“Bountygate” will forever be remembered as the vicious pay-to-injure program implemented by the 2009 New Orleans Saints. Specifically, “Bountygate” became a term after the Saints brutalized former Vikings quarterback Brett Favre in the NFC Championship Game.
But the Saints weren’t the only team with a bounty on opposing players, according to a quote from former Vikings offensive lineman Artis Hicks in a new book about Favre, Deadspin says.
The Vikings had a similar system in place.
“I had coaches start a pot and all the veterans put in an extra $100, $200, and if you hurt someone special, you get the money,” Hicks said in Jeff Pearlman’s book Gunslinger: The Remarkable, Improbable, Iconic Life of Brett Favre. “There was a bottom line, and I think we all bought in: You’re there to win, and if taking out the other team’s best player helps you win, hey, it’s nothing personal. Just business.”
Hicks played for the Vikings from 2006-2009.
