Eric Smith Appeals Suspension For Hit on Anquan Boldin

While he was Sorting the Sunday Pile this morning, Ryan Wilson touched on the murky waters that the NFL's rules governing helmet-to-helmet hits call home. Adrian Wilson of the Cardinals probably will be fined for his hit on Trent Edwards yesterday but he's unlikely to be suspended for the infraction. That's a pretty stark departure from the course set a week earlier when Eric Smith of the Jets picked up a suspension to go with his fine for whacking Wilson's teammate Anquan Boldin in the head.

The Jets announced today that Smith is appealing the suspension and I think he's got a strong case. Watching the play, it was clear that Smith's intent wasn't to hit Boldin in the head and the collision resulted from the receiver pinballing off of Kerry Rhodes into Smith. That's not to say Wilson intended to hurt Edwards, I don't think so, or even that his blow to the head was any more accidental than Smith's.

If Boldin hadn't been hurt, though, would the suspension have come down from Roger Goodell's office? We'll see. If the league's reaction to Wilson's hit and the handful of others that seem to happen each and every week is the same as Smith's, then he's got very little to complain about. But Smith shouldn't be singled out for the ugly scene that his hit caused, Boldin was immobilized and spitting blood, while others get lesser penalties for the same offense.