Did the Kansas City Chiefs have a bounty program in the same way the New Orleans Saints did? Some players admit and say it's a league-wide trend. Others swear they've never seen or been a part of such a thing. Terdell Sands, a former NFL defensive tackle for the Raiders and Chiefs among others, says that he never saw an official "bounty" program going on, but that defenses are there to do what they do -- no matter what you call it.
"If you were playing the Colts, everybody knew the best way to win the game was to take Peyton Manning out," said Sands to the Chattanooga Times Free Press. "I mean, I wish you couldn't play because you had gotten food poisoning instead, but now you're on the field so I have to take you out. We don't want them hurt to the point that they never play again, but we want them out of the game because it helps my team's chances of winning."
"If they hadn't used that word 'bounty,' it wouldn't be any different than what goes on with a lot of other teams," Sands said. "There's a code among other players. We all know we want the other team's best player out of the game. That's just understood. And if a guy gets hurt, better him than me is how most of us looked at it."
Sands' honest assessment is likely the "middle ground" that most players are going to end up talking about.