Oakland Raiders players and head coach Dennis Allen , as well as anyone who is involved in the NFL, including the fans, have been talking about the recent bounty scandal and the audio that was released that included some disturbing evidence of Greg Williams' involvement.
Bay Bridge, Oakland
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On Thursday, NFL writer Jerry McDonald talked to coach Allen over the phone about the team's first week in the offseason workout program, as well as his thoughts on what's going on with Williams and the New Orleans Saints.
The NFL has not named Allen in its reports and it isn't expected to implicate him in any way. Not once has a bad word been uttered about coach Allen; in fact, he is touted as one of the most principled men involved in the league.
McDonald asked Allen if the bounty issue had been addressed in the players' meeting this week or if he had plans to address it later on in practice. Allen responded, "It's been addressed, it's going to be something that when we have the whole team together is a better time to address that."
Allen was also questioned on whether or not the scandal tainted the championship that he won when during his tenure in New Orleans, and the coach answered, "What I'm going to say about it is, No. 1, I'm proud of the success that we were able to have there, and No.2 , I've moved on, and I'm really a lot more interested in what's happening with the Oakland Raiders and trying to prepare ourselves for the upcoming season. What's happened in the past, I've really moved on."
While it may be a little harder for Allen to move on with the media likely asking questions about what happened while he was there for some time to come, I agree that as far as the Raiders are concerned, that's something in the past that shouldn't affect the team. The most important thing to focus on is preparing for the upcoming season.
McDonald also spoke with quarterback Carson Palmer and defensive tackle Tommy Kelly in regard to the Saints and Williams. Palmer commented, "I played against the Saints a handful of times when all these things were going on and I was hit a ton of times by their defense and never felt anything was a broken rule or anything like that. I remember they were hard, they were fast and they were physical. I never once thought anything illegal or that there was a bounty on any player including myself."
The 32-year-old added, "It's a physical, violent sport. The play's over when somebody gets knocked to the ground. Injuries happen. Concussions happen. At the end of the day, it's hard to hit somebody and give them a concussion on purpose. The game happens so fast and guys come from so many different angles."
Kelly said he wasn't overly concerned about what Williams said in the locker room that day, commenting, "If you don't play ball, you don't understand. People don't understand the culture of the game."
However, he did say he felt what happened crossed the line and reiterated the feelings of many. Kelly said the problem is someone "playing with intent to injure while on the field."
He told McDonald, "That's definitely where you cross the line. You're taking money out of your pocket and food out of your kids' mouth. You don't do that to anybody. You do that to me or somebody else, it's going to come back on you twice as bad. You try and be as physical as you can out there. You have to do that to impose your will on somebody, but you can't cross the line by going out there and trying to put somebody on the sideline."
I wouldn't be surprised to find out that every player in the NFL is playing back memories in their minds of injuries on the field in games against the Saints over the last few years and wondering if they were attributed to something that was truly intentional.
While football is a violent game and there may be some overreaction to what Williams did, there is no denying that the entire culture of football is changing, as Michael Silver wrote in his recent article. NFL commissioner Roger Goodell is using the incident to enhance player safety, as Silver writes, "borne of a genuine regard for the men who play the game and a sense that adjustments must occur for the business model to survive and thrive."
In the meantime, the Raiders will have to play by the rules to the best of their ability and focus on what's most important to the Raider Nation, returning to their winning ways and exemplifying the phrase "Commitment to Excellence."
Allen is right. It's a new era for the franchise and the future is bright.
K.C. Dermody grew up in the Bay Area of California, and has been an Oakland Raiders fan for her entire life. She has continued her loyalty to the team through its many ups and downs over the decades, and has been privileged to meet several of her favorite players, including famed quarterback, Jim Plunkett. Follow her on Twitter @kcdermody or on Facebook at www.facebook.com/kcdermodywriter.
More from this contributor:
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