Wilfork: Meriweather Illegal Hit Sparked Patriots

[Lockdown06]

They started playing with discipline and quit making stupid mistakes. That penalty wiped out a third down stop. He's lucky his teamates held their ground on that drive thereafter while he sat on the bench... Given his truly foolish attitude again this AM, he basically giggled his way through another interview like the village idiot refusing to take any accountability for his lack of discipline because that's his game and who he is... Bill put him in position to make a pick on that ball, instead he launched and hit a receiver who was already tackled and had missed the ball and cost his team field position if not a turnover. You can hit hard and still play smart, disciplined team football.

If you read the full quote, on ESPNboston.com i believe, the reason he was defending his behavior is not because he was proud of making the dirty hit. He was talking about how they ran that play in practice many times, and every time Meriweather held back, it resulted in a long completion.

Meriweather also said in the interview that he did not intend to hit Heap helmet-to-helmet. He said that Heap is a friend of his, and he has already called Heap to apologize for the hit. Meriweather was not defending the dirtiness of the hit, he was defending his aggressiveness, and he should - I want that guy making plays, not being Johnathan Wilhite who is always around the ball but never actually breaking up the pass.


Like BB says, do your job. Meriweather's job on that play is to prevent Heap from catching the ball, and avoid getting a penalty. However, if one or the other is going to happen, I'd rather he risk the penalty and make sure the receiver doesn't catch the ball.

 

[reflexblue]

The NFL does not want head shots. They've made that clear yet the message is not being received. The hits just keep coming and they're getting more and more vicious. Suspending players will get the message across.
Watch it happen.

Well maybe they eventually will, and if BM gets suspended he deserves it, and will be replaced.

 

[cmasspatsfan]

Ive seen worse and no one was suspended, in fact there was one were it wasn't called and there was no fine. So i'd be surprised if he was.

Dont be, there was a spate of them this weekend and an outcry for the rules to be enforced. The refs can and will probably in the future start ejecting players from the game after hits like that.
That said, I dont think Merriweather intened to hit helmet to helmet but rather hit him in the midsection. He will get fined and Id bet my house theres suspensions handed down this week to a few players.

 

[Froob]

It would be pretty crappy if he got suspended for that hit, where's jim leohanard's? The league should send out a notice that suspensions will be handed out now for this before they start suspending players for hits that they weren't suspending them for before.

 

[Synovia]

That said, I dont think Merriweather intened to hit helmet to helmet but rather hit him in the midsection. He will get fined and Id bet my house theres suspensions handed down this week to a few players.

Do you really think suspending players for unintentional hits is going to have an affect?

 

[patsfaninpittsburgh]

I addressed this in the other thread. While the hit could have been better, it was also the result of mistiming. When you have a safety who likes to lay the wood, that's going to happen from time to time. And yes, he is lucky that the defense held their own. I was one of the people screaming at the TV yesterday after that. However, Meriweather also broke up what would have been a sure fire TD on the goal line yesterday had it not been for a B.S. penalty. That was a hit that was timed perfectly. It seems Chung took a page from his book toward the end of the game as well when he dislodged a ball right on the goal line.

Our defense doesn't suck and...........

Kontradiction wins an arguement with Molewisrocks

You would have thought it.

If Hey Bro and the Deus start making sense; the circle will be complete.

 

[JackBauer]

If you read the full quote, on ESPNboston.com i believe, the reason he was defending his behavior is not because he was proud of making the dirty hit. He was talking about how they ran that play in practice many times, and every time Meriweather held back, it resulted in a long completion.

Meriweather also said in the interview that he did not intend to hit Heap helmet-to-helmet. He said that Heap is a friend of his, and he has already called Heap to apologize for the hit. Meriweather was not defending the dirtiness of the hit, he was defending his aggressiveness, and he should - I want that guy making plays, not being Johnathan Wilhite who is always around the ball but never actually breaking up the pass.


Like BB says, do your job. Meriweather's job on that play is to prevent Heap from catching the ball, and avoid getting a penalty. However, if one or the other is going to happen, I'd rather he risk the penalty and make sure the receiver doesn't catch the ball.

