NFL commissioner Roger Goodell has mismanaged the disciplinary aspect of his job so egregiously over the last handful of seasons that BountyGate, news of which broke just six-and-a-half years ago, feels like it happened in an entirely different era.
The New Orleans Saints found themselves embroiled in the national scandal early in 2012 when the league alleged that their defensive coordinator, Gregg Williams, had been running a bounty program in which players were rewarded financially for injuring opposing players in game. Per their investigation, the bounty system was in operation for the three seasons from 2009 to 2011 — the most successful stretch in franchise history.