Panthers WR Steve Smith has played the NFC South rival Saints plenty of times over the years, giving him plenty of experience with the shady tactics promoted by former New Orleans defensive coordinator Gregg Williams, architect of the team's infamous bounty program. "I actually had an altercation with a guy who told me firsthand (of the bounty program)," Smith tells NFL.com while claiming he's "always known" the Saints tried to hurt opponents. "I was going out of bounds, and the guy went for my ankle. I said, 'Hey, man, cut that out.' He's like, 'Well, we get fined if we don't go after your legs when you go out of bounds.' And actually this past year, this last game when we played them, I had a little conversation with Gregg Williams. ... He took responsibility, he was saying it wasn't right, but that's who he was." Smith absorbed a late hit from Saints S Roman Harper after catching a TD pass Oct. 9 in Charlotte, Week 5 of the 2011 season. A brief skirmish between Carolina and New Orleans players ensued in the end zone. Source: USA Today
so know the saints are punishing players that don't play dirty....ROFL....this is beyond ludicrous coming from the guy that sucker punched his own teammate....lol
well, smith just put himself in a position where he's now going to have to answer questions from the league because they will probably want to find out who the player was.