Wait, you mean MLR mischaracterized what Meriweather actually said?

Knock me over with a feather.

 

[reflexblue]

Dont be, there was a spate of them this weekend and an outcry for the rules to be enforced. The refs can and will probably in the future start ejecting players from the game after hits like that.
That said, I dont think Merriweather intened to hit helmet to helmet but rather hit him in the midsection. He will get fined and Id bet my house theres suspensions handed down this week to a few players.

It wasn't this week, didn't someone try to decapitate Welker last year and there wasn't a flag or fine? I just remember it being a very vicious cheap shot.

 

[cmasspatsfan]

Originally Posted by cmasspatsfan
That said, I dont think Merriweather intened to hit helmet to helmet but rather hit him in the midsection. He will get fined and Id bet my house theres suspensions handed down this week to a few players.

Do you really think suspending players for unintentional hits is going to have an affect?

No, but my opinion doesnt matter, Im just going by whats happened this weekend, all of a sudden theres an outcry for these hits and you know Goody-L is going to so something.

 

[MoLewisrocks]

If you read the full quote, on ESPNboston.com i believe, the reason he was defending his behavior is not because he was proud of making the dirty hit. He was talking about how they ran that play in practice many times, and every time Meriweather held back, it resulted in a long completion.

Meriweather also said in the interview that he did not intend to hit Heap helmet-to-helmet. He said that Heap is a friend of his, and he has already called Heap to apologize for the hit. Meriweather was not defending the dirtiness of the hit, he was defending his aggressiveness, and he should - I want that guy making plays, not being Johnathan Wilhite who is always around the ball but never actually breaking up the pass.


Like BB says, do your job. Meriweather's job on that play is to prevent Heap from catching the ball, and avoid getting a penalty. However, if one or the other is going to happen, I'd rather he risk the penalty and make sure the receiver doesn't catch the ball.

I went one better, I listened to the whole interview live, which isn't easy with Brandon who giggled his way through most of it like the immature kid he is...

 

[Kontradiction]

Our defense doesn't suck and...........

Kontradiction wins an arguement with Molewisrocks

You would have thought it.

If Hey Bro and the Deus start making sense; the circle will be complete.

When the defense plays well, I give them props. When the defense plays poorly, I dog them. They played well down the stretch yesterday and these hits were credited for being the reason. Therefore, I'm giving them props. Let's not make this more complicated than it is.

 

[JackBauer]

If people are actually interested in what Meriweather said, instead of MoLewisRock's interpretation, you can find it here:

“I’m going to be aggressive, point blank,” Meriweather said during his weekly interview on Boston sports radio station WEEI. “I won’t change my game, period. I’m sorry it happened. Heap is actually a real good friend of mine. I talked to him yesterday and let him know it wasn’t intentional and he told me he understood.”

“We ran that play a thousand times at practice,” Meriweather said. “Every time at practice I broke on the ball and the tight end caught it every time. I thought it was going to be overthrown but the tight end always seemed to go and get it. Instead of me waiting for the ball to see if it was going to be overthrown I just attacked. I wasn’t trying to for head-to-head contact, or trying to injury anybody, or play dirty in any kind of way. It just happened."

And, finally:

“You always have to make a split-second decision and my split-second decision was to be aggressive and not wait for it,” Meriweather said.

So there you have it. He had a choice to wait for possible pick, or try to lay the wood and prevent the completion. Unfortunately, he got flagged for it.

Meriweather: 'I won't change my game' - New England Patriots Blog - ESPN Boston

 

[JMarr]

I guarantee you that BB isn't looking at this the same way as Vince. That penalty could easily have been the backbreaker (no pun intended) if the D hadn't stepped up.
This isn't the first time Meriweather has been in BB's doghouse and the next time he gets in will probably be his last. Listening to some of his comments over the years, it's clear that ,in spite of being a very good football player, he doesn't really get it. If McGowan were here and Sanders healthy, BM wouldn't be seeing the field for at least a couple of games. David Thomas says "hello", Brandon.


