It’s getting sickening to watch NFL games, and the league needs to do something about it. Last week there was a blizzard of concussions due to unpenalized and unpunished helmet-to helmet blows to the heads of helpless victims, most notably the young Eagles star receiver and kick returner DeSean Jackson.
Monday night it was the vicious hit by New York Giants linebacker Michael Boley that crushed Dallas quarterback Tony Romo’s shoulder, sidelining Romo indefinitely, and putting an end to Dallas playoff hopes.
Everybody agrees that Boley made a ”legal” hit, which is what makes it so awful. Boley hit Romo just after he released a pass, then continued to drive Romo shoulder first into the artificial turf. The injury appeared to be the intent of the hit; if not the intent, then a welcome bonus.
There’s no reason for the league to permit such mayhem, practiced against the games glamour players: the star quarterbacks, running backs, and wide receivers. For egregious roughness of quarterbacks, or helmet-to helmet hits, which are life-threatening, the perpetrators should be suspended for as long as the victim is unable to play—plus one game. That penalty would cut the frequency drastically.
If the NFL doesn’t take strong action it will turn off its fans while it destroys its marquee players.
Tags: concussions, DeSean Jackson, ethics, helmet-to helmet contact, Michael Boley, New York Giants, NFL violence, Tony Romo
November 10, 2010 at 9:16 pm |
[…] A recent column warned that head hunting is destroying the NFL stars that people pay to see, like DeSean Jackson and Tony Romo, who were put out of action—Romo for the season—two weeks ago. Sunday saw a brutal blow by Nick Collins of the Green Bay Packers to the head of Roy Williams of the Dallas Cowboys, late in a 45-7 blowout win by the Packers. You can watch the blow here if you have a strong stomach. Williams lay still for minutes, then was helped off, but returned to the game later—apparently to prove he could “take it,” in spite of the risk of permanent brain damage. […]
March 21, 2012 at 2:56 pm |
[…] fan, until being turned off by the violence—not the inherent violence of the game, but the intentional maiming of marquee players like Brett Favre, DeSean Jackson, and Tony […]