The New Orleans Saints were famously dinged for running a bounty program back in 2009-10. Head coach Sean Payton was suspended for an entire season, and they lost a pair of draft picks.
The primary victim of the Saints' bounty system was the Minnesota Vikings. In the NFC title game in the January of 2010, the Saints allegedly placed a bounty on quarterback Brett Favre, with linebacker Jonathan Vilma leading the charge against him.
Now, an account in Jeff Pearlman's newly released Brett Favre book “Gunslinger” states that the Vikings had a similar program.
Artis Hicks, a former offensive lineman in Minnesota, claims that his Vikings coaches would pay players who injured somebody on the opposition. This reportedly occurred in 2008-09.
Here's the excerpt from Pearlman's new book, which he posted on Deadspin:
“It was part of the culture,” said Artis Hicks, a Minnesota offensive lineman. “I had coaches start a pot and all the veterans put in an extra $100, $200, and if you hurt someone special, you get the money. There was a bottom line, and I think we all bought in: you’re there to win, and if taking out the other team’s best player helps you win, hey, it’s nothing personal. Just business.”
Brad Childress, Minnesota's coach from 2006-2010, denies Hicks' statement. From ESPN's Mike Triplett:
The Vikings' response: “There is no truth to it.”
Childress, who now works as co-offensive coordinator of the Kansas City Chiefs, said Thursday, “I had a great opportunity to coach a lot of great people there, including Artis Hicks, at the Minnesota Vikings. I have too much respect for the Wilf family [and] professional football to have anything to do with a bounty system. I'm going to let it stand at that.”
Current and former Vikings have denied the allegations as well. From Brian Robison:
“I haven't heard of any bounty program since I've been here [since 2007],” defensive end Brian Robison said Thursday. “I'm very unaware of a bounty program. I'm not going to sit here and talk about it all day. It is what it is. If Artis wants to say stuff like that, obviously, he's trying to bring attention on him. So what? At the end of the day, like I said, I'm unaware of any bounty program that's happened here in the time that I've been here.
Former linebacker Ben Leber:
To refute the rumor, I never heard of any bounty program existing within #Vikings locker room. We had incentives for big plays, not injuries
— Ben Leber (@nacholeber) October 26, 2016
Former punter Chris Kluwe:
@nacholeber Because it sounds like what Artis was referring to was a position group meeting thing, and that's entirely different from an…
— Chris Kluwe (@ChrisWarcraft) October 26, 2016
@nacholeber offense/defense or team meeting. (I also don't recall any team meeting bounty talk and I'm pretty sure that would have stuck)
— Chris Kluwe (@ChrisWarcraft) October 26, 2016
According to Triplett, the NFL has not commented on whether it will investigate Hicks' accusations.