"  SAN FRANCISCO (AP) The San Francisco 49ers have officially announced the signing ofrunning back Brandon Jacobs to a one-year contract.The 49ers made the announcement Friday, more than a week afterthe two sides agreed to terms. Jacobs was released March 9 by theSuper Bowl champion Giants after both failed to work out arestructured contract. He is expected to play behind Frank Gore andcompete with second-year pro Kendall Hunter for carries with theNFC West champion 49ers.Jacobs spent seven seasons with New York, winning two SuperBowls and helping the Giants beat the 49ers 20-17 in overtime ofthe NFC championship game at Candlestick Park on Jan. 22. The29-year-old Jacobs ran for 571 yards and seven touchdowns lastseason as his role diminished behind emerging Ahmad Bradshaw."

"  NORMAN, Okla. (AP) Minnesota Vikings running back Adrian Peterson has pledged $1million to the Oklahoma athletics department, his launching pad fora stellar NFL career.The university announced the donation Thursday. It will gotoward construction of a new student housing facility and establisha football scholarship endowment in Peterson's name.The university says this is the largest gift to the athleticsdepartment from a former football player. Peterson says he's beenthinking about doing this ''for a long time'' and that he alwayshoped to be in a position to give back once he left school.Peterson starred for the Sooners from 2004 through 2006 before theVikings made him the seventh overall pick in the 2007 NFLdraft.The football team's meeting room will also be renamed inPeterson's honor."

"  NEW ORLEANS (AP) On the same day the NFL heard the Saints' appeals in their hits-for-cash scandal, a recording of Gregg Williams emerged that purports to capture the disgraced defensive coordinator telling players to ''put a lick'' on 49ers receiver Kyle Williams to see if he had lingering effects from a concussion. NFL BOUNTY SCANDAL Players suspended for roles in scandal Czar: Vilma can turn to courts NFL denies Saints' appeal Vikings duo rips Williams Director defends release of audio Whitner: Saints 'tried to knock QB out' Report: Tape captured bounty offer Payton meets with Parcells Saints' punishment ushers in new era Sapp claims Shockey is whistleblower NFL hands down severe penalties Players react at NFLPA meeting NFL's statement regarding Saints Williams apologizes, accepts discipline Fisher: Williams punishment warranted Czar: How severe are the penalties? Glazer: Breaking down punishment Goodell orders bounties to end Was it worth it for Saints? League pinpoints Rodgers bounty--> Filmmaker Sean Pamphilon, who had access to Saints meetings for a documentary on football, posted the audio on his web site. Pamphilon initially shared the content with Yahoo Sports, telling the website that while he was not bothered by much of Williams' profanity-laced speech, he was troubled by comments about the previously concussed player. ''I thought, `Did he just say that?''' Pamphilon said in an article posted Thursday. ''That was the red flag for me.'' Kyle Williams' father, White Sox general manager Kenny Williams, said his son ''has definite feelings on the subject but has chosen to remain committed to providing all his answers to any questions on the field next season.'' But Kenny Williams had his own thoughts on the recording. ''Personally, suspension or not, it's probably best I'm never in a room with Gregg Williams and wonder if such an order crosses the line of the aggressive, competitive spirit we all know and love about the sport; and leans closer to a criminal act and therefore a litigious matter,'' Kenny Williams said in an emailed statement. Gregg Williams, who is suspended indefinitely for his admitted role overseeing a bounty system that offered Saints defenders payment for painful hits, did not respond to a phone message and email left with his foundation in Missouri on Thursday. Williams left New Orleans after last season, his third with the Saints, and was hired as defensive coordinator by the St. Louis Rams. Pamphilon made the recording of Williams' speech during a meeting before the Saints lost to San Francisco in a divisional playoff last January, the final game Williams coached. WHAT'S SHAKING? NFL Draft is here, and we have you covered. When the New York Giants defeated the 49ers a week later in the NFC title game, several Giants players made similar comments about wanting to get hits on Kyle Williams, who fumbled twice in the game, because they knew he had previous concussions. In Pamphilon's recording, Williams also tells his players to set their sights on running back Frank Gore, quarterback Alex Smith and receiver Michael Crabtree. ''We need to decide on how many times we can beat Frank Gore's head,'' he says. Williams also implores his charges to ''lay out'' Smith and later adds, ''We need to decide whether Crabtree wants to be a (expletive) prima donna or he wants to be a tough guy. He becomes human when we ... take out that outside ACL.'' Pamphilon also described Williams pointing to his chin when he said, ''We hit (expletive) Smith right there.'' Pamphilon said Williams then rubbed his fingers together as one might do when doling out cash, saying, ''I got the first one,'' which Pamphilon understood to mean the defensive coordinator had placed a cash bounty on Smith. The NFL has said Williams' bounty system offered off-the-books cash payments of $1,000 or more for hits that either knocked targeted opponents out of games or left them needing help off the field. The Saints have been punished heavily for allowing such a program to continue for three seasons, from 2009 when they Super Bowl through 