Austin Collie suffered a big hit last night in the Indianapolis Colts vs. Philadelphia Eagles game. It was a scary moment seeing him lie limply on the ground. But the hit was legal. Wasn't it? He caught the ball, got tackled and unfortunately his helmet hit the helmet of Eagles Safety Kurt Coleman. (This hit wasn't fined by the league). These are the type of injuries that we want to avoid, but it happened with a legal hit. And yet Green Bay Packers Safety Nick Collins was fined for his hit on Dallas Cowboys receiver Roy Williams.
The sport is 11 guys versus 11 guys. To stop a guy from making a touchdown with the ball, you have to tackle him. As in, throw your body at him and use your muscle to get him on the ground. Of course there are injuries this way. That comes with the game. If you don't want to get hurt, don't play the game.
I am all for fining players for malicious hits or harmful intent. But when contact happens in a contact sport, why should there be a penalty? People know what they are getting into. It also humors me how there are these "shocking" studies that older football players and boxers are now revealed to have head trauma in their later years. Is it any surprise to anyone that after spending 15 years of your life making a living from pounding your head to the ground will lead to head problems later in life?
Is it just me or have sports gotten softer through the years? Michael Jordan claimed that he could score 100 points in todays era of NBA. As ridiculous as this sounds, he could probably come pretty close. The NBA calls fouls for any contact. And now hard fouls are flagrants and almost automatic ejections. Do you remember the days of Reggie Miller, Charles Barkley and Dennis Rodman? Those guys played harder in the NBA than most NFL players do for their league.
The NHL allows (and secretly encourages) fights in their league. There is an unwritten code amongst players that once the fight falls to the ice, it is over. Same with the MLB. Benches clear once batters approach pitchers and teammates pull each other off. Then the game resumes. And yet in the biggest league and fundamental contact sport, the NFL, you have to let up when tackling a guy. Is this a way to secretly promote more offense? I'm all for keeping athletes safe, but at what point do you completely compromise how to the play the game?
What's next? Fining boxers for hitting their opponent in the head?
I completely agree. The NFL is getting ridiculous. If you listen to any current or retired player, they have the general consensus that the league's stance is too strict. Another example is the roughing the passer call for a low hit in the Monday Night game on Casey Hampton. Steve Young made the point after the game saying. "It's hard to play defense in the NFL today." So you can't hit a guy high, you can't hit him low, where do you hit? With the potential lockout looming, I don't like the way the NFL is headed.
ReplyDeleteYeah, roughing the passer has gotten ridiculous. After watching the games this weekend, I noticed an increase in chop block calls as well. These refs have absolutely no idea what's legal or dangerous, but if they see a QB on the turf after a throw or a lineman blocking a defender at the knees, out comes a flag.
ReplyDeleteNothing is ever too rough for us anymore. We are disapointed if we go to a hockey game and there isn't any blood. We think the refs are ridiculous for calling penalties for unneccessary roughness in football. Instead of wondering if we have "gotten softer" perhaps the real question to ask is "are we becoming desensitized to violence and need more to sate our voracious appetites"?
ReplyDeleteHB
Protecting their investment. This is the entertainment business. You HAVE to protect your investment.
ReplyDeleteMaybe desensitized, but that doesn't explain that when I watch footage of classic games, I cringe and am in awe of how hard the hits and fouls were. Hits in the NFL were famous (Ronnie Lott anyone?). Pete Rose arguably ended Ray Fosse with a head on collision at homeplate and everyone admired his hustle. Kevin McHale clobbering Kurt Rambis in the 1984 NBA Finals, and that was just 2 free throws. Those kind of things are legendary. And now we have players getting fined for things that we could talk about forever
ReplyDeleteWell... we wear seatbelts now too.
ReplyDeleteHB
I do like the style of play in the past, but really, I think the players today, especially in the NFL, are freakishly more athletic and therefore much more capable of inflicting injury. True, the equipment is also better, but these guys would totally destroy the players from previous eras.
ReplyDeleteGood Post! Very informative, glad that you are going to continue writing things like this!
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