They're going to sue me?
Posted on 11/17/2019 10:33:37 PM PST by righttackle44
Since at least some of you are probably watching football right now anyway, this seems like an opportune time to tackle the question. (Pun intended.) If you follow our weekly NFL threads where Ed Morrissey and I try to predict the outcome of various games, you’re likely already up to date on the beating the Steelers took at the hand of the Browns last week. Sadly, it was a literal beating as well as a figurative one, with multiple Browns players taking penalties for various unsportsmanlike acts of aggression.
The worst of these, however, came from Myles Garrett, who ripped the helmet off the head of Steeler’s player Mason Rudolph and smashed him in the head with it. This wasn’t a case of roughing the passer or blocking below the knees. This was a vicious attack, ironically being perpetrated by a member of the team that was clearly winning already. So what happens to Garrett now? Should he be facing criminal charges in addition to whatever the league decides to hit him with? According to NBC News, that’s not likely to happen.
(Excerpt) Read more at hotair.com ...
Maybe hockey, or boxing, or ultimate fighting.... Maybe if they say something that hurts the other team member’s feelings... /s
Case by case basis.
I would think there are certain instances people can say cross the line into criminal violence.
Sure.
This question and controversy came up many years ago during the “Broad Street Bullies” days in the NHL. At least a couple of Philadelphia Flyers players were charged in Toronto for alleged violence on ice during a hockey game. Charges were dismissed and it was all a waste of time.
You prosecute for on-field football violence, then what’s next? Roller Derby?
I’d go with that.
“”Should NFL players be criminally prosecuted for on-field violence?””
Well, if the Offense pulls out concealed weapons to ‘shoot holes in the Defense’, maybe
Otherwise let fines and suspensions cover it.
Part of the game gets rough and a whistle may not flip the switch to OFF immediately. But that switch needs to get thrown to OFF pretty darned fast
At the same time, the leagues need to clean up their referees. I have seen many times QBs getting hit upside the head after a play and nothing is called. Players whose intention is to run out of bounds pushed/hit just before he steps out of bounds. Interference calls not called. When the refs allow this to happen the players will continue doing it until it is absolutely flagrant. And sometimes it is not even called then - Rams/Saints last season.
I think if the leagues cleaned up their act and sport, more of the fans would return. Just as we cannot be political/violent at our jobs, then the players need to be held to the same standards.
Just my two cents.
“You prosecute for on-field football violence, then what’s next? Roller Derby?”
—
If it’s criminal violence - something not related to the game or the play, it should be looked at for possible prosecution. We’re talking about things that also violate NFL rules. e.g. tackling is a normal part of the game that sometimes injures a player - that just goes with the territory. Stomping on a players head after you’ve tackled him is not part of the game.
If the whistle has been blown, and an object is used to batter another player between plays then it should be up to the offended player to choose if he wants to press charges. You can’t hurt a player in full gear that much. However ripping off a helmet and striking another player in the head with it had the potential for serious injury. The other option should be suspending the player and the head coach for X number of games. The reason I add the head coach is to show the seriousness of the action to the whole team. In this case you can see the QB and the player scuffling on the ground. The player crossed the line when while the offensive lineman is lifting him off the QB he pulls the QB up by his face mask and rips the helmet off. The QB comes back into it to get his helmet back and the player reaches over and around the lineman to hit the QB with his helmet on top of the head. It was this re engagement after the separation that changes the incident into a possible crime. They weren’t in game mode at this point. The other Brown player that knocks the QB down from behind at this point could also face battery charges as well. After the whistle, and after the game coaches should be telling their players that it’s time to reset your mind and get ready for the next play or game. Also the head to head hit that left a player bleeding from his ear, that’s the kind of trauma you see in severe auto accidents or explosion survivors. Way to much kinetic force. This launching into someones head, especially a receiver who’s catching or just completed a catch should be a minimum 6 game suspension, and if there’s ear bleeding make it indefinite. My game was baseball during junior high and I played catcher. I expected runners to try and knock me down as they came home if I had the ball or was crowding the baseline to slow them down, just part of the game. But I never has a player try to intentionally hit me with a bat or helmet. And the umpire threw one guy out of the game for throwing his helmet down after a strikeout and another guy for stepping out of the baseline to knock me down so I wouldn’t be up to throw the incoming ball to 3rd base. There are rules and there’s sportsmanship. bring back sportsmanship.
Yes. I think there are times the line is crossed. If an injury happens on an overzealous play let the league deal with it. If there us uncalled for or egregious violence not related directly to a play then the same rules should apply as if I assaulted someone in the workplace. Such actions should be open to legal and civil remedy.
The violence in pro sports is there to sell tickets. It has leaked down into lower levels because of the publicity of selling it and the emulation of kids for their “heroes.” It is part of the sales.
Look at boxing...the more the knockouts the better the fighter. Ice skating...more revolutions and less technical skill, even though they bust the ice often, is the winner whether they skate well or not.
And in the background are the announcers pounding second level skills into stardom. It is the money, not the game.
Major league baseball is the perfect example of mediocrity. To determine the best hitters, we have to figure that there’s about 1,000 players with current major league contracts. Of those players with enough games to qualify, playing only three quarters of the season at 120 games, only 19 players hit .300 according to the Autonomy Corporation, a research company. That’s having success one third of the time. But the sport generated $10.3 billion in 2018, the last time Forbes finalized a count. So it isn’t the sport for the true sport of it, it’s the money. And it’s at all levels now.
rwood
None dare call it race hatred.
Unless the other party wished to pursue charges...I would think you have nothing... maybe disorderly conduct... but in Virginia at least , that is very specific and not easily charged...
There were some reports that the QB started it all. From all the views I’ve seen, it was not apparent to me.
Thanks, clears it up for me. Did not see the game live.
Looks like any summer night outside the 7-11 down in the ‘hood.
If the NFL gridiron is their workplace, which I believe it is, among others, then it would seem to make sense to outlaw the kind of wanton violence we saw at the end of the Steelers-Browns game last Thursday...but how then would you explain hockey and it’s NHL-style violence?
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