Every Friday the National Football League announces which acts of violence/celebration from the previous week will result in a fine. Some of them border on the ridiculous, some of them are ridiculous, and some of them are so stupid that the players on the receiving end have absolutely no idea why they are getting fined.
Today is a perfect example. First, we received word that Giants defensive end Justin Tuck was fined $7,500 for his hit on Brooks Bollinger. Pay no attention to the fact Bollinger makes the play appear 1,000 times worse by thinking he was Brett Favre and attempting to jump into the air as he released the ball, just as Tuck was trying to do his job and sack him. The call the ref makes on the field: "Tackling the quarterback with his full body weight." Perhaps this Sunday when Tuck goes for a sack, instead of using his full body weight, he should gently cuddle the quarterback to the ground, while placing a series of pillows on the grass to soften the tackle.
UPDATE: Tuck's fine has been rescinded after Goodell saw the play for the first time Friday and said the $7,500 fine was too harsh.
If that wasn't bad enough, Steelers linebacker LaMarr Woodley was given a $10,000 fine for, literally, sacking Redskins quarterback Jason Campbell. That's his job! That's why the Steelers pay him. Defensive coordinator Dick LeBeau spends long hours thinking up new and creative ways to put him into a position to put the quarterback on the ground.
Naturally, all of these fines and penalties handed out to guys for simply playing football have started to annoy quite a few defenders. Troy Polamalu, if you'll recall, thinks Roger Goodell and his crew of punishment are turning the game into a pansy game.
Mike Pereira, the league's director of officiating, has had enough. According to Alex Marvez of Fox Sports (via MDS at PFT), Pereira has told officials that, "when in doubt, throw the flag." Obviously, this leads to guys like Tuck getting flagged for ... I'm still not sure what, which in turn leads to guys like Woodley getting fined $10,000 for sacking the quarterback.
Pereira also isn't a fan of players who feel the need to point out that the NFL is slowly turning itself into a non-contact game.
"It's not acceptable," Pereira tells Marvez. "We have 120 of the most professional people in the world working their tails off. To openly criticize this group - which I think has the toughest job of anybody on the field - I don't like it."People wouldn't criticize if the 120 professionals, along with commissioner Goodell and Pereira, weren't taking the tackling aspect out of tackle football.
Seriously, this guy -- or any player from his era -- wouldn't have been allowed to play in the Goodell/Pereira NFL:
Still, Mark Schlereth was absolutely spot on when he called the NFL on its blatant hypocrisy as the league continues to make a buck off of videos like this, and then fines guys like Woodley for creating the hits that show up on said videos.
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
11-07-2008 @ 4:57PM
Phil said...
I really don't get the fine.
What is he supposed to do? If that's Roughing the Passer, and when Kiwanuka let Vince Young go last year it wasn't "in the grasp" they should just make it 2 hand touch fo rth quarterbacks and end all controversy.
That fine for Tuck is ridiculous.
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11-07-2008 @ 6:07PM
dubbz3030 said...
That was one of the cleanest hits all season. Its ok Tuck, they just hating.
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11-07-2008 @ 7:41PM
Dan said...
While sarcastic, the idea of cuddling the QB to the ground is a great idea for a protest.
Next time Tuck is playing against an old, immobile quarterback and is poised for an easy sack, he should be emphatically gentle. Loving even.
Do this in Texas and you'll make the good ole boys so uncomfortable that Goodell will be begging DEs for any kind of hits.
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11-08-2008 @ 10:20AM
yourpoconohome said...
Too high hits? too low hits? what the hell is this? Goldilocks' porridge? You need to hit them JUST RIGHT? RIDICULOUS!!!!
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11-08-2008 @ 10:35AM
steve said...
I don't believe in horse collor tackle.
Seen too many this year. But I also seen too many clean hits that are called to protect QB. This isn't flag football, This is NFL. One hit was perfect text book tackle, DL was called for helment to helment and wasn't even close. So officals office need to fine officals for bad calls.
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11-08-2008 @ 12:35PM
Bob A said...
This just in- Starting next year all player will have a flag hanging out of the back of their pants. To "tackle a player"
you just pull out the flag.
The NFL will now stand for "National Flag League"
You heard it here first!!!
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11-09-2008 @ 11:02AM
KEN said...
WHEN IN DOUBT THROW THE FLAG 120 OF THE BEST WORKING THIR ASS OFF THESE IS THE LEAGUE HEAD OF OFFICIAL DIRECTORING EXCUSE'SFOR EXCESSIVE FINDS WHAT THE HELL INSTANT REPLAY FOR REPLAY AND REPLAY REPLAY UNTIL A RIGHT DECISION IS MADE AND AFTERIF FOUND THAT THE RIGHT DECISION WAS A WRONG DECISION FIRE THE PERSON RESPONSEABLE TOO MUCH IS A STAKE NO EXCUSE THE REFS ARE GETTING TO COMPLACENTIN THIR POSITION LETS SHAKE UP THAT 120 CREW THAT SUPPOSELY WORKNG THIR ASS OFF NO EXCUSE JST NO EXCUSE NOW ROGER THAT GOODALE
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11-10-2008 @ 11:12AM
Jim said...
While I do think that the refs are turning football into pussyball Allen is a cheap shot bastard. He goes for the knees on purpose and then gets rough while on the ground. I hope somebody breaks his leg on a cheap shot so he knows how it feels. There is no need for that kind of shit. So, when somebody takes out Adrian Peterson are the vikes going to throw a fit.
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12-12-2008 @ 11:01PM
Glenn said...
It seems to me there is alot of variation around holding calls in the NFL. It seems to get called at the wrong time and mostly by 1 team in a game. We need to get a true definition of holding and I think we should be able to use replay in order to confirm some of these bogust calls. I also think if a running back is getting to a secondary without being touched by the defense then there seems to be some holding going on.
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