Thoughts on the NFL recent fines

[Guest jimmy no nose]

It appears that over the past few weeks the NFL has been handing out a lot of fines for helmet-led hits including a huge $75000 fine to Darren Woodson which comes out of his $750000 pay check for the year. Also Rodney Harrison was suspended for a helmet-to-helmet hit. I looked into this, and as I looked over all the other guys being fined for similar stuff I noticed that the players were all safties. Added to the above two are Kenoy Kennedy(also suspended) and Brian Dawkins(another huge fine). Now, something is obviously going on. Either all of the dirtiest players in the league play safety, or this is just something that is going to happen when you're trying to come up and make an open field tackle. I really think the NFL has to look into this. If this continues a lot of safeties are going to be afraid of making a big hit because they don't want to lose several games worth of pay. What do you guys think of these fines, are they justified? Can these type of hits be avoided while trying to be a good safety? Is this part of the position, or just a dirty bunch of players?

[Guest Bosstones Fan]

Eh, the NFL is a bunch of anal retentive suits who are more concerned with their precious corporate image than putting a good quality product on the field.

 

Football is by nature a violent game and any unnecessary attempts to "reign in" the violence factor will only serve to dilute the game by pussyfying to a point where it's nothing more than glorified flag football. Receivers getting blasted when going over the middle is part of the game, and nothing the league can do will change that.

 

I shudder to think how many fines Mr. Jack Lambert might get hit with if he played in today's NFL. The Steelers would probably just have to send his checks directly to the NFL offices...

[Guest razazteca]

the fines are justified as the NFL is making examples of these players as the league will not tolerate helmet-to-helmet hits. These hits can cause concussions and severe head injury.

[Guest El Satanico]

Use any excuse you want but the fines on hits are getting out of control. The only example that NFL is giving from this is that "we will not tolerate any big hit and if you give anyone a hard hit you will probably be fined".

[Guest razazteca]

if it prevents injury in the future then the fines are justified. Did'nt the Eagle who got fined hurt his shoulder in the process?

 

Spears to the head should be not be tolerated, if it was the Edge variety then who cares right.

[Guest El Satanico]

Problem is that few of the hits that have been fined were hits to the head. On most of the hits the head or face contact was incidental often caused by the reciever lowing his head.

 

Helmet to helmet hits where the guy was aimed at the other guys head the entire time should be fined. But this year the NFL has said we will likely fine any hard hit.

 

What reason do they have to fine the Eagles player that dislocated the shoulder of the Giants player. That wasn't even close to the head, it just happened to be a big hit that hit in just the right spot. Player going across the middle will always get the shit knocked out him, but now the NFL decides to fine for it.

 

Football is a tough game, so why does the NFL keep trying to water it down making it a "safe sport" when it's impossible. It's bad enough how they overly protect the QB, but i can accept it since they are important and aren't really prepared to take a beating. But come on now they are going out of their way to overly protect a WR.

[Guest razazteca]

in the Eagles game the pass was thrown away over the WR then the Safety came in for a late hit and hurt himself.

[Guest Leena]

I think it's a little on both sides.

 

Players today are launching themselves at players with the crown of their helmets, instead of tackling how they should. That puts both players' health in jeopardy.

 

The fines being put down are not being done correctly, however. The hit Kenoy Kennedy did was legal. He aimed his helmet at the ball, but he glanced off the receiver's shoulder/arm and got the bottom of his face mask. Kennedy was fined purely because he was fined before.

 

Then there was a hit I specifically remember in the Detroit-Buffalo game, where Travis Henry fumbled when he took a helmet shot right to head... and nothing was done about that.

 

I think the players' are out of the control with these hits, but they aren't being dealt with correctly either, IMO.

[Guest kkktookmybabyaway]

"Either all of the dirtiest players in the league play safety, or this is just something that is going to happen when you're trying to come up and make an open field tackle."

 

I agree with the second reason. All they have to do is sit back, read the coverage and POW!

 

I haven't seen the hits in question, so I can't comment. If they violated league rules, then fine 'em. If not, then don't...

[Guest El Hijo Del Lunatic]

Football is by nature a violent game and any unnecessary attempts to "reign in" the violence factor will only serve to dilute the game by pussyfying to a point where it's nothing more than glorified flag football. Receivers getting blasted when going over the middle is part of the game, and nothing the league can do will change that.

