Bovada for the upcoming week and give our take. This is important stuff, perhaps the most important post you’ll read all week. Because if you can’t lose money while watching a game in which you have absolutely no effect, what’s the point of watching sports at all?

Will the Miami Dolphins hire one of these high profile coaches (Bill Cowher, Jon Gruden, Jeff Fisher, Brian Billick, Tony Dungy)?       
  
Yes -200

No +150

No, they’re going to go with a “young Don Shula” and none of the aforementioned qualify. Billick might have some interest, but I think the Dolphins might go with a top-notch assistant.

Who will be the head coach of the Kansas City Chiefs for Game 1 of the 2012 regular season?

Romeo Crennel 2/1       

Josh McDaniels 5/2       

Kirk Ferentz 3/1       

Jeff Fisher 7/2       

Bill Cowher 7/1      
 
My brain wants to say Josh McDaniels, but my heart says Crennel. Actually, I think McDaniels wouldn’t be a good choice, and I think Crennel could become of the league’s better coaches if he gets another opportunity. I’d go with Crennel, because Ferentz never goes anywhere and Fisher and Cowher won’t want a personality like general manager Scott Pioli hanging over them.

Who will have more turnovers in the game Week 15?

Tom Brady (NE) QB +145    

Tim Tebow (DEN) QB -175    

Unless you’re a pirouetting ballerina like Chicago’s Charles Tillman on his amazing interception of Tebow last week, Tebow rarely turns over the ball. Neither does Brady, but Denver’s defense is better than New England’s unit. I’ll go with Brady on this bet.

Tim Tebow -- completion percentage Week 15?          

Over/Under 49%     

On the season, Tebow is at 48.5 percent, but the Patriots defense is allowing opposing quarterbacks to complete 63.7 percent of their passes. I’d go with over, especially if the Broncos are close in the second half.

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Bush: the Giants looked "real bush league" on the fake injury play during MNF. (Getty Images)

Posted by Ryan Wilson

The biggest story of Week 2 didn't emerge until Monday night, specifically the moment when Giants safety defensive back Deon Grant (allegedly) faked an injury to slow down the Rams' no-huddle offense.

In the ensuing days, Grant defended himself, inexplicably, Giants defensive coordinator Perry Fewell did not, and plenty of folks have come forward to share their thoughts on what it means to pretend to be hurt.

Next up: Reggie Bush, who admitted that the Saints had a such a play in their playbook (via the Miami Herald): 

“We actually had that before in New Orleans,” Bush said, referring to the fake injury play. “It’s just one of those things when you get those hurry-up offensive teams. I mean, it’s legal. They haven’t made any rules yet to say it’s not legal.

“... For the most part you’re supposed to have a designated guy for that. It’s not supposed to be four or five guys falling on the ground at the same time. Obviously that looks real bush league.”

Faking injuries: everybody's doing it

Giants coach Perry Fewell doesn't deny faking Dungy: Houston biggest fakers on injuries NYG safety Deon Grant defends himself St. Louis to file complaint against faking Freeman: League sends out fake injury memo Brinson: Should NFL fine players for faking? Freeman: The Daily Shoutout

Remember all the mock outrage in the days and weeks following the Patriots Spygate scandal? And then we found out that, to varying degrees, almost every NFL team taped opponents' signals? Sounds like faking injuries isn't much different.

Don't misunderstand, New England was rightly punished for Spygate. But it's not like they were the only team with a video recorder pointed at the opponent's sideline. And, as Bush mentioned above, the Giants had guys going down like there were snipers in the stands. The takeaway: moderation is the key to avoiding detection and ultimately, league sanctions.

Either way, we're with Ed Reed on the whole faking injuries phenomenon.

“I don’t know if they were pretending, man,” Reed said earlier this week. “Sometimes guys get tired. But it’s all within the game. It’s all tactical stuff that you need to use. Whatever it takes.”

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Perry Fewell and Deon Grant respond to accusations by Bryan Kehl. (Getty Images/US PRESSWIRE)

Posted by Ryan Wilson

We're four days into "Fake injuries: Why, lord, why?" and while the mock outrage has waned, the conversation about whether it's acceptable to take dives continues. Vikings punter Chris Kluwe sent out a helpful reminder that "this isn't soccer, play like you have a pair" (the league sent out its own memo on the matter, too), but that came a day after former Giants linebacker Bryan Kehl accused Giants defensive coordinator Perry Fewell of teaching his players to fake injuries.

When asked about it Thursday, Fewell, instead of flat-out denying the charge, offered this: "I can't say I've ever done that and I can't say that I haven't done that."

Informative. There's more.

"I know that [Giants safety Deon Grant] was down and I was glad that he got up, and he was able to play. If the guy can't play to his full potential and he was hurt, then he was hurt. But I can't say I did and I can't say I've never done that. So I'm not gonna go back and forth about it."

Weird, we thought "maybe, maybe not" was exactly what it meant to go back and forth. Not to worry, though; Perry defended himself when asked if Kehl's accusations were an attack on his integrity. "I'm not gonna respond."

The Giants and injurygate

Dungy: Texans biggest fakers on injuries NYG safety Deon Grant defends himself St. Louis to file complaint against faking Freeman: League sends out fake injury memo Brinson: Should NFL fine players for faking? Freeman: The Daily Shoutout

That's a peculiar reply to somebody calling you out like that. But Grant, the player accused of faking an injury during Monday night's Rams-Giants game, had Fewell's back (Grant has defended himself, too).