2011. ARE YA READY? Get up to date on the latest NFL Draft info. Watch videos. NFL commissioner Roger Goodell suspended Saints head coach Sean Payton for the entire 2012 season, while handing down additional suspensions of eight games to general manager Mickey Loomis and six games to assistant head coach Joe Vitt, who also coaches linebackers. The Saints, meanwhile, were fined $500,000 and docked second-round draft picks this year and next. It is not clear whether Pamphilon had earlier shared the recording with the NFL. He did not immediately respond Thursday to email requests for additional comment. The recording was released hours before Payton, Loomis and Vitt went to NFL headquarters in New York for an appeal hearing regarding their unprecedented punishments. After Vitt's appeal was heard, his lawyer, David Cornwell, was asked about the audio tape. Cornwell said Payton viewed Williams' comments as ''a rogue coach about to get fired.'' ''He was fired two days later,'' said Cornwell, who also serves as executive director of the NFL Coaches Association. ''He was on the way out.'' However, when Williams left New Orleans for the Rams in January, nobody with the Saints characterized it as a firing. At the time, Payton said it was apparent shortly before the season ended that Williams, with his contract expiring, was likely going to join new St. Louis coach Jeff Fisher, an old friend. The Saints and Williams never discussed an extension, Payton said then. The league informed the Saints at the start of the playoffs that it was reopening its bounty investigation. Cornwell said Loomis and Payton then told Williams, ''There's no place for this in this organization or this league.'' SAVE THE DATE NFL preseason is a chance to get a first look at your 2012 team. Top 10 games The NFL, however, in its statement last month announcing the penalties for team officials, said the GM and coach made only ''cursory inquiries'' into the possible presence of a bounty program. Pamphilon told Yahoo Sports that Payton and Loomis were not in the room when the recording of Williams was made. The filmmaker did not return messages seeking comment from The Associated Press. Williams can be heard using metaphors he has often used throughout his coaching career, such as ''kill the head and the body will die.'' That was Williams' way of urging players to disrupt opposing teams' star players with intimidating and nasty physical play. Another of Williams' mantras was that ''respect comes from fear,'' which he repeats in the recording. ''We've got to do everything we can in the world to make sure we kill Frank Gore's head,'' Williams says. ''We want him running sideways. We want his head sideways.''"

"  White Sox general manager Ken Williams, the father of San Francisco 49ers wideout Kyle Williams, said Friday it was "probably best" that he never ended up in a room with former Saints defensive coordinator Gregg Williams. NFL BOUNTY SCANDAL Players suspended for roles in scandal Czar: Vilma can turn to courts NFL denies Saints' appeal Vikings duo rips Williams Director defends release of audio Whitner: Saints 'tried to knock QB out' Report: Tape captured bounty offer Payton meets with Parcells Saints' punishment ushers in new era Sapp claims Shockey is whistleblower NFL hands down severe penalties Players react at NFLPA meeting NFL's statement regarding Saints Williams apologizes, accepts discipline Fisher: Williams punishment warranted Czar: How severe are the penalties? Glazer: Breaking down punishment Goodell orders bounties to end Was it worth it for Saints? League pinpoints Rodgers bounty--> Ken Williams issued a statement to the Chicago Tribune in response to several questions about the audio recording in which Gregg Williams was heard urging Saints players to injure 49ers players, including Kyle Williams, on the eve of a playoff game in January. "Personally, suspension or not, it's probably best I'm never in a room with Gregg Williams and wonder if such an order crosses the line of the aggressive, competitive spirit we all know and love about the sport; and leans closer to a criminal act and therefore a litigious matter," the White Sox general manager said in the statement. In the profanity-laced pep talk — released Thursday by filmmaker Sean Pamphilon — Gregg Williams specifically calls for his players to hit 49ers offensive players in the head, specifically Kyle Williams, who had a history of concussions. "We need to find out in the first two series of the game, the little wide receiver, number 10, about his concussion. We need to f*ckin' put a lick on him right now," he is heard saying. It was known at the time that Kyle Williams had a history of concussions. "Putting aside my fatherly feelings and my sports executive hat on, I have tremendous respect and admiration for the league in general, the 49er organization and Trent Balke and Jim Harbaugh in particular," Kenny WIlliams said in his statement. "I have no doubt they are monitoring the situation very closely and will take the appropriate actions should they deem it necessary in this matter." The former Saints coordinator — now with the St. Louis Rams — has been slapped with an indefinite ban by the NFL for running an illegal bounty program in New Orleans. NFL commissioner Roger Goodell heard appeals Thursday from Saints head coach Sean Payton, assistant coach Joe Vitt and general manager Mickey Loomis. Payton, who is accused of telling his assistant coaches to cover up the existence of the bounty program, is hoping Goodell will reduce his year-long suspension, while Vitt and Loomis hope their respective six- and eight-game bans also will be shortened."

