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.
"You can argue the severity of the punishment but the talk of criminal charges starts a slippery slope no one wants to go down..."
That is false. It's a slope I would like to go down. I don't believe sports should be exempt from the law. If you fight in sports you should expect the same consequences as if you fight in a bar.
The difference here is the NFL does a pretty good job with it's substance abuse policy. Do they catch everyone who cheats? No, but at least they have a testing policy. The other Pro leagues don't. MLB and the NBA don't test due to their players union refusing. Say what you want about the NFL, but they do more than MLB and the NBA to protect the integrity of the game. The NFL also punishes players for their off-field behavior, and once again MLB and the NBA don't. Can the NFL improve? Hell yes it can, but they are making an effort to do so. The same cannot be said of MLB and the NBA.
I'd been the guy who got the cleats to the face, you better believe I'd have been down at the magistrates filing charges... Have the fool frog marched right out of the stadium.
Sorry, but your making excuses is even more repugnant that this a$$clowns actions.
I play many different sports, and there is a huge difference between incidental contact, and intentional malace, your attempt to morally equate the two if disgusting.
5 game suspension? That is woefully inadequate! He should be permanently expelled from the league! These thugs have been babied for far too long.
Oh, please!!!! The NFL sells violence for crying out loud!! Has anyone ever watched those idiots on ESPN ooh and aah when a good hit is made? While this guy's actions were beyond the pale, asking such a mental midget to turn it off and on is asking too much. The bitching and crying over this guy's actions is just as hypocritical as the NFL's decrying gambling and then posting game statistics for fantasy league gamblers.
As a matter of fact, athletes, in general, get away with WAY too much. Does anyone remember Latrell Spreewell? How about Kermit Washington? How about Roger Clemens throwing at Mike Piazza's head? How about Juan Marichal hitting Johnny Roseboro in the head with a bat? The list goes on and on and will continue to do so as long as morons like these are tolerated, even promoted.
Enjoy the games. Pretty soon, it will be all Rollerball, anyway.
Please what?
Dang - what does this guy think he is, a Democratic politician?
and your opinion counts more than anyone else's because????
"he should be penalized based on what COULD HAVE happened"
That's ridiculous.
The NFL has a very steriod testing regimen in place already (Lyle Alzado, anyone?) Basebeall has...congressional hearings.
I'm a Titans season ticket holder. I've always held out much hope for Fat Albert. Now, I hope he never suits up in a Titans uniform again. It's bad enough that we suck as bad as he Raiders - we don't need that kind of person on our team. We're not the Bengals!
In a first year torts class in law school, they teach you about "risks inherent to the sport" (e.g. getting injured during plays) versus risks due to the negligence or intentional malice of the actor. It isn't as though Haynesworth accidentally stepped on Gurode in the course of play. That'd be one thing. Here, he intentionally stomped on Gurode after the play was over. It is inexcusble.
I kinda want to see what happens to Mr. Haynesworth when he gets back into the field of play. There's gonna be some defensive tackles aiming for him. Hopefully the refs will give them a little leeway.
That's ridiculous.
No it's not. The threat of blinding Guaron is not insignificant. Stomping on his face is never acceptable. He should be ejected from the league, and made to give back every penny he ever earned from the NFL.
When he comes back, he should not be allowed to wear cleats...ever again.
"Oh, please!!!! The NFL sells violence for crying out loud!! Has anyone ever watched those idiots on ESPN ooh and aah when a good hit is made? While this guy's actions were beyond the pale, asking such a mental midget to turn it off and on is asking too much."
There is a huge distinction between a legal bone jarring hit and the crap that Haynesworth pulled. Yes the NFL sells a violent game, but that violence is controled by rules, rules that get updated every season to protect the game. And no it's not to much to ask players to turn it off and on. The friggin rules are the rules. Haynesworth knew what he was doing, and now he will pay the price. If you don't like the NFL don't watch it.
That's part of the sport. They wear pads, and knowingly take their chances. There is an objective difference between a good hit made in the course of play and an intentional stomp in the face after the play is dead. You play the game, you take some chances that those "good hits" could injure you. No one, however, expects to get a cleat in the eye after the play is over.
He thought he was playing rugby! Almost had my left ear torn off when I got the ball in my first game. It was legal back then. Army plastic surgeons made it presentable again. Go Army!
Looks like that stunt is going to cost Fat Albert a cool $188,944.00.
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