Chiefs’ Brad Childress denies involvement with bounty program in Minnesota
A new book claims that a bounty system was put in place in Minnesota during Chiefs co-offensive coordinator Brad Childress’ five-year tenure as the Vikings’ head coach.
In an excerpt from “Gunslinger: The Remarkable, Improbable, Iconic Life of Brett Favre” (which was posted on Deadspin), offensive lineman Artis Hicks claimed that a bounty system, where “piles of money were regular collected — then distributed as rewards — for injuring opposing stars,” was “just part of the culture.”
Hicks played offensive line for the Vikings from 2006 to 2009, which coincides with the majority of Childress’ tenure as head coach.
But on Thursday, during his bi-weekly availability with the Chiefs media, Childress — who was the Vikings’ head coach from 2006 to 2010 — denied any involvement.
“I had a great opportunity to coach a lot of great people there, including Artis Hicks, at the Minnesota Vikings,” Childress said. “I have too much respect for the Wilf family, professional football to have anything to do with a bounty system. So let it stand at that.”
Ben Leber, a linebacker for the Vikings at the time, also refuted the claims on Twitter.
To refute the rumor, I never heard of any bounty program existing within #Vikings locker room. We had incentives for big plays, not injuries
— Ben Leber (@nacholeber) October 26, 2016
Childress was fired during the 2010 season. After sitting out the 2011 season, he spent a year as the Cleveland Browns’ offensive coordinator before joining the Chiefs as a spread-game analyst and special projects coach.
This offseason, he was promoted to co-offensive coordinator, along with quarterbacks coach Matt Nagy.
Terez A. Paylor: 816-234-4489, @TerezPaylor. Download Red Zone Extra, The Star’s Chiefs app.
This story was originally published October 27, 2016 at 2:12 PM with the headline "Chiefs’ Brad Childress denies involvement with bounty program in Minnesota."