"That's a lie. That's a lie," Grant said after Giants practice on Thursday. "Perry never said that a day in his meetings since I've been here. And Kehl's been here as long as I have with Perry Fewell."

Grant then hedged.

"And even if (Fewell did teach players to fake injuries), that was a coward move to me," Grant said of Kehl. "Even if that's something I was coached and I go somewhere else, I'm not selling out the guys that I went to war with. That's just not me. So that's a coward move if that was the case, and he still said something about it, but it's even worse when he lies. A grown man lying on another grown man, that's terrible."

Right. It's almost as awkward as a grown man saying something like, say, "I can't say I've ever done that and I can't say that I haven't done that."

Look, we don't have a dog in this fight, and in the scheme of things, pretend boo-boos are hardly the scourge on the NFL that some folks have made it out to be. In fact, we're with Ravens safety Ed Reed, who was asked if he thought the Giants were faking Monday night.

“I don’t know if they were pretending, man,” Reed said, according to the Baltimore Sun. “Sometimes guys get tired. But it’s all within the game. It’s all tactical stuff that you need to use. Whatever it takes.”

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Dungy on faking injuries: Texans were the worst offenders. (Getty Images)

Posted by Ryan Wilson

As far as football games go, the Monday night matchup between the Rams and Giants was pretty forgettable. In fact, the lasting memory from the game wasn't a particular play, but the sight of two Giants players laying on the turf pretending to be injured. Safety Deon Grant offered up a flimsy self-defense, and the league has threatened to punish future offenders. Perhaps worst of all, critics compared the Giants' tactics to a bunch of diving soccer players.

The Giants and injurygate

NYG safety Deon Grant defends himself St. Louis to file complaint against faking Freeman: League sends out fake injury memo Brinson: Should NFL fine players for faking? Freeman: The Daily Shoutout

But when it comes to make-believe injuries, the Giants aren't nearly as bad as, say, the Texans. Former Colts coach and division rival Tony Dungy explained in great detail Thursday during an appearance on The Dan Patrick Show.

Patrick asked Dungy if he had ever had a player fake an injury.

"No I've never done that but in the time I was coaching in Indy we saw it quite a bit, we really did," Dungy said. "It's a tactic that is used, it's part of what's happening now in the NFL and it's really tough to prove. We sent in a lot of tapes to the league and it never could get resolved so just kind of have to go with the flow and know that it's going to happen."

When Patrick asked if Dungy remembered which teams he reported to the league, Dungy didn't hesitate.

"The biggest offenders we saw were the Houston Texans. We played them twice a year, our players knew the defensive line coach there, they knew the signal for faking an injury," he said. "Chad Bratzke would always tell me, 'Here it comes. Guy's gonna fall down right now.'

"And that's what would happen and, you know, they'd catch their breath or whatever and get the substitutions in, you'd send it in to the league and say, 'Hey, this guy was never contacted on the play, let's look at it. The trainer's out there for three or four minutes working on him.'

"But it really is hard to tell. And how can you say when a guy really is hurt and when he isn't? Miraculously, though, they all seem to come back into the game."


* via SportsGrid.com

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Tony Dungy on the Colts' playoff chances: “I would say no, because I would be concerned about Peyton Manning.” (Getty Images)

Posted by Ryan Wilson

We just saw this tweet from the National Football Post's Andrew Brandt: "Colts spending about $32 million on quarterback position in 2011. Redskins spending about $2 million."

This falls squarely in the category of "You get what you pay for," with the caveat that what you're paying for isn't injured. For Indianapolis, that's a huge problem right now. Peyton Manning, who hasn't missed a start since 1998 (a span of 208 games), back when Bill Clinton was president and cell phones were the size of iPads, is in real danger of doing just that come Sunday when the Colts face division rival Houston.

Indianapolis signed Kerry Collins last month in case Manning, whose recovery from offseason neck surgery has taken longer than anybody expected, wasn't ready to start the season. With Manning's status now a week-to-week issue, former Colts head coach Tony Dungy has real concerns that Indianapolis will even make the playoffs. This is a team that has qualified for the postseason 11 of the last 12 seasons, with Manning starting every game along the way.

Colts Crazy Preseason

Freeman: No more surgery for Peyton Judge: Tressel call should have come from NFL Wilson: Colts 'don't know anything' on rumors Podcast: Best WR corps and Peyton injury Eye on Football: Latest updates on labor talks

“I would say no (the Colts won't make the playoffs), because I would be concerned about Peyton Manning,” Dungy said on the Dan Patrick Show Tuesday, according to PFT.com. “Just the fact that he may miss one game tells me that this is fairly serious.”

The Colts have Manning listed as "doubtful" for the Texans game, which means there's roughly a 25 percent chance he plays. CBSSports.com's Mike Freeman translates: "No way in hell" Manning will be on the field.

We joked on Monday's Pick-6 Podcast that the Colts are a perennial playoff team with Manning, a seven-win outfit with Collins, and would be lucky to win four games with Curtis Painter. (Upside: a 4-12 record would would perfectly positioned them in the Andrew Luck Sweepstakes which, honestly, is something the organization is going to have address much sooner than they planned.)

But let's not get too far ahead of ourselves here. Manning's still on the team and will be on the field at some point soon. The problem: no one can pinpoint the date. And that, ultimately, will decide the fate for this team in 2011.

“I think it all depends on Peyton Manning,” Dungy said. “If he misses a lot of time I think it’s going to be very difficult for them to make it. If he misses one or two games, I think they still will win the division.”

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