Former Vikings guard Artis Hicks clarifies comments on bounties

Amidst allegations of operating a bounty system, the Minnesota Vikings finally got some clarification in regards to a story from former guard Artis Hicks.

Not too long ago, Deadspin did a piece on a passage from the book “Gunslinger: The Remarkable, Improbable, Iconic Life of Brett Favre” where former Minnesota Vikings guard discussed the concept of paying for taking an opposing player out of a football game.

Of course, this news shot right through the Vikings fan base. With many fans still upset about the bounty system that the New Orleans Saints had in place back in the days when Brett Favre was with Minnesota, allegations hit far too close to home.

However, The former Minnesota Vikings guard recently spoke to the Star Tribune about his statements in the book and clarified some things. Here is what he had to say:

"“I never told him any specifics,” Hicks said. “I never named names, I never said … Only thing I told him as far as specifics was I had been part of a meeting where players were amongst ourselves as part of a unit.”"

The problem with this situation is that the players involved would only have come from the same side of the ball and the ‘unit’ he was a part of. Still, the next part of the statement is a far cry from what is said in the book.

"“We kind of felt like the last time we played the team, they kind of did some dirty things to our running back or quarterback. When we played them again later in the year it was, ‘Hey, when you get a chance to get this guy, dinner is on me.’ That was as detailed as I got. Again, it was never any specifics on what team I was with or anything like that.”"

In the passage of the book, it is a cash prize that is offered, so this might be a bit of backtracking, but it also could be sensationalistic storytelling in hopes of selling more books or getting attention to an individual.

Next: Norv Turner resigns as Vikings OC

No matter what the truth is in this situation, the fact that it has to be discussed is a black eye on the team. With no other players or coaches coming forward to corroborate the story, this is one piece that should be brushed off. However, there will always be that little voice wondering how much truth there is to any part of this story.