Saints GM and coach admit blame

Published: Mar 06, 2012 at 10:29 AM

New Orleans Saints coach Sean Payton and general manager Mickey Loomis have taken "full responsibility" for the bounty program run by former assistant coach Gregg Williams.

In a statement released Tuesday, Payton and Loomis admit violations of league rules "happened under our watch." They also promised it would never happen again.

Payton and Loomis say Saints owner Tom Benson "had nothing to do" with the bounty pool.

The league's investigation found that Benson told Loomis to stop the bounty program once the NFL alerted the owner about it, but Loomis did not act. The NFL also said Payton was aware of the program and did nothing to stop it.

Williams now is defensive coordinator for the St. Louis Rams. He met with NFL security officials on Monday as the league continues investigating the bounties.

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