 

I almost agree with you. I can't get enough of hard-hitting, smash-mouth football. But there's a right way to hit someone, and a wrong way. And if you hurt somebody by hitting them the wrong way, you should be punished. You can make big hits without using your helmet as a weapon and trying to end someone's career. You can put someone into the ground without causing them to have a seizure after the game. If the NFL doesn't do something about hitting eith the helmet, someone's gonna get their spinal cord fucked up badly and end up in a wheelchair for the rest of their life. It's not like it's impossible.

 

What reason do they have to fine the Eagles player that dislocated the shoulder of the Giants player. That wasn't even close to the head, it just happened to be a big hit that hit in just the right spot. Player going across the middle will always get the shit knocked out him, but now the NFL decides to fine for it.

 

Are you NUTS!? Dawkins' hit was one of the worst hits I've seen in a while. Watch it again. The ball SAILS over Hilliard's head, then Dawkins takes TWO FULL STRIDES, lowers his head, and tries to put it through Hilliard's shoulder. Not only was it dirty, and not only was he using his helmet as a weapon, but the hit was WAAAY late. I like Brian Dawkins, and think he's probably one of the top five safeties in the league, but he should be on the bench for TWO games for that hit. And Dawkins isn't hurt, but Hilliard's out for the season with a shoulder separation. Disgusting.

 

The fines being put down are not being done correctly, however. The hit Kenoy Kennedy did was legal. He aimed his helmet at the ball, but he glanced off the receiver's shoulder/arm and got the bottom of his face mask. Kennedy was fined purely because he was fined before.

 

Kennedy's hit is borderline. He wasn't aiming to hit Chambers in the helmet, but he put his head down, and when you're not looking where you're going, things like that happen. You HAVE to keep your head up, otherwise you're not playing the ball.

 

Actually, it's Harrison's hit on Jerry Rice that's the cleanest. It's hard to tell if the hit is helmet-to-helmet or not. To be honest, I thought Harrison did a halfway-decent job of keeping his head up and using his forearms to deliver a blow. But Harrison's got a reputation, and that's Jerry Rice he's hitting.

 

LUNATIC

- When I'm too drunk to walk, I rock a party on crutches.

[Guest Leena]

Hitting the ball with your helmet is commonplace now, and it's the best way to cause a fumble.

 

There's no excuse for Dawkins hit, and why he wasn't suspended is beyond me. I agree with you, he should get multiple games for that blatant cheap shot.

[Guest the pinjockey]

Dawkins head was already down when the ball got to Hilliard it was a late hit but he was already committed and he did not see the ball fly over Hilliard. How is he supposed to stop himself when he already committed to the hit and is running full steam. You could tell it wasnt even that bad because the Giants weren't even too outraged. Some of them sad the hit crossed the line but there were no players yelling about how ridiculous of a cheap shot it was.

 

"I know he's an aggressive player, but I think there is a line that he crossed. He really did," Giants quarterback Kerry Collins said of Dawkins. "He knew that (Hilliard) was defenseless. I know it's football, it's part of the game, and I'm not saying he intentionally tried to hurt him because I don't think he did. ... You're not going to hear Ike say anything bad about it, but it could have and should have been avoided."

 

When that is the most damning thing said by a teammate of the injured player it wasnt that bad.

 

Also considering it was his first offense and he did not go headhunting it is ridiculous he got hit up for 50K.

[Guest Spaceman Spiff]

First off, I'm not a Cowboys fan. That being said...

 

The Woodson one is a joke. It wasn't helmet-to-helmet, Woodson hit the WR w/ his shoulder (shoulder-to-shoulder) while the WR had possession of the ball. The play got a penalty for "hitting a defenseless player" which was a joke, too.

[Guest Smell the ratings!!!]

There's a reason that Safties get the fines. A lot of these hits have been high passes, and the reciever is either reaching up for the ball, exposing himself, or in mid air. The safety is gunning for the ball when he lowers his head and he ends up going into the guy's jaw on a jump ball, or into his face mask on a high pass.

 

I thought the Kennedy hit was a bad call, both guys were in midair and unable to control themselves, due to a crappy pass by FiedlerLucas. If it was lower, Chamber's arms would have been up in front of his face, Kennedy would have stayed low and hit him in the chest, and it would be forgotten by the end of the game.

[Guest Redhawk]

Now while I agree that Brian Dawkins' hit was worthy of a fine (He should have got an additional fine for damn near crippling himself. Lord, that was a stupid-ass hit), here is your problem:

 

Gene Washington is the man who decides these things. Gene Washington is a former wide receiver. He looks out for offensive players and he's obviously biased. I kinda agree with Lawrence Taylor, who said they need to get a former linebacker in that position and not a WR. But a LB may be too biased towards defenders, so I'd just go with a former coach who didn't play pro football.