In light of a brief brawl that broke out Sunday on the Atlanta sideline between a few Redskins and what seemed to be a large group of Falcons -- whom were protecting their quarterback who had just been hit late -- it is no surprise that some fines have been handed out. Jason Reid of the Washington Post has learned that both Albert Haynesworth and LaRon Landry have been fined for their roles in the skirmish. He's also reporting that Landry -- who was fined for starting the issue with his hit on an out-of-bounds Matt Ryan -- plans to appeal the decision.
The incident itself seems to have brought on a bit of a divide in the Redskins' locker room. DeAngelo Hall, who was right in the middle of the melee is and likely to be fined as well, took issue with so few of his teammates getting involved.
"I can't speak for those other guys that's out there on the field, but whoever's out there with me, I'm ready to go to battle for 'em," Hall said on "The Lavar Arrington Show" on 106.7 The Fan. "That's just how I am, whether it's a verbal sparring or a physical sparring, I'm always ready to mix it up. And to see those guys kind of linger over there, yeah, I don't know what was going through their minds."Haynesworth apparently agrees.
"That's my teammate. I'm not going to let my teammate get jumped or beat up or anything like that," Haynesworth said today. He cracked a smile and continued: "I mean, [Atlanta coach] Mike Smith did have him pinned up over there. I can't let the old man beat up my cornerback, so I had to go over there and save him."On the other hand, not many guys in the league make as much money as Haynesworth. Defensive end Phillip Daniels doesn't, and he was one of the guys who didn't go get involved.
"The fewer guys over there the better. I really feel that way," Daniels continued. "I know D-Hall wanted the guys to come support him and everything, but you have to look at the whole picture. They say if you go over there you could get kicked out of the game or get fined. Of course, he explained what happened. I was on the sidelines, so I wasn't going to come over there. Albert came over and helped out. It really wasn't about that. It was about getting off the sideline. I saw their coaches putting their hands on our guys. You put your hands on your own guys.Both Daniels and Haynesworth have legitimate points. Sure, Atlanta had every reason to be upset about Landry's hit, but it wasn't so egregious that they needed to have coaches in the middle of a fight over it. The flag -- which was correctly thrown by the officials -- was all they needed. Ryan got up unscathed. Instead, Smith and a few other coaches were right in the middle of what easily could have become a full-scale brawl. It's hard to blame Haynesworth for standing up for his teammate and it's equally hard to blame the Redskins who weren't in the game for not sprinting all the way across the field, which would have surely resulted in harsh penalties.
"I'm just glad it didn't escalate into something bigger. If more guys would've went over there, it would've," Daniels said.
No word yet on any possible Atlanta fines, though Smith is expected to take a hit to the wallet.
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
11-11-2009 @ 5:43PM
skins2win said...
Its obvious when you watch the video that D.Hall went over to help Landry get off of there sidelines.The whole incident escalated when the coaches got involved. Those coaches (Smith and Fish)are the ones who caused the melee. QB's get hit out of bounds every week, and they get rewarded for it in the form of a penalty against the other team. Being assaulted by the coaches and players from the QB's team is not part of that penalty. If those coaches can't control there emotions, then they should find another profession. Coaches Smith and Fish should be made example of in the form of fines and suspensions.
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11-11-2009 @ 6:34PM
jongetsresults said...
Agreed! Coaches Smith & Fish are some of who should be fined! Smith and especially Fish took a very aggressive move on D Hall and DeAngelo was there to protect his teammate. I'm glad Haynesworth went into the scrum because Hall was completely outnumbered. Should Landry have hit Ryan- NO! But that is why the Skins got a penalty. Was it stupid-hell yes! What was even more stupid was some of the tackling they did against Michael Turner. What I was glad to see is that they came out in the second half with some PASSION! The Skins have talent, but talent with indifference = a loss. If they had the same passion through the whole game the result might have been different. The "give a crap factor" is what bothers me with this team. They have got to give 100% to expect to win in this league and they are not doing that as a TEAM. Bottom line.
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11-12-2009 @ 8:57AM
Steve said...
Peoples look at the falcons NO 52 push one of the officials away ..It looks to me that he knew fighting was gonna start and he was stopping the official getting involved so NONE of his team would get into trouble also..The Falcons coach did jump in mouthing off and it was he who put his hand on Landry first AND THAT MY FRIENDS IS WHAT STARTED THE WHOLE THING ,notice no other Falcon player really gets involved in this short video..I know it was a hit out of the field of play JUST ,but it happens all the time week in and week out..Its a football thing THE END..
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11-12-2009 @ 9:23AM
dkbands said...
Shame on every Redskin player who did not rush to help. Here lies a majority of the Skins issues. They are a bunch of individuals instead of a team. Cudos to Big Al and the other couple of guys who showed up and shame on the rest of the players. How much lower can the organization go?
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11-15-2009 @ 9:33AM
bucky said...
the whole atlanta team backed up when BIG AL come a running p---y's. there gonna grab a little cornerback but when a big linesmen comes over, there scared, thats your wonderful atlanta team for you. pick on the little guy, run from the big one. i say again p---y's the atlanta team starting with their headcoach on down.
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