Zachary Schmidt
MKTG-353-01
Professor Chester
December 15th, 2016
Negligence by Coaches and Injuries
The job of a coach goes beyond just coaching. Coaches are responsible for helping
players reach their true poten(al, crea(ng the right condition for learning, and finding ways to
get their players mo(vated. Most of all, coaches are responsible for crea(ng a safe environment
that is safe for their players so they can train, prac(ce, and play without the fear or risk of
getting injured. Coaches who don’t do this may be guilty of being negligent to their duties as a
coach. Negligence is described as “failure to exercise the care toward others which a reasonable
or prudent person would do in the circumstances, or taking action which such a reasonable
person would not.”
The most infamous case of this occurred in the national Football League, where sta5 of
the 2009 Super Bowl champions New Orleans Saints were accused of opera(ng a “bounty”
system. A:er being (pped o5 by an anonymous player, who told NFL o;cials that the Saints
had targeted quarterbacks Bre= Favre and Kurt Warner as part of a bounty program
administered by Saint’s defensive coordinator Gregg Williams. The NFL decided the allega(ons
were credible enough to start an inves(ga(on on the Saints in 2010, but the inves(ga(ons
didn’t o;cially start until late in the 2012 season. In March of 2012, the NFL announced it had
irrefutable proof that Williams had created the bounty program a:er he arrived at the Saints
organiza(on in 2009 and it was alleged that between 22 and 27 Saints players were involved.
These findings also asserted that head coach Sean Payton tried to cover up this bounty system
and that he and general manager Mickey Loomis failed to shut down the bounty system when
confronted by owner Tom Benson. According to the NFL’s )ndings, Williams and players on the
Saints pooled together their money and were awarded cash prizes for deliberately injuring
specific players of the opposite team. Since the findings were revealed, Williams has also been
accused of opera(ng similar systems when he was part of the sta5 at the Tennessee Titans,
Washington Redskins, and Bu5alo Bills. As a result of these findings, the NFL handed out the
most severe sanc(ons in the history of the NFL. Williams was suspended inde)nitely, Payton
