NFL Drops Heavy Fines On Big Hit Perps

Added on Oct 20, 2010 by Jason Kearney in

NFL

One day after warning players that the league would show no mercy in handing out suspensions for overly violent and ‘helmet to helmet’ hits the NFL sliced like a hammer again on Tuesday, dropping some serious fines–even by NFL player salary standards–on three players totaling $175 g’s. Even if you’re playing football on Sundays, that’s a lot of cheddar.

Pittsburgh Steelers’ linebacker James Harrison–who is quickly transforming from an aggressive, tough player into a borderline psychopath–was hit for $75k. New England Patriots’ safety Brandon Meriweather and Atlanta Falcons’ cornerback Dunta Robinson got hit for fitty large ($50k) each. Ray Anderson, the NFL’s Veep of Football Operations laid down the law just one day after dropping this verbal bomb on the cheap shot artists in the NFL:

“We can’t and won’t tolerate what we saw Sunday. We’ve got to get the message to players that these devastating hits and head shots will be met with a very necessary higher standard of accountability. We have to dispel the notion that you get one free pass in these egregious or flagrant shots.”

“What we saw Sunday was disturbing. We’re talking about avoiding life-altering impacts.”

The obvious need for restraint on the playing field for the well being of the athletes and the overall public perception of the league few right over the head of the Steelers’ Harrison, however, and his agent said he’d appeal the fine:

“I’ve talked to James, and he’s very upset. He’s quite confused about how to play football.”

That’s nonsense. Delivering a hard hit is good. Sending a guy off on a board in or in a bag is bad. Pretty simple really.

The NFL is right on this, but some have correctly pointed out that they’ve not exactly jumped in front of other big issues impacting player well being. Former Pittsburgh Steeler center Mike Webster died recently at the age of 50. When he played he was literally as tough as they come. He would have chunks of guys like Harrison in his stool. Many experts consider him the best center in NFL history and his 9 All Pro selections and 4 Superbowl rings are a pretty compelling resume. Neurologists speculated that the hits to the dome he’d received over a 25 year NFL career was like “25,000 automobile accidents”. Webster was simply as good as anyone who’d ever played the game on the field, but suffered a horrific retirement and early death ending up somewhere between crazy and homeless and downright insane.

So how was a guy who had basically redefined the position and given the Steel City a fistful of titles treated after his retirement? Like a charity case at best, a pariah at worst. He couldn’t even get a bit of honesty out of the Steelers on the announcement of his death–in announcing his passing the Steelers listed his cause of death as ‘heart attack’. He died from brain damage. The team pulled the announcement and issued a terse ‘no comment’. Keep in mind that this wasn’t some guy who was a marginal contributer to the great Steelers team. Here’s what Franco Harris had to say about Webster:

“He was one of the main reasons why we won four Super Bowls. Unfortunately, he had some turmoil and misfortune after his football career. He is now at peace.”

Chuck Noll:

“Mike Webster was the best center who ever played the game. He was the one position I never had to worry about.”

Terry Bradshaw:

“I couldn’t have been the player I was without him. He was so smart, so prepared for everything we would face in a game. He was physically and mentally tough. We all worked hard, but none as hard as Mike did.”

and one of the toughest defenders ever to play the game, ‘Mean Joe’ Greene:

“Ernie Holmes and I used to beat him up in practice but, after a couple of years, we couldn’t do it anymore.”

This was a guy who deserved better yet he died a physical and mental wreck. One of his former teammates (reportedly the uber classy Lynn Swann) scratched out a check for his funeral services and burial.

If you’ve got some time ESPN’s 5 part series on Webster is a must read:

A tormented soul–Mike Webster

Even more disturbing is Pro Football Talk’s report that despite taking a hardline on dirty hits out of the front of the NFL office they’re selling pictures of Robinson’s hit on Mohamed Massaqoui out the back door.

The folks at KDKA-TV in Pittsburgh have uncovered an interesting angle regarding the hit that resulted in the imposition of a $75,000 fine against Steelers linebacker James Harrison.

The league currently is selling photos of the incident involving Harrison and Browns receiver Mohammad Massaquoi at anywhere from $15.95 to $249.95.

Sorry, but the NFL can’t have it both ways. If the league wants to legislate dirty hits out of the game, the NFL should do nothing to profit from those dirty hits.

For now, the NFL is.

I took a screenshot of the photo in question as this is something the NFL will likely pull from their shop.

Now, I’m the farthest thing from a ‘pantywaist’. My favorite sports are boxing and hockey, in that order. But no one wants to watch a sport where players are crippled physically and mentally. NASCAR went from a death trap on wheels to a ridiculously safe sport and showcase for high tech engineering both inside the car and on the track itself. But it took the death of Dale Earnhardt–arguably their biggest star ever with the possible exception of ‘The King’ Richard Petty–to make it happen. Had ‘The Intimidator’ crashed his car into a wall fitted with the SAFER Barrier there’s a good chance he would have walked away from it. Since the SAFER Barrier has become commonplace in NASCAR there have been no fatal injuries in a sport where you almost expect them.

No one wants to make the players wear dresses and all of the other cliches. I enjoy a tough, hard hitting football game, hockey game, prizefight, etc. more than just about anything. But with the advances in engineering, technology and medicine its incumbent upon the NFL to take the lead and make the safety and well being of its athletes the #1 priority. Some have suggested that, counterintuitively, giving the players *less* padding would make the game safer since defenders couldn’t ‘use their body as a weapon’. You’ll frequently hear rugby enthusiasts make this argument, as their sport–with no padding or helmets at all–is surprisingly free from the type of ugly hits and catostrophic injuries that plague the NFL. Or maybe its because the players get drunk and sing songs together after the game.

The NFL is doing the right thing by cracking down on big hits, even if it is damage control. Now they need to address the more serious long term health problems facing their players.