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Dan Campbell, Detroit Lions Accused Of Running 'Bounty Program'

Originally posted on The Spun | By Tzvi Machlin | Last updated Dec 6, 2024 10:59 AM ET

The Detroit Lions won a hard-fought battle over the rival Green Bay Packers to clinch their playoff berth and extend their lead in the NFC North title race last night. But there were a few plays the team made in the winning effort that has opposing fans accusing them of running a "bounty" program.

One particular play that has fans from almost everywhere pretty miffed is a tackle attempt that Lions safety Kerby Joseph tried to make on Packers tight end Tucker Kraft late in the third quarter. Joseph dove right at Kraft's leg in a move that could have seriously injured Kraft if the Packers pass catcher hadn't had the wherewithal to jump out of the way before the impact.

While Kraft was able to avoid any injuries, fans are of the opinion that Joseph was not only attempting to injure him, but did so at the behest of head coach Dan Campbell. Some used Campbell's prior association with Gregg Williams during the infamous Bountygate Scandal in the early-2010s as their proof:

I've never seen a team so brazenly attempt to injure opposing players like Dan Campbell's Lions...

I guess I shouldn't be surprised after Campbell was a part of Bountygate. pic.twitter.com/wKV1xfBR7W
— Eli Berkovits (@BookOfEli_NFL) December 6, 2024

In 2012 it was revealed that the Saints' then-defensive coordinator Gregg Williams was reportedly paying as many as two dozen players extra money for injuring opposing players during games.

Williams was ultimately suspended indefinitely, while then-head coach Sean Payton and other members of the Saints organization received lengthy suspensions and punishments of their own.

Campbell was a reserve tight end for the Saints in 2009, when the Saints first hired Williams. He did not play that year so he never could have been in a position to even engage in the bounties that Williams put on opposing players.

The following year, Campbell began his coaching career, moving to Miami to become an assistant for the Dolphins, where he would stay until 2015. He returned to the Saints in 2016, but Williams was long gone by then.

Suffice it to say, Campbell probably didn't have as much of an association with Bountygate as fans would like to believe.

This article first appeared on The Spun and was syndicated with permission.

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