"  FOXBOROUGH, Mass. (AP) The New England Patriots have signed free agent linebacker BobbyCarpenter.Carpenter, 28, has played six NFL seasons for Dallas, Miami andDetroit. He was originally a first-round pick by the Cowboys fromOhio State.In his career, he has started 10 games with 165 total tackles,one interception that he returned for a touchdown, 3.5 sacks andone fumble recovery.Last year, Carpenter played in 16 games for the Lions, startingthree, and recorded 29 total tackles. Against Dallas, he returnedan interception 34 yards for a touchdown."

"  It’s now clear that former Saints defensive coordinator Gregg Williams was woefully under-punished. This being the NFL, I’m sure there are a myriad of legal reasons why Williams is merely serving an indefinite suspension with a one-year minimum for his role as the impresario of the Saints’ pay-for-pain bounty system. I also understand that the difference between an indefinite suspension and a lifetime ban is, in large measure, semantic. I’ll even accept the idea that bounties and the intentional infliction of harm have long been part of NFL game plans. Gregg Williams, it’s argued, is just a symptom of the football culture. OK … so? Any way you look at it, the time has come for that culture to die. Or, in Williams’ parlance, “kill the [expletive] head.” Roger Goodell should do to Williams’ career what Williams tried to do to others. End it. Make a permanent example of Gregg Williams. Make the symbolism substantive. Ban him for life. It’s worth noting the context to his recently released remarks. Filmmaker Sean Pamphilon had been granted access to the Saints’ inner-workings as part of a documentary on Steve Gleason, a former special teams player suffering from ALS. The existence and details of the tape were reported late Wednesday by Yahoo! Sports' Mike Silver, who said, to the best of his knowledge, Roger Goodell and his investigators didn’t know of it during their investigation. This is a crucial point, as the tape was made January 13, the night before the Saints played the 49ers in the playoffs. Earlier in the month, the NFL notified owner Tom Benson that the league’s bounty investigation had been re-opened. Benson instructed general manager Mickey Loomis to make sure there was no bounty system, and if there was, to have it cease immediately. Loomis responded with what the NFL called “cursory inquiries” of both Williams and head coach Sean Payton. Payton’s handling of the matter was purely perfunctory, taking “no action to ensure that any bounty program was discontinued.” In other words, the head coach has no business appealing his one-season suspension. He, too, deserves more time. A coach under his watch instructed players to maim other players, to aim for their already damaged parts, orthopedic and neurological. Worse still, that coach was effectively given impunity. NFL BOUNTY SCANDAL Players suspended for roles in scandal Czar: Vilma can turn to courts NFL denies Saints' appeal Vikings duo rips Williams Director defends release of audio Whitner: Saints 'tried to knock QB out' Report: Tape captured bounty offer Payton meets with Parcells Saints' punishment ushers in new era Sapp claims Shockey is whistleblower NFL hands down severe penalties Players react at NFLPA meeting NFL's statement regarding Saints Williams apologizes, accepts discipline Fisher: Williams punishment warranted Czar: How severe are the penalties? Glazer: Breaking down punishment Goodell orders bounties to end Was it worth it for Saints? League pinpoints Rodgers bounty--> Football is a paternalistic game. Accountability is supposed to be a given, authority unchallenged. Dissent is tantamount to rebellion. This isn’t like baseball or basketball. Even the most veteran players lack irony. They believe — literally — in their coaches’ metaphors. If a madman like Gregg Williams tells them that football is war, then it must be so. Football, remember, is the sport that transforms coaches into generals and inspirational speakers. The pregame speech is part of American lore. Perhaps Williams — who delivered his infamous address at a hotel outside San Francisco — considered himself part of that grand tradition, going back to Knute Rockne. In truth, he’s a demonic preacher. “A mind troubled by doubt cannot focus on victory,” he said. In other words, a conscience is a liability. Players are better off as sociopaths. “We’ve got to do everything in the world to make sure we kill Frank Gore’s head,” he said of the San Francisco running back. “ … We want his head sideways.” Kill the head. What a phrase for a league desperately trying to extricate itself from long-standing concussion problem. “Little 32,” said Williams, referring to Gore’s backup, “we want to knock the [expletive] out of him.” Even if he was already out of bounds. “We’ve got to turn that [expletive] over… Go and get that [expletive] on the sidelines.” As for quarterback Alex Smith, whom the Saints had already targeted in a pre-season game, Williams called for his