Can someone please explain to me how a league that prides itself on having the biggest and baddest men in the world and the largest concentration of testosterone and pituitary disorders this side of big and tall shop - can start fining their employees for doing their job? I understand that the league needs to protect it's players and I am just as supportive of rules banning any action with malicious intent as the next guy, but I don't think it's out of line to say that the way these rules are being implemented is taking America's sport (not baseball - America's REAL sport) and making it softer than a Coldplay concert.
There's a time and a place that these fines and suspensions are perfectly justifiable. It really isn't difficult to judge when a guy goes in with his head down, intent on shattering a skull, as opposed to when a perfectly reasonable hit goes wrong by fault of the victim themselves. I understand that the NFL needs to make an example out of certain players in order to end this trend of intentional cheap shots but it's to the point where league officals are basically penalizing players if they don't apologize and make sure their counterparts are going to be alright (you've seen women's soccer before).
By now I'm sure it's safe to assume that anyone interested in reading this knows enough about the current state of the NFL to know what I'm referring to but just in case you tend to hang out with the "indoor kids," and don't care about the things you should care about - allow me to explain.
In week 6 of the NFL season, a string of malicious helmet-to-helmet hits lead to a number of concussions (most notably suffered by Philadelphia wide-out Desean Jackson, Baltimore tight-end Todd Heap, and Cleveland wide-out Josh Cribbs) and an alarming realization for the league higher-ups. Obviously you can't stand by and watch defenseless players get steamrolled over and over and not interject, so the NFL announced that these hits wouldn't go unpunished and that if the trend continues, suspensions will be a factor. As it unfolded, the responsible parties were fined anywhere from $50,000 to $75,000 in week 6 and it appeared that lessons were learned and the problem would fix itself....which I feel it has, but the NFL feels that it needs to continue to promote powderpuff football.
Case in point, Myron Pryor's hit on Brett Favre in the 4th quarter of the Patriot's week 8 matchup against the Vikings. It was a punishing blow for grandpa Favre, no doubt about that, but Pryor followed every rule that the league has imposed on would be tacklers. Unfortunately for Pryor, after making contact with Favre's chest, the top of his helmet slid underneath the quarterback's facemask and left a solid gash on the old man's chin. Considering the fact that this was a clear accident and was not meant to be malicious at all, you would think it would go unpunished, but this assumption fails to recognize that a quarterback in the NFL is treated like the kid with asthma in gym class. Because it's Brett Favre and because he's a quarterback the league feels that he needs to be protected. Don't mind the fact that he is meant to be a physical specimen as a professional athlete and that he's played with a broken thumb, broken ankles, and basically any other injury imaginable, but I'm sure that a little cut on the chin merits a $7500 fine from the Pryor. I'm so glad the league and myself see eye to eye.
It is ridiculous to punish this guy because the laws of friction, as it turns out, exist beyond a textbook. (who would've thought?!) His helmet slid underneath the facemask after making contact with the chest, but apparently the NFL believes that momentum ceases to exist as soon as contact is made with another force. With the league tossing out fines like this, as minimal as they seem given the average salary in the NFL, how can anyone expect the excitement of the game to remain? I would never imply that players getting hurt adds to this excitement, obviously that isn't the case and the injuries that have occurred are a very unfortunate byproduct of a game that revolves around physical abuse. But how can we punish these guys for doing what they were taught to do and what the league had supported before all of this? Even in tonight's game, Austin Collie was knocked unconscious and gave the football world quite a scare, but Eagles safety Quintin Mikell was in the wrong spot at the wrong time. Collie and Mikell simultaneously dropped their heads and before either one could adjust for what was coming, contact was made and Collie was out cold.
So should Mikell be punished because as he went in for the tackle Collie was bracing himself for contact and lowered his head? Absolutely not. But the NFL feels differently. They will most likely fine Mikell simply because Collie sustained a head injury as a result of his hit, and that just isn't right. What the NFL is doing is trying to please a player's union that is constantly calling for medical aid for former professional athletes for long term injuries as a result of the game. That's a story for a different day, but the moral of this one is that the NFL needs to stop throwing out fines anytime a head injury occurs and start suspending players when they clearly violate the rules and have malicious intent. It's not difficult to recognize, it's just a matter of common sense. Figure it out Goodell.
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