All this week, we’ve seen comments being left on blogs and message boards that indicate that the hit laid on Jared Allen by Gosder Cherilus (and subsequent knee injury) was karma for Allen’s earlier season hits on Matt Schaub and Aaron Rodgers. All kinds of “fans” claim that Allen is a dirty player.
Now even ProFootballTalk’s Mike Florio is getting in on the act, saying “We’ll wait a second while you wipe the Coke off your screen” after reporting that Allen declared that he has “never, ever taken a cheap shot at anybody.”
Florio’s proof that Allen has taken cheap shots? The $75,000 in fines levied against him this season by the NFL for the hits on Schaub and Rodgers, and a (slightly biased) YouTube video replaying the hit on Schaub.
The random comments on the blogs don’t surprise me, nor really irritate me much, since it’s typically anonymous fans of other teams running their mouths. But I would hope that someone like Florio would be able to provide a little better evidence (he is a lawyer, after all), and be a little non-partial, since he claims to hate all 32 teams equally.
The NFL continues to amaze me in their ability to find ridiculous actions to fine players for. And while I’m not ready to go down the path of claiming vindictiveness yet, at least some Viking fans are thinking the NFL has it in for the team, possibly due to the Kevin & Pat Williams lawsuit.
The latest fined Viking? DT Fred Evans, who was fined $5k for grabbing the face mask of RB Kevin Smith. And my problem with the fine this time isn’t just the face that fining players for actions like a face mask, which is an unfortunate but common part of the game, is ridiculous (Vikings LB Chad Greenway was fined $15k earlier this year for a face mask that wasn’t called against the Saints, the first time I’d ever heard of such a fine).
My problem with this fine is that replays seemed to show (rather clearly, in my eyes) that Evans didn’t even grab the face mask on the play. It appeared that Evans merely tackled Smith by the shoulder pads–essentially grabbing him by the front collar and pulling him down in a way that maybe appeared to be the result of a face mask, but on replay did not look like it.
So now it appears that Evans was penalized AND fined unfairly for the play. Fortunately, unlike the Saints, who lost to the Vikings when Greenway’s penalty wasn’t called (on a play that may have impacted the outcome of the game), the Vikings didn’t lose to the 0-12 Lions last week.
I still have to wonder, though–with all of the poor officiating going on this year–are any moves being made to make NFL referees full time? And hold them accoutable with something other than losing out on the opportunity to work playoff games?
Jones has had a knack for occasionally putting his foot in his mouth since buying the team in 1989 and soon after announcing that his then-rookie quarterback Troy Aikman looked great in the shower.
Owens denies it but he’s had a history of being a jagoff and his quarterbacks are generally the victim of choice. Owens was a douchbag to Jeff Garcia when both were in San Francisco. And he was an assclown to Donovan McNabb the year after the duo helped lead the Eagles to the Super Bowl.
And maybe Mariucci is right – maybe the rules do need to be changed. After a questionable pass interference call tonight gave the Bears the field position needed to kick a field goal on their first possession to win the game, it does feel a bit as though the Saints got screwed tonight.
As the Detroit Lions chase infamy as possibly the first team since the NFL expanded to a 16 game schedule to lose them all, it’s time to recognize an era gone by when last year’s lovable losers got their first franchise win.
Yes, it’s been 31 years to the day since the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, losers of the franchise’s first 26 games, finally got off the schneid with a win over – you probably guessed it – the New Orleans Saints.
Archie Manning did the best he could to keep New Orleans in the game, running for one score and tossing another to John Gilliam, but it wasn’t enough. The Saints, under Hank Stram, would finish 3-11 that season while Tampa would win its final two games and go 2-12.
Minnesota Vikings defensive end Jared Allen fined $10,000 for using the ball as a prop during a celebration during Sunday night’s game against Chicago.
Chicago Bears defensive end Adewale Ogunleye fined $0 for his unpenalized late hit on Gus Frerotte.
Yes, Frerotte flopped a bit. But that hit was still about eight minutes after Frerotte threw the ball. The big money fines being handed out all season have been under the guise of “protecting defenseless players.” Which of these incidents carried more danger to any of the players in question?
NFL Director of Officiating Mike Pereira, this is a joke. If this information is accurate and this is how you are handing out fines, you and your policies are absolutely defenseless and fraudulent.
Loading ...
Good playoff games this weekend, with the Bills getting another chance to beat the Chiefs in postseason. I predict they…
Good call Justin ... yeah, Gibbs was dominating but Goff lost the game. Once Robertson went down, this secondary never…
Brian Wolf: totally disagree about Ben Johnson and the Lions. They didn’t overlook anyone. They just don’t have an NFL…
Wow ... and the divisional playoffs have begun. The Texans decide to leave Travis Kelce wide open for much of…
It will be strange if Eli Manning is elected first ballot. Will Ben Roethlisberger as well? What about Rivers and…