Buddy Ryan can thank the Saints for making him a little less infamous today.
The NFL’s blockbuster revelation yesterday that New Orleans violated league rules by running an organized bounty program under former defensive coordinator Gregg Williams the past three seasons evoked memories of Ryan’s notorious “Bounty Bowl” games with the Cowboys as coach of the Eagles in 1989.
Dallas coach Jimmy Johnson alleged Ryan had put a bounty on Troy Aikman and Cowboys kicker Luis Zendejas before the Eagles’ Thanksgiving Day trip to Texas Stadium that season, and Zendejas ended up leaving that 27-0 Eagles rout because of a concussion from a suspect hit by linebacker Jessie Small on a kickoff.
The teams met two weeks later at Philadelphia’s Veterans Stadium in what CBS — which was broadcasting the game — dubbed “Bounty Bowl II,” but bounties for hits ended up taking a back seat that day to snowballs and other debris Eagles fans hurled at the Cowboys, the officiating crew, the CBS announcers and even their own players.
Johnson’s allegations were never proven, however, and Rex Ryan’s father escaped punishment from the NFL after an investigation by the league.
Contrary to the lore, Buddy Ryan isn’t the reason for the league’s bounty rule. An NFL spokesman said the rule had been in place for decades before the Eagles-Cowboys fracas to prevent what the league calls “non-contract bonuses.”
bhubbuch@nypost.com