Gregg Williams Audio: Ex-Saints Defensive Coach Instructed Players To Injure 49ers (VIDEO)

Former New Orleans Saints defensive coordinator Gregg Williams is banned from the league indefinitely because of the team's bounty program that targeted opposing players.

Hours before members of the New Orleans Saints' coaching staff and front office were scheduled to have their appeals heard by the NFL regarding the team's bounty scandal, an incriminating audio recording surfaced of former Saints defensive coordinator Gregg Williams seemingly exhorting his players to injure opponents during a fiery pre-game speech.

Yahoo's Michael Silver spoke with documentary filmmaker Sean Pamphilon, who recorded the speech at the team’s hotel the night before the NFC Championship game against the San Francisco 49ers. In Pamphilon's recording, Williams can be heard instructing his players to injure several of the 49ers players, notably making explicit references to "taking out that outside ACL" of 49ers wide receiver Michael Crabtree.

Pamphilon informs Silver that Williams put a bounty on 49ers quarterback Alex Smith when he made the cash sign with his fingers and said, "We hit fuckin Smith right there, I got the first one. I got the first one. Go get it. Go lay that mother fucker out."

An abbreviated version of the audio was uploaded to YouTube by Pamphilon with a note detailing the date of the recording. He also shared a link for his website where the entire speech could be found.

LISTEN: WARNING THIS RECORDING CONTAINS NSFW LANGUAGE:

Three weeks after the Saints' bounty program was revealed to the public in the beginning of March, the NFL came down hard on the organization, suspending head coach Sean Payton for a year and Williams indefinitely. Williams, who signed with the St. Louis Rams in the offseason to be their defensive coordinator, took full responsibility and decided not to appeal.

However, Payton, GM Mickey Loomis, assistant coach Joe Vitt and the Saints organization announced last week that they would appeal the punishments. Those appeals will be presented to Commissioner Roger Goodell on Thursday, but Mike Florio of ProFootballTalk writes that the release of Williams' speech makes it unlikely that the sanctions get reduced.

“We are not commenting on specific pieces of evidence that we have,” NFL spokesman Greg Aiello informed ProFootballTalk via email when asked if the league was previously aware of the audio recording, “other than what we have released in our statements.”

ESPN's Adam Schefter pointed out on Twitter that the NFL contacted the Saints before the playoffs this year to tell them, again, to stop the bounties.

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Comments

[poster boy]

08:15 AM on 04/09/2012

Frankly, this is nothing new. In high school, our coach would offer steak dinners if certain players had limbs broken during a game. I have a close friend who played college ball, and he's told me many, much more nefarious, tales about that system. I suspect that in reality this applies to every NFL, CFL, NCAA and most other levels, varying directly with how "important" the league is.

Organized sports has less and less to do with sportsmanship and more and more to do with winning at all cost while ignoring the tarnish on the trophy. No wonder athletes do not consider themselves role models; they would then have to examine themselves and would find a tremendous lack. And with the (not unnecessarily) inflated egos they have, such a realization would be crushing.

[van CA]

03:26 AM on 04/08/2012

Anything less than a life time ban means the nfl does not take this seriously. This is borderline criminal.

[dadoorsron]

12:07 PM on 04/08/2012

No this is what happens in a Football locker room. The ACL statement is way out of line. I would agree about a lengthy ban from the NFL do to the bounty system that the NFL notified the Williams to stop. That alone deserves a lengthy ban.

[dadoorsron]

09:55 PM on 04/07/2012

annihilation, Seek and destroy, destruction, demolition, intimidate, impose your will, Become the Warrior, gladiator, Prepare for war. That was in pop warner football! High school and specially college the Language got a bit more adult. However, coaches encouraged big hits, test injuries of the opponent, because every team gets updates on injuries! Everything that Williams said was a typical pregame talk. Although, I had an issue with the acl comment. there are unwritten rules in football, and taking out someones knee is pretty much the Number 1 thing NOT to do! Every ex-nfl player or current player that spoke about the comments. They seem to all have the same problem, the acl comment is over the line. The people that have the biggest issue with this is the people that never played football. Football is controlled violence. That Violence is tolerated because its a sport and the mentality to play it at a high level is an elite few.

[shespeaks]

11:51 AM on 04/07/2012

This is disgusting.

[butchcliff]

06:15 AM on 04/07/2012

Modern day version of 'Get one for the Gipper'. Much nastier tho

[user221]

12:08 AM on 04/07/2012

It's football. We watch gleefully as boxers and UFC fighters attempt to injure and render each other unconcious. The sport of football also carries that inherent risk.
If you are shocked by Williams' words, his aggressiveness, his brutish attitude, then you obviously haven't been around the game of football enough.
Get your big boy pants on and get over it, you hypocrites.