trademark “remember me” hits. According to Pamphilon, he punctuated this part of the sermon with a cash money gesture, rubbing his thumb against the tips of his forefingers. WHAT'S SHAKING? NFL Draft is here, and we have you covered. Williams told his players to “clip” Vernon Davis’s previously injured ankles and target Michael Crabtree’s knee. “Take out that outside ACL,” he said. Of the already-concussed return specialist, Kyle Williams, the coordinator said: “We need to find out … about his concussion. We need to put a lick on him.” Sure. NFL players accept the risk, right? What’s another guy with post-concussion syndrome? For the record, 49ers safety Donte Whitner told FOXSports.com’s Alex Marvez that the league’s punishment seemed insufficient. “Something should be done about it to a higher extreme,” he said. The highest extreme is in order now. Proclamations of contrition are not to be trusted. After all, that was the whole point of Williams’ speech, to endorse life as a gridiron sociopath. “Never apologize for the way we compete,” said Williams. “If you’re in this room, you understand that. We don’t apologize.” I have no doubt football is Williams' life. So now it’s up to the commissioner. Take it from him."

"  NEW ORLEANS (AP) A recording of then-New Orleans defensive coordinator Gregg Williams urging players to deliver punishing hits on specific San Francisco players was released without approval from retired special teams standout Steve Gleason, who had helped a documentary filmmaker gain behind-the-scenes access to the Saints. NFL BOUNTY SCANDAL Players suspended for roles in scandal Czar: Vilma can turn to courts NFL denies Saints' appeal Vikings duo rips Williams Director defends release of audio Whitner: Saints 'tried to knock QB out' Report: Tape captured bounty offer Payton meets with Parcells Saints' punishment ushers in new era Sapp claims Shockey is whistleblower NFL hands down severe penalties Players react at NFLPA meeting NFL's statement regarding Saints Williams apologizes, accepts discipline Fisher: Williams punishment warranted Czar: How severe are the penalties? Glazer: Breaking down punishment Goodell orders bounties to end Was it worth it for Saints? League pinpoints Rodgers bounty--> ''I feel deflated and disappointed. I feel frustrated and distracted,'' Gleason said in a statement on his website. Gleason has amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, or ALS, and has allowed filmmaker Sean Pamphilon to capture his struggle with the incurable disease. He played for the Saints from 2000 to 2007 and maintains a strong relationship with the club, which has backed his efforts to improve the lives of those living with the debilitating symptoms of ALS. Gleason's connections to the team and to Pamphilon allowed the documentarian to be in the room with the Saints defense ahead of New Orleans' 36-32 playoff loss to San Francisco in January. ''The Saints have been incredibly open and supportive of me and my family during my disease progression,'' Gleason wrote. ''From my perspective, the Saints have helped begin to shift the paradigm of how an NFL team should treat its players after retirement.'' ''I included Sean Pamphilon in some of these activities, because I felt my relationship with the Saints was an integral part of my overall journey,'' Gleason said in the statement posted Friday. ''The Saints trusted me and gave us unlimited access in filming, and I, in turn, trusted Sean Pamphilon.'' Gleason said there was an agreement that he and his family would own the rights to any recordings made of his interaction with the Saints and that ''nothing can be released without my explicit approval.'' ''I did not authorize the public release of any recordings,'' Gleason continued. Williams is suspended indefinitely for his admitted role overseeing a bounty system that rewarded Saints defenders with cash for painful hits during his tenure with the team from 2009 to 2011. The assistant coach left New Orleans after the playoff loss and was hired as defensive coordinator by the St. Louis Rams. The recording, which Pamphilon posted on one of his promotional websites, purports to capture Williams telling players to ''put a lick'' on 49ers receiver Kyle Williams to see if he had lingering effects from a concussion. 