Gabe O'Connor is a production assistant for All Things Considered.
The news that broke Friday — that the New Orleans Saints for years systematically paid its players for knockout hits — was an ugly revelation. But if you've played the game or even watched it closely, it was no surprise.
At the core of football, among other things, is this: Inflict pain.
From the time he starts as a 60-pound linebacker in Pop Warner football, a player is rewarded for a big hit. If that big hit knocks the other guy out? So be it. That means he'll be replaced by a scrub, and your team's job just got that much easier.
That's the gig: Do it clean. Do it within rules. Don't intentionally injure or maim (you know, beyond concussing him), but destroying the man in front of you has always been the gig.
If you've watched college or perhaps high school football, you may have noticed some players have tiny stickers all over their helmets. Those are handed out to someone who makes a good play. On offense, that could mean a touchdown or a nice catch.
Now, next time you watch, check out the middle linebacker on defense who has little stickers just polluting his helmet.
What do you think he got those for? Hint: It's not sportsmanship.
That's football. You hit hard, you're rewarded. Sometimes it's with praise from your coach. Sometimes it's with a sticker for your helmet. Sometimes, it's with $1,000 from your defensive coordinator. But you're always rewarded.
NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell will crush the Saints for the team's part in the "Bountygate" scandal, but only to say that his office is doing something. However, sending the Saints brass out on an ice floe to appease an outraged public isn't going to undo decades of conditioning that football players have had since they first put on pads.
This is not to say that the Saints are in the right. A team making payouts from a bounty slush fund for knockout shots is just a nasty image at a time when the National Football League is trying desperately to show it cares about player safety. But is handing out $1,000 all that different than handing out a sticker?
The ESPN Universe of Talking Heads has been working up a heavy froth the past few days, all at once defending, decrying and explaining "Bountygate." Former players awkwardly explained the difference between hitting a guy hard and hitting to "injure." They pointed out that informal side bets between players for knockout hits has been a locker room tradition. However, they claim, payouts by the team itself for the same kind of hits are somehow different, worse.
It's a fine line, to say the least. But the one thing they all agree on: Inflicting pain is part of the game. And while it is, this won't be the last "Bountygate."
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