New Orleans Saints head football coach was suspended without pay for the entire 2012 football season by NFL commissioner Roger Goodell Wednesday, reported ESPN.com.
Payton was suspended for his participation in a bounty program where the Saints paid their players to deliberately injure opposing players, reported sportsillustrated.com.
This is the first time the NFL has suspended a head coach, according to ESPN.com.
Other people receiving suspensions were former Saints defensive coordinator Gregg Williams, who was suspended indefinitely, general manager Mickey Loomis, eight games, and assistant coach Joe Vitt, six games, according to sportsillustrated.com
The Saints organization must also pay a $500,000 fine and will forfeit second-round draft picks in 2012 and '13, said sportsilustrated.com.
Payton's season long suspension will cost him $7.5 million, according to ESPN.com. Payton also had incentives that could have boosted his salary during the season.
The NFL said 22 to 27 defensive players were involved in the bounty and targets included quarterbacks Aaron Rodgers, Cam Newton, Brett Favre, and Kurt Warner, according to ESPN.com.
Goodell made all owners make sure that none of their teams had bounty systems going on now. Also each teams owner and head coach must certify in writing that no pay-for-performance system exists by March 30, according to ESPN.com
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