'KILL THE HEAD' NFL commissioner must fight war on bounties by banning Gregg Williams for life, Mark Kriegel says. Williams also tells his players to ''beat (running back) Frank Gore's head,'' and ''lay out'' quarterback Alex Smith. He also reminds his players that receiver Michael Crabtree ''becomes human when we . . . take out that outside ACL,'' a reference to the anterior cruciate ligament in the receiver's knee. Pamphilon was immediately slammed on Twitter Thursday by Saints cornerback Malcolm Jenkins for apparently compromising Gleason. "Sean Pamphilon is a coward and should be ashamed for taking advantage of Steve Gleason! How much did u get paid for that audio?" Jenkins wrote before deleting the message from his Twitter account. Pamphilon did not respond to messages left by The Associated Press. He told The New Orleans Times-Picayune he was compelled to make the tape public because of the bounty scandal, and also was concerned about violent play filtering down to youth football. "If this story hadn't broken and been made public, I would not have shared this," he said in a statement. "I would not have compromised my personal relationships and risked damaging Steve Gleason's relationship with the Saints. I would have crafted these words and sentiments for another forum, perhaps years down the road." He added, "If it weren't for the fact I feel deeply that parents of children playing football MUST pay attention to the influence of men who will sacrifice their kids for W's, I would not have written this." The NFL's bounty probe has led to unprecedented punishment for the Saints, including the suspension of coach Sean Payton for the entire 2012 season. Commissioner Roger Goodell also handed down suspensions of eight games for general manager Mickey Loomis and six games for assistant head coach Joe Vitt. The team was fined $500,000 and docked second-round draft picks this year and next. The Saints met with Goodell in New York to appeal all of those sanctions on Thursday, and the commissioner is expected to either affirm or modify his initial ruling in the coming days. The NFL's report on the bounty program also found between 22 and 27 Saints defenders participated, but a couple of those who played in New Orleans during the period in question told the AP they take issue with how the system has been portrayed. The players spoke on condition of anonymity because the NFL has not decided how to punish players connected to the improper bonus program. ''I don't feel like anything was ever literal,'' one of the players said, referring to the way coaches like Williams and teammates spoke of brutalizing opponents. ''There's a pretty good sense of fraternity around the league, and players generally understand and respect the bounds of the game. But it takes a lot of passion to play football, and the tough talk was more about getting players in the right mind-frame to go out and do their job.'' The players also said it's common around the league to participate in incentive pools and to discuss testing an opposing player's threshold for pain, particularly when he has a known injury. ''When it was spoken about — and it was spoken about on every team — it's more along the lines of: `Tom Brady has sore ribs, so let's test him out. Let's test out his ribs,''' the second player said. ''You're just trying to win the game,'' the player continued. ''It's a business and we want to attack our competing business' weakness.''"

"  GEORGETOWN, Texas (AP) Tim Tebow drew a crowd of about 15,000 to an outdoor Easter church service Sunday, telling the gathering it's important to be outspoken about faith while admonishing athletes about not being better role models. BREAKING TEBOW! THE LATEST NEWS Tebow vies with Peyton, Elway Jets to use QB on special teams? Tebow named to most influential list Tebow booed at Yankee Stadium Nike, Reebok settle apparel fight Will Hollywood corrupt Tebow? FULL! TIM! TEBOW! COVERAGE! ''In Christianity, it's the Pope and Tebow right now,'' Celebration Church pastor Joe Champion he said. ''We didn't have enough room to handle the Pope.'' Tebow - devout Christian, backup NFL quarterback and cultural phenomenon - has a flock of admirers drawn as much to his religious leanings as his Heisman Trophy skills. Tebow told them he welcomed the attention on his convictions as well as the ''Tebowing'' prayer pose he often strikes on the field because it puts his faith and prayer in the public conversation. ''It's being talked about,'' he said. ''That's exciting.'' Some at the ''Easter on the Hill'' morning service under sunny skies about 20 miles north of Austin drove more 100 miles to hear Tebow speak. The service took on the feel of a rock concert with more than a 100 school buses shuttling people to the sprawling mega-church campus from local shopping centers and the nearby college. The service was peppered with lively Christian rock songs and Tebow took the large stage to cheers from those who could see him while others toward the back watched on massive video screens. He sat for a 20-minute interview with Champion to talk about his faith and its role in his public life. ''It's OK to be outspoken about your faith,'' Tebow said. He also took a shot at professional athletes who insist they are not role models. ''Yes you are. You're just not a good one,'' Tebow said. Champion asked Tebow what he thought needed to change culturally in America. ''First and foremost is what this country was based on: one nation under God. The more that we can get back to that,'' Tebow said to applause. Although church officials had said they typically get their biggest crowds on Easter, Tebow was clearly the big draw Sunday. Several hundred started heading toward the exits after