Gregg Williams is a man without a home, set apart from the NFL coaching community for his involvement in the New Orleans Saints' "bounty" case.
A household name for all the wrong reasons, Williams has slipped into exile, suspended by the league indefinitely. While he's anxiously chopped down by pundits, many of his former players still stand by him.
"Gregg's a great guy," linebacker Jo-Lonn Dunbartold the St. Louis Post-Dispatch this week. "A really good person on the field, off the field."
Now with the St. Louis Rams, Dunbar played with the Saints from 2008 to 2011 and under Williams from 2009 onward. Dunbar spoke of his admiration for Gregg's son, Rams coach Blake Williams, citing both men as reasons for his move to St. Louis.
Dunbar was hazy in explaining his role in the pay-for-performance program that unfurled under Williams in New Orleans.
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"I was a young cat," he said. "I had nothing to do with that."
Required here is a closer explanation of how Dunbar or any Saints defensive player -- at any stage in their career -- coexisted with teammates during the heyday of the "bounty" program without knowledge or a sense of involvement. Dunbar wouldn't say much about the suspensions handed down to Williams, Sean Payton and Co.
"That's not something I can handle," he said. "(Commissioner Roger) Goodell thought that was the punishment that was needed for that, and I respect that."
We know league suspensions for Saints players loom heavy -- Rosenthal gave us the lowdown Friday -- but we don't know how wide-ranging those punishments will be. The league's stance on guilty parties will serve as the next chapter in what's become the biggest story of a drama-heavy offseason.