[ajp49]

08:08 PM on 04/06/2012

Based upon the newly exposed tapes of the Saints pre-game before the 49er play-off game, really exposed Williams with a more sinister criminal intent than defensive strategy! Bill Plaschke from L.A. Times labeled it more on target! “Sanctioned Evil” by these paid goon squads of the NFL’s Fearless Cowards that coach or play defense! Let’s be clear, this is no longer about competition on the football field, it is about using targeted criminal violence to cause physical injury to disable another player from continuing to play! This scandal of CRIMINAL behavior has uncovered and brought to light the direct causes of why Careers of too many good men and the Good Name of the game has been figuratively and literally been damaged! The existence of a culture for a criminal element (goon squads) whose intent is to carry out criminally directed executions under the radar to selectively injury its targets (a player(s) and their previously incurred injury on game day is unacceptable!

[user221]

12:13 AM on 04/07/2012

Is it "criminal" when fighters knock each other out??? It's a game...a brutal game. Goodell is doing his best to pussify this sport until it's no longer recognizable.
If you think this rhetoric is anything new, you are too naive to watch the great sport of football. Stick to figure skating.

[humanitytakesavacation]

11:28 AM on 04/07/2012

Boxing and Football are two completely different sports. Using your logic I guess Baseball players should be able to hit each other with bats since Soccer players get hit with balls...
You are right. Football is a great sport. Have some respect for the game!

[Dan Covey]

05:06 PM on 04/07/2012

I see a BIG DIFFERENCE between prize fighting and football. If you don't, so be it. But, you will have to admit that even in prize fighting there are RULES AND HITS that are illegal.

[Dan Osmena]

07:16 PM on 04/06/2012

With the Saints' Best Offense Of All Time. Their Dirtiest Defense Of All Time.... The 9ers drew First Blood knocking their guy out in their FIRST series and ending up actually winning the PlayOff Game! Go Niners! Wait till next year when we meet again!

[addisonsteele]

01:01 PM on 04/06/2012

Williams deserves a lifetime ban.

[Dan Covey]

05:08 PM on 04/07/2012

I agree along with many others. I can see how juries could accept this behavior as an assault.

[JustinKase]

12:59 PM on 04/06/2012

Forget football. Lets now call them the New Orleans Gladiators. The game has become not, 'lets go out there and out play them to win., But, 'lets go out there and disable them to win'.
That's no longer a sport. Which may be why I don't enjoy watching pro football anymore.

[standalonespirit]

12:20 PM on 04/06/2012

Grossly unfair to Greg Williams. Defensive football coaches have been talking like this for 50 plus years. It means nothing. An injury can occur tripping on a pea or stepping on a kids lego bare foot. There are no more injuries with bravado talk to motivate defensive players then without the talk. You can try to injure someone I suppose---but that doesn't mean it will happen--and a player can do that anytime he's angry enough and it has nothing to do with his coach. This whole thing needed to end but to suspend him definetly is flat out wrong--an apology and a stop to it all was all that was needed.

[headhuntnyc]

12:47 PM on 04/06/2012

With everything that has come out about the life-altering and -destroying results of concussions you can honestly defend a man who says to go after a guy's head and give him another concussion . . .? Are you insane? What right does this guy have to decide to purposely maim someone for life? Life . . . not just a day . . . Life and all for a game. Do I misunderstand Williams role in the world, is he God?

[dadoorsron]

10:08 PM on 04/07/2012

Hit to the head is not a big deal. If you listen to any of the NFl players that spoke on the topic. The ACL is the biggest issue. Even in high school and college the unwritten rules of football is you never go for a knee. My other thought on your comment is you never played football at a high level and you have know idea the mentality and will power that it takes to play football at a high level.

[addisonsteele]

01:02 PM on 04/06/2012

??? He offered thousands of dollars for the injuries. He deserves a lifetime ban.

[nygcruz80]

10:34 AM on 04/06/2012

He is tainted and unwelcomed....Find a new career bro, its OVER for you in the NFL.......GOOOOOD RIDDANCE!!!

[Austin V]

09:34 AM on 04/06/2012

NFL does nothing but fines for wrongdoing. Throw the bums out and be done with it. If you don't make the punishments fit the crimes then there is no end to wrongdoing.

[GeorgeGee]

09:24 AM on 04/06/2012

Williams is a goner. Zero chance of ever coaching in the NFL again. With all the attention on head injuries, concuscions, brain injury and long term problems, the league has to go above and beyond when there is any hint of impropriety. How many times did Williams say the words, "hit the head"? In todays NFL, you'd rather say "shoot the guy" than hit him in the head.

The NFL is already starting to see lawsuits over head injuries from prior players. Duerson's family has one. Even Jim McMahon has a new one. How can the NFL defend itself in court if they don't punish the worst offenders. Williams must be made an example of. Heck, Payton got a year and he wasn't even saying the words. Williams has NO chance of ever coaching again in the NFL. And likely at no other level either. Take your Super Bowl ring and enjoy retirement Greg. Your name will live in football infamy. Rough way to go, but you brought it upon yourself.

[So-called-bob]

08:54 AM on 04/06/2012

Children should not be able to play like this.