Jets Call Out Steelers’ Hines Ward Over ‘Dirty’ Play

Added on Jan 23, 2011 by Jack Thurman in

NFL

Believe it or not, at one point in our nation’s sporting history players would take the field against each other and let the best team win. Now every game has to come with an absurd amount of ‘trash talking’. To some extent, this kind of thing has always gone on but the new sports media reality with 24/7 networks like ESPN have elevated it to ‘newsworthy’ status. That’s why I always stress that if you want to bet on NFL football seriously you should quit paying attention to outlets like ESPN–they report trivia as news and ignore information that might not be as ‘sexy’ but has more bearing on the outcome of the game. In any case, its become de riguer for pro athletes to call out one another like boxers promoting a fight and for the mainstream sports media to fan the flames with their coverage.

The latest ‘Jets v. Steelers’ storyline involves the New York pass coverage against Pittsburgh wide receiver Hines Ward. The Jets’ defenders have strongly suggested that Ward is a dirty player and have intimated that they’re going to teach him a lesson if he tries any of that with them. Safety James Ihedigbo:

“We’re going to deal with him early so he knows what type of game it’s going to be, and that none of that stuff is being tolerated.”

Safety Eric Smith has a retribution in mind so severe that he dare not speak it lest the NFL fine him. Hopefully he’s not planning to roast Ward and feast on his carcass:

“If I finish what I said and then do what I planned on doing, I’m going to get fined.”

Smith continued to explain why Ward is such a threat to civilized pro football society:

“We saw some of those plays, like in the Ravens game, he’s out there hitting Dawan Landry in the back, he came across and hit Ray Lewis in the back. Ed Reed was 30 yards downfield and he’s going down and hitting him. It’s just unnecessary things like that that make you mad as a defender.”

Ihedigbo explained the subtle distinction between ‘tough’ and ‘cheap’:

“If you hit a guy like that, when he’s looking at you and it’s face to face then I’ll be like, ‘Hey, he’s a pretty tough player. But if you hit someone in their back when they’re pursuing a play or they’re not even looking, that’s a cheap shot.”

Jets’ head coach Rex Ryan tried to put the imbroglio into perspective:

“He’ll look for you now. If he can hit you, he’s going to. And I’ve seen him knock out a ton of guys before. Let’s face it, they changed a rule [for] Hines Ward about hitting a defenseless player and all that kind of stuff.”

“But, quite honestly, he’s just finishing plays and there was no rule [before]. So he went out and he plays hard and he plays to the whistle. And that’s the kind of guy he is. I respect the heck out of Hines Ward.”

The Steelers are favored by -3′ or -4 points over the Jets depending on the sportsbook, with the total set at 38 or 38′.