By Tim Heitman, US PRESSWIRE
(PhatzRadio / USA Today) — It’s not clear whether former Saints fullback Mike Karney was a target of a Saints bounty or not.
He was featured in a power point slide that was part of bounty evidence revealed by the NFL, but the content seems to denigrate his contributions rather than call for his injury.
What is clear is the lack of love the retired Karney feels for the Saints. He was cut after the 2008 season, and declared the organization “evil” when told of his place in the evidence.
“Evil does not prevail,” Karney told the New Orleans Times Picayune. “Everything in life eventually comes back to you full circle. It brought them a Super Bowl championship (in 2009). But it also brought them a lot of bad baggage. There’s a lot of evil in that organization.”
The NFL says the slide was shown in a Saints defensive meeting prior to a game vs. St. Louis in 2009, where Karney landed after being released by the team on the night of the rehearsal dinner for his wedding.
The slide showed photos of Karney under the headline “MIKE (EXPLETIVE) KARNEY,” and read:
“One game is a small sample size. Two consecutive games might be a trend. According to Mike Sando’s latest post on ESPN, the Rams averaged only 1.5 yards per carry with Karney as a lead blocker in Games… and 8.6 (yards per carry) from a single-back set.
“Though St. Louis Rams fullback Mike Karney says he has ‘moved on’ from the insensitive timing of his release by Saints officials eight months ago, it appears the cut hasn’t completely healed.”
Karney says the sting of his release remains, and he was flattered by what he interpreted as having a bounty put on him.
“I’ve never seen anything like that before in all my years in the league,” Karney said Thursday.. “It’s ridiculous. I look at it like this. I must have done something really well when I was there for them to put a bounty on me.”