Tebow spoke, not waiting for Champion's main Sunday sermon so they could avoid the 80-degree heat and beat the traffic. Some couldn't wait for the official 8 a.m. opening to the church grounds and showed up hours early. Debbie Sandoval and her husband and two sons arrived before sunrise. They wore Tebow's Jets jerseys and set up camp close the large soundstage with a row of chairs. TEBOW IN ACTION Take a look at Tim Tebow's work on the field during his big 2011 season. ''I love that boy. ... He's like my third son,'' said Sandoval, who is not a regular member of the church but wasn't going to miss a chance to hear Tebow speak. A self-described ''lifelong Broncos fan,'' Sandoval said she became a Jets fan because of Tebow. The quarterback led the Broncos to the playoffs last season and was acquired by the Jets in a trade March 21. ''Everything about this young man's extraordinary life is special,'' Sandoval said. Amanda O'Hara drove about 100 miles from San Antonio on Saturday and got to the church about 4:30 a.m. ''to be one of the first ones here.'' ''I only got about four hours sleep, I was so excited,'' O'Hara said. ''He doesn't hide who he is. Parents should see him as a role model.'' The crow included people dressed in Easter bunny costumes and one person dressed as the Sesame Street character Elmo. About an hour before the service, Elmo dropped to a knee with a toddler boy to mimic Tebow's prayer pose. Media access to the event was tightly controlled inside the roped off field. Reporters and photographers were required to have an escort when walking through the crowd before the service. Television cameras were allowed to record only a portion of Tebow's speech and no live video streaming of the service was permitted. Church officials initially expected up to 20,000 and said Tebow's appearance on Easter Sunday was coincidental. Church spokeswoman Tara Wall said it was Tebow who reached out to Champion with a request to appear and Sunday was the best date available. Mike Benaglio and his wife, Debbie, sat on a blanket. ''I'm a fan of any pro athlete who stands up for his faith,'' he said. ''We're thrilled to be part of this. It's not about football. Whatever gets more people over to the cross, I'm in favor of.''"

"  San Francisco safety Donte Whitner didn’t need proof that Gregg Williams was targeting 49ers players entering last season’s playoff matchup against the New Orleans Saints. NFL BOUNTY SCANDAL Players suspended for roles in scandal Czar: Vilma can turn to courts NFL denies Saints' appeal Vikings duo rips Williams Director defends release of audio Whitner: Saints 'tried to knock QB out' Report: Tape captured bounty offer Payton meets with Parcells Saints' punishment ushers in new era Sapp claims Shockey is whistleblower NFL hands down severe penalties Players react at NFLPA meeting NFL's statement regarding Saints Williams apologizes, accepts discipline Fisher: Williams punishment warranted Czar: How severe are the penalties? Glazer: Breaking down punishment Goodell orders bounties to end Was it worth it for Saints? League pinpoints Rodgers bounty--> Whitner sensed something was amiss with how the Saints and their disgraced former defensive coordinator were conducting business long before the New Orleans bounty scandal and audio proof of Williams extolling his players to injure specific 49ers during a pre-game speech were revealed. Whitner’s suspicions stemmed from a preseason game between the two teams in August. Speaking with me and co-host Jim Miller on Sirius XM NFL Radio, Whitner remembered that Williams called an inordinately high number of blitzes for a preseason contest. Saints head coach Sean Payton had reportedly become upset that 49ers head coach Jim Harbaugh wouldn’t discuss how he would use his starters so New Orleans could allocate play-time for its first-stringers accordingly. Saints radio broadcaster Jim Henderson told a Houston radio station (1560 the Game), “When that didn’t occur, Sean just said to Gregg, ‘Let the dogs out.’” “I remember sitting on the sideline early in the game and watching the Saints send safety blitz after safety blitz, six- and seven-man blitzes trying to knock our quarterback out,” Whitner said Thursday. “I don’t know if it’s true that Sean Payton got mad at coach Harbaugh for not giving him some type of agreement on how much he was going to play his starters in a preseason game. Coach Harbaugh said, ‘I don’t have to give you an agreement. This is a competition league.’ “I guess (Payton) got mad and wanted to test some of our protections. We were a new team and this was one of our first games and they tried to knock our quarterback out.” Williams tried wreaking more havoc during last January’s second-round playoff contest. Yahoo! Sports obtained audio of the pre-game speech that captures Williams advocating Saints players target Michael Crabtree’s knee and test whether fellow wideout Kyle Williams was fully recovered from concussions he had suffered earlier in the season. Sean Pamphilon, a documentary producer who provided the audio, also told Yahoo that Gregg Williams rubbed his fingers together to indicate a cash reward for whoever knocked 49ers quarterback Alex Smith out of the game. Such behavior would be consistent with an NFL investigation that revealed Williams as the ringleader of a Saints bounty program between 2009 and 2011. It also indicates that Williams paid no heed to a warning given to the Saints by league officials before the playoffs to eliminate the bounties if they hadn’t done so already. Williams, who is now defensive coordinator in St. Louis, was suspended indefinitely last month by NFL commissioner Roger Goodell. Payton (one season), general manager Mickey Loomis (eight games) and assistant head coach Joe Vitt (six games) also were sanctioned. The trio met with Goodell at league headquarters Thursday to appeal the suspensions. Goodell has said he would make an expedited ruling after the hearing was conducted. ARE YA READY? Get up to date on the latest NFL Draft info. Watch videos. Williams has opted not to appeal his suspension. But if you ask Whitner, Goodell didn’t go far enough with his punishment. “Those are my teammates,” Whitner said. “If those things are true, I think it’s really disgusting and something should be done about it to a higher extreme than what is (already done). You’re out there intending to hurt guys. This is their careers and how they take care of their families. “When you target guys specifically and aim to hurt, I think the penalty should be stiff. If we as players were to intentionally hit people with our helmets and get fined and suspended, eventually you’d probably not play in the league again. Everyone should be held to the same standard. It’s also in the rulebook. You cannot put bounties on guys or talk that way, put monetary value or anything of the sort.” Whitner, who played with Buffalo from 2006 to 2011 before signing with San Francisco last year, said he has never participated on a team that ran a bounty system. Whitner also said 49ers coaches don’t include highlights of hits that injure opposing players in the team’s internal post-game highlight film because “it’s a little vicious. You never want to see a guy get injured or praise a guy (causing) injury. You want to praise a guy for making plays but not for injuring guys.” Whitner did admit San Francisco will sometimes try to use an opposing player’s injury to their advantage. For example, the 49ers had a specific plan on how to defend New York Giants wide receiver Hakeem Nicks when they knew he entered last November’s game with a sore hamstring. Nicks was limited to two receptions for 41 yards and one touchdown. “We knew we could get up in his face and jam him and he really couldn’t get the deep ball,” Whitner said. “But we’re not out there to hurt guys. If a guy has a concussion, we’re not out there trying to hit him in the head. If he has a (surgically repaired anterior cruciate ligament), we’re not trying to hit him in the knee to see if his ACL is OK. “When you do that and you’re aiming to hurt a guy, you might mess up out there. If you’re going to make a tackle and you’re really thinking about hurting a guy’s knee or whatever, you might miss. When you’re on the field, you don’t really have time to think about other guys’ injuries. But to intentionally tell guys to hurt people and put monetary value on that, it’s just wrong.” WHAT'S SHAKING? NFL Draft is here, and we have you covered. Whitner knows his words will ring hollow to some Saints fans. Whitner delivered a helmet-to-helmet blow that knocked New Orleans running back Pierre Thomas out in the first quarter of San Francisco’s 36-32 playoff victory. Whitner, though, points to the fact that he wasn’t fined by the league for an illegal hit or penalized during the game. “I didn’t go out intentionally to hurt him,” Whitner said. “Whenever I play and somebody has the football, I want to hit them as hard as I possibly can without injuring myself and intentionally injuring them. But I want to hit you as hard as I can. It’s my job. “I’m a safety. One thing you’re supposed to do as a safety is strike fear into the opposition and impose (your will) on an offense. If you don’t have guys like that on defense, that’s when (offenses) run up and down the field and do whatever they want to do.” That’s something the 49ers were determined to prevent from happening when facing the Saints in the playoffs. “We knew taking the field that day that we were going to be the more physical team,” he said. “I remember telling myself that I was going to hit anything moving with the football that day. Talking to the guys, we were all ready to be extremely physical with the Saints (on) offense and defense. It really showed in that game. “That just shows you don’t have to put money and bounties on things to get the job done. You’ve just got to believe in each other, believe in the team, get the job done, do it as a physical and as fast as you can possibly do it, and you’ll be victorious.”"

