Prison email latest piece of disputed evidence in Saints bounty scandal

An email from an imprisoned friend of the New Orleans Saints coaching staff with a postscript saying, “put me down for $5,000” on Green Bay quarterback Aaron Rodgers has become another sore point between players being punished for the Saints’ bounty system and the NFL. The email, obtained by The Associated Press, was written from prison by marketing agent Mike Ornstein shortly before the Saints’ 2011 season opener against the Packers. Ornstein once represented running back Reggie Bush and later got to know members of the Saints’ coaching staff. The majority of Ornstein’s note to the Saints discusses his experiences in prison and offers sometimes brash words of encouragement to various coaches, including then-Saints defensive coordinator Gregg Williams—who has been suspended indefinitely for leading the bounty program. The last line states: “PS Gregg Williams put me down for $5000.00 on Rogers [sic].” Ornstein says now that postscript was written “in total jest.” Ornstein was sentenced to eight months in federal prison, which he served in Florence, Colo., for conspiring to scalp Super Bowl tickets and hawking fake “game-worn” jerseys. He was released last fall. “It’s a running joke going for three years,” Ornstein now says, explaining that he had been kidding Williams about bounties ever since the NFC Championship Game in 2010, after which the Minnesota Vikings told the NFL that they believed the Saints had a bounty on quarterback Brett Favre. Read the full story here.