Posted on 10/02/2006 2:38:38 PM PDT by Borges
Tennessee Titans defensive tackle Albert Haynesworth was given a five-game suspension -- the longest for on-field behavior in NFL history -- for stomping on Dallas Cowboys center Andre Gurode's head and kicking him in the face Sunday.
The NFL said Monday that Haynesworth was suspended for flagrant unnecessary roughness. The suspension, which is without pay, is effective immediately. Haynesworth will be eligible to return Nov. 19 for the Titans' game at Philadelphia.
"There is absolutely no place in the game, or anywhere else, for the inexcusable action that occurred in yesterday's Titans-Cowboys game," NFL commissioner Roger Goodell said.
Haynesworth was penalized and ejected from the game early in the third quarter after stomped on Gurode's head, causing his helmet to pop off, then kicking him again following a 5-yard touchdown run by Julius Jones of the Cowboys.
Gurode received stitches above his forehead and beneath his eye.
"What I did out there was disgusting," Haynesworth said Sunday. "It doesn't matter what the league does to me. The way I feel right now, you just can't describe it."
Titans coach Jeff Fisher said Haynesworth's actions were unacceptable.
"I felt there needed to be some serious action taken from a discipline standpoint, and I believe that what the league has done right now is adequate," Fisher said.
Jones had just scored on a 5-yard run, putting Dallas up 20-6 in what wound up as a 45-14 victory. Gurode said they hadn't been talking or having any exchanges that led to Haynesworth kicking him twice.
"In all my years of football, this has never happened to me. I've never been kicked in the face like this, and I've never seen anybody kick nobody else in the face," Gurode said.
Before Monday, the longest suspension for on-field behavior was two games for Green Bay defensive lineman Charles Martin for throwing Chicago quarterback Jim McMahon to the ground during a game on Nov. 23, 1986. McMahon landed on his shoulder.
It's the first suspension since 2002 Rodney Harrison, then with San Diego, was suspended one game for hitting Oakland's Jerry Rice with his helmet. Earlier that season, Denver's Kenoy Kennedy was suspended for a game for a helmet-to-helmet hit on Chris Chambers of Miami.
I wonder why assault charges weren't filed? His contract should be terminated and he shouldn't be eligible to play PERIOD for a year. There's no room in the sport for that crap.
I guess that means he will not appeal the suspension. /s
Great role model for the kids.
ping
I never saw anything like that before. It was assault and battery. The play was finished. It was outrageous. I think if he isn't kicked off the team he should be made to sit out the year without pay.
It should have been for a season and maybe more. It was a BS move.
Unsportsmanlike conduct? That almost deserved him being permanently barred from the NFL. I think we'll here more from this guy in the future.
If this had been done anywhere else but on a playing field of any sport, we would have been booked and prosecuted. Bunch of crap.
Then eject him perminently. That will send a message that nobody will miss.
Five games is not enough. Why couldn't he have stomped on Mark Foley's face?????
and the n.f.l. morphs into the w.w.e.
Agreed. That was aggravated assault (using a weapon causing great bodily injury). Gurode got 30 stitches and could have been blinded in that eye by those spiked cleats. Memphis PD should file charges.
Andre 3000 (Stiches) Gurode
Good for the NFL for quickly sending a message.
Thats out of line, dude.
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