Darren Woodson, a former safety for the Dallas Cowboys, and a 5-time Pro Bowler was on SportsCenter this morning discussing the recently leaked audio tapes that show former Saints coach Gregg Williams specifically targeting players for injury on an opposing team.
And while Williams says some of the speech is over the top, he defends most of it as what you would hear in most locker rooms (via ESPN)...
"[this] falls into what happens on a Saturday night heading into a Sunday game. A lot of it was just 'let's be violent, let's play hard.' I've heard 'take the head and the body will fall,' I've heard that a million times, even at the high school level. I think where he gets specific. Where he starts to name names, as far as Michael Crabtree and going after the ACL. Taking Vernon Davis and going after the ankles. And Kyle Williams and going after the head concussion. I think that's when specifically, that's when it goes overboard...But for the most part, what you heard in that speech, the violence that takes place on a Saturday with the speeches that are given, as far as what we call the 'rah-rah speech,' that happens. That is the norm on a Saturday night heading into a Sunday game."
Woodson did make it clear later on that the idea of targeting specific injuries was "over the line." Still, even that was not the most damning rhetoric. He even went so far as to say that at least one of the quotes targeting a specific player could be "construed in different ways."
Unfortunately, Bounty-gate has taken on a very political feel amongst players and former players with offensive and defensive players almost uniformly falling on the two sides of the issue. So it is no surprise that Woodson would try to defend Williams' speech.
Unfortunately for Williams though, these defensive players won't be deciding his fate.
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