NEW ORLEANS (AP) — Former Saints defensive
lineman Anthony Hargove describes in a sworn statement how he was told
by ex-defensive
coordinator Gregg Williams and current New Orleans assistant head
coach Joe Vitt to deny the existence of a bounty program
to NFL investigators.
In a document obtained Monday by The
Associated Press, Hargrove acknowledges that he acted on Williams' and
Vitt's instructions
to "play dumb" if asked whether he was aware of bounties being
placed on former Minnesota quarterback Brett Favre or any other
player.
The declaration does not go into specifics, however, about just what Hargrove knew or did not know about the bounty program
in New Orleans, and for that reason it has become a point of contention between the NFL and the NFL Players Association.
From the union's perspective, Hargrove's statement does not say that he lied to anyone, nor does it state that he or any other
Saints participated in a bounty program that offered cash bonuses for hits that injured targeted opponents.
The NFL, by contrast, has said that Hargrove's words acknowledge the existence of a bounty program and show that Hargrove
initially lied to NFL investigators about it.
In describing Hargrove's declaration last
week, Mary Jo White, a former U.S. attorney hired by the NFL to review
its investigation,
said the player, "acknowledges the nature of the program and his
participation in it, and, which is really the thrust of the
declaration, that he was told to lie about it, and he did when he
was asked about it in 2010 by the NFL investigators."
Hargrove, currently with Green Bay, was one
of four players who received suspensions of various lengths in
connection with
the bounty probe. Hargrove was suspended eight games, Saints
linebacker Jonathan Vilma for the entire season, Saints defensive
end Will Smith for four games and Cleveland linebacker Scott
Fujita for three games.
Vilma's attorney, Peter Ginsberg called the NFL's characterization of Hargrove's statement "misleading."
"All we know from the declaration is that a
couple of coaches were in trouble and hoped for support from him,"
Ginsberg said.
"Anthony's declaration in no way supports that he lied, that a
bounty system existed or that players participated in any kind
of inappropriate program. It's a shame that the NFL needed to have
mischaracterized that declaration in order to justify these
punishments. It's just another reason to conclude that the NFL has
no evidence to justify what it has done to the players."
The NFL has said the Saints' bounty program was run by Williams from 2009 through 2011. Williams has been suspended indefinitely
by the league and has apologized for his actions.
All four players are appealing. The NFLPA
also has filed grievances with the NFL, arguing that Commissioner Roger
Goodell
lacked the authority to punish players for off-the-field matters
that predated last August's new collective bargaining agreement,
and that Goodell should not hear the appeals of the players'
suspensions in the bounty matter.
No other players are mentioned in Hargrove's sworn statement, which also does not contain any description of payments being
pledged, made, or received.
In his declaration, first published Monday
by Yahoo Sports, Hargrove describes how he was called into a late
February 2010
meeting with Williams and Vitt. The coaches said they had heard
Hargrove might have told Minnesota Vikings player Jimmy Kennedy
— a friend and former teammate in St. Louis — that there had been a
bounty on Favre in the NFL title game near the end of
the 2009 season.
The statement then describes Williams saying, in obscenity-laced terms, that league officials, "have been trying to get me
for years," and "if we all stay on the same page, this will blow over."
It also describes Vitt reminding Hargrove that he brought him into the league with St. Louis and later brought him to the
Saints — a second chance Hargrove had sought in the NFL after being suspended for drug abuse.
Hargrove's statement says that in March 2010
he met with NFL investigators, who asked him a range of questions about
a bounty
program in New Orleans, and that he denied knowledge of any of it,
in line with the "clear directions" he had received from
Williams and Vitt.