Source: Gregg Williams instructed Saints during speech to injure Niners offensive players
The night before Gregg Williams’ final game as the New Orleans Saints’ defensive coordinator, the since-suspended coach gave a fiery speech to the team’s defensive players during which he made specific references to inflicting physical punishment upon several San Francisco 49ers in a postseason game the next day.
In the speech at the team’s hotel near the San Francisco Airport, Williams – according to documentary filmmaker Sean Pamphilon – at one point made a hand signal suggesting he would personally pay for a ferocious shot on 49ers quarterback Alex Smith.
Williams also referenced the prospect of his players inflicting a severe knee injury upon San Francisco wideout Michael Crabtree and exhorted them to “put a lick on” backup receiver Kyle Williams in an effort to “find out” if he was still suffering from the effects of a late-December concussion
Williams’ speech, delivered less than two months before the Saints’ bounty scandal became public, was revealed to Yahoo! Sports by Pamphilon, who had access to various team functions for much of the 2011 season.
Pamphilon, who directed the critically acclaimed “Run Ricky Run” documentary for ESPN, is working on a project featuring former Saints special teams ace Steve Gleason, who is suffering from ALS. Pamphilon has released an audio recording of the profanity-laced speech (also obtained and listened to by Yahoo! Sports) on his website and said he believes “there’s no doubt at all” that Williams put a bounty on Smith in the meeting.
Said Pamphilon: “At one point Williams says, ‘We hit [expletive] Smith right there’ – then he points under his chin [and continues] – ‘remember me.’ Then he rubs his thumb against his index and middle fingers – the cash sign – and says, ‘I got the first one. I got the first one. Go get it. Go lay that [expletive] out.’
Two weeks ago Williams, who left the Saints days after their 36-32 playoff defeat to the Niners to become the St. Louis Rams’ defensive coordinator, was suspended for at least the 2012 season by NFL commissioner Roger Goodell. Williams did not return voice and text messages left Wednesday on his mobile phone.
Early in the 12-minute speech, Williams told his players, “Kill the head, the body will die” – one of the coach’s signature phrases, according to numerous current and former Saints defenders. In this case, Williams designated 49ers halfback Frank Gore as “the head” and then ratcheted up the rhetoric.
“We’ve got to do everything in the world to make sure we kill Frank Gore’s head,” Williams told the players. “We want him running sideways. We want his head sideways.”
Then, referencing backup halfback Kendall Hunter, Williams continued: “Little 32, we want to knock the [expletive] out of him. He has no idea what he’s in for. When he’s on the sideline, we’ve gotta turn that [expletive] over, turn their coaches over, turn the spectators over. Go and get that [expletive] on the sidelines.”
After talking about the prospect of players laying a “remember me” shot on Smith, Williams said, “We’re gonna swarm. We’re gonna dominate the line of scrimmage. And we’re gonna kill the [expletive] head. Every single one of you, before you get off the pile, affect the head … continue to touch and affect the head.”