"  There is no way to defend Gregg Williams now, no way to hear those words on tape and not acknowledge that the former defensive coordinator of the New Orleans Saints crossed lines in ways that not only deserved, but demanded significant punishment. NFL BOUNTY SCANDAL Players suspended for roles in scandal Czar: Vilma can turn to courts NFL denies Saints' appeal Vikings duo rips Williams Director defends release of audio Whitner: Saints 'tried to knock QB out' Report: Tape captured bounty offer Payton meets with Parcells Saints' punishment ushers in new era Sapp claims Shockey is whistleblower NFL hands down severe penalties Players react at NFLPA meeting NFL's statement regarding Saints Williams apologizes, accepts discipline Fisher: Williams punishment warranted Czar: How severe are the penalties? Glazer: Breaking down punishment Goodell orders bounties to end Was it worth it for Saints? League pinpoints Rodgers bounty--> Whatever you thought of Bountygate before — and the notion that everyone in the NFL operates this way has been a persistent undercurrent in all this — the release of Williams’ speech from the night before a January playoff game against the 49ers should end any argument that the either the Saints or Williams have been treated unfairly here. Many of Williams’ instructions fall somewhere between harmless metaphor and cheap theatrics, and if only he had stopped there, the tape — released by a documentary filmmaker who was granted significant access to the Saints last season — wouldn’t be a fraction as damning. But a coach in the NFL cannot tell his players to “find out in the first two series of the game … about his concussion,” a reference to 49ers receiver Kyle Williams. He can’t tell them to “take out that outside ACL,” in his scouting report on receiver Michael Crabtree. And he certainly can’t suggest a payday — “I got the first one,” Williams says in the tape, while allegedly making the cash signal with his fingers — while talking about putting head shots on quarterback Alex Smith. So in that sense, it’s good that the veil has been lifted completely on the viciousness and illegality of the bounty system Gregg Williams ran with the Saints. We now can see it exactly for what it was, and it was disgusting. He should never coach in the NFL again. But the release of this tape Thursday, via Mike Silver of Yahoo! Sports, might have a consequence that serves the NFL’s interests far more than any notion of improving player safety. Because the more we learn about Bountygate, the more heat gets directed toward Williams and Saints coach Sean Payton and the less the NFL has to acknowledge the possibility this might be a cultural issue on a much larger scale. Clearly Gregg Williams’ methods were way out of control, and the degrees and methods may be different, but the former Saints defensive coordinator may not be as much of a rogue as the NFL wants you to believe. ARE YA READY? Get up to date on the latest NFL Draft info. Watch videos. See, it was only a couple weeks later, after the Giants beat the 49ers in the NFC championship game, that two of their defensive players also referenced Kyle Williams’ concussion history. “He’s had a lot of concussions,” Devin Thomas told the Newark Star-Ledger. “We were just like, ‘We gotta put a hit on that guy. (Tyler) Sash did a great job hitting him early, and he looked kind of dazed when he got up. I feel like that made a difference and he coughed it up.” Said linebacker Jacquian Williams: “The thing is, we knew he had four concussions, so that was our biggest thing, to take him out of the game.” This didn’t get much attention during Super Bowl week, and in fact when I asked general manager Jerry Reese about it, he smugly dismissed my question as “so oversensationalized.” Had the Bountygate story been public at that time, I suspect Reese’s reaction might have been slightly different. Or maybe not. Because the worse this gets for Gregg Williams and the Saints — and it’s hard to imagine it getting worse than this — the more the NFL can claim that they had a franchise operating on the margins and dealt with it in a swift and serious manner. Given that the NFL is fighting a slew of lawsuits from former players alleging negligence by the league in dealing with concussions and their long-term impact, it’s a predictable strategy. Remember, no reporter broke this story. The NFL chose to make its investigation public, allowing commissioner Roger Goodell to make a strong stand by suspending Williams indefinitely and Payton for the entire 2012 season. THE DAILY The Daily is the first daily national news publication created for the iPad. For more, click here. Every step of this has been orchestrated, every detail intended to paint the Saints as a renegade organization with a locker room culture run amok and Goodell as the grown-up who wants to take this whole violence thing seriously. But understand, this completely benefits Goodell and costs him nothing. After he announced the Saints’ penalties, which are significant by any measure, there was a chorus quick to compare them to the fluffy sentences NCAA violators often get. The difference is, the NCAA can never discipline its star coaches or programs too severely because it would affect the bottom line. Take Ohio State off television for a year or two and see how much money the Big Ten loses. The NCAA has no desire to get involved in something like that. The NFL can be harsh here because it doesn’t affect business at all. If anything, it makes the Saints even more of an attraction this year. Meanwhile, when Goodell gets dragged into the courtroom or perhaps in front of Congress to testify that, yes, the NFL takes its concussions seriously, he’s got a wonderful audio clip to show the kind of stuff that gets you banned from coaching football. But the NFL was, is and will always be a violent league whose mass appeal is based largely on violence. I suspect that few have ever taken it as far as Williams, but is there that big of a gulf between what he said on that tape about the 49ers and what the Giants players said publicly a couple weeks later? We’ll probably never know. If it’s up to the NFL, we’ll never have to.  "