And the people who are approving of this kind of idiocy and using Rodney as example are way off base. Rodney was way smarter than BM about knowing when and when not to take his shots. Plus, he wasn't playing in an environment when the refs are going to call anything remotely close to the head a penalty, nor in an era where the NFL has explicitly stated it wasn't going to tolerate these types of hits on defensless players.

 

[MoLewisrocks]

If people are actually interested in what Meriweather said, instead of MoLewisRock's interpretation, you can find it here:





And, finally:



So there you have it. He had a choice to wait for possible pick, or try to lay the wood and prevent the completion. Unfortunately, he got flagged for it.

Meriweather: 'I won't change my game' - New England Patriots Blog - ESPN Boston

If anyone is interested in what he really said and not my interpretation of the total interview or Reiss select quotes out of a ten minute appearance, they should probably go to WEEI and see when they post the audio replay...

I know he's your boy Jack, you've made that clear, but talent aside his troubles this season are well established and they all relate to ego and lack of discipline and immaturity.

 

[patsfaninpittsburgh]

When the defense plays well, I give them props. When the defense plays poorly, I dog them. They played well down the stretch yesterday and these hits were credited for being the reason. Therefore, I'm giving them props. Let's not make this more complicated than it is.

Ummm Kon

I was like complimenting you.....because like your observation is correct.

no need to get huffy.

 

[Brady_12]

It wasn't this week, didn't someone try to decapitate Welker last year and there wasn't a flag or fine? I just remember it being a very vicious cheap shot.

Yes. It was against the JESTS. Eric Smith.

Shockingly he didn't get suspended.

 

[Kontradiction]

Ummm Kon

I was like complimenting you.....because like your observation is correct.

no need to get huffy.

I'm not being

Just letting you know how I operate.

 

[AzPatsFan]

Did Eric Smith get suspended after he did the same to Welker in the Jets game? No. It's a fine, not a suspension unless the policy changed since then. That wouldn't really sound like even-handed treatment of infractions without a recent warning from the NFL.

Goodell is just doing his usual of protecting the Nieu Yawk Jets in Nu Joisey. Anyone for a 48 yard chintsy PI call on 4th and 6 desperation heave, with less than 2 minutes to play?

 

[patsfaninpittsburgh]

I guarantee you that BB isn't looking at this the same way as Vince. That penalty could easily have been the backbreaker (no pun intended) if the D hadn't stepped up.
This isn't the first time Meriweather has been in BB's doghouse and the next time he gets in will probably be his last. Listening to some of his comments over the years, it's clear that ,in spite of being a very good football player, he doesn't really get it. If McGowan were here and Sanders healthy, BM wouldn't be seeing the field for at least a couple of games. David Thomas says "hello", Brandon.


And the people who are approving of this kind of idiocy and using Rodney as example are way off base. Rodney was way smarter than BM about knowing when and when not to take his shots. Plus, he wasn't playing in an environment when the refs are going to call anything remotely close to the head a penalty, nor in an era where the NFL has explicitly stated it wasn't going to tolerate these types of hits on defensless players.

Ahhhhh.....Welll...no

Talk about revisionist history.

Rodney had plenty of stupid penalties for roughness while as Patroit. If I remember correcly, he had a bad one in Baltimore in 2007.

Also, the defense hunkering down wasn't luck, it's reality. I don't want to see players hurt but playing the whiny, dirty Ravens is different than playing the Chiefs or Broncos.

 

[JackBauer]

If anyone is interested in what he really said and not my interpretation of the total interview or Reiss select quotes out of a ten minute appearance, they should probably go to WEEI and see when they post the audio replay...

I know he's your boy Jack, you've made that clear, but talent aside his troubles this season are well established and they all relate to ego and lack of discipline and immaturity.

Reiss selected the relevant quotes about the topic at hand. All we got from you were the usual smears we've come to expect. And now, as others have mentioned, Wilfork isn't a leader because he agrees with Meriweather!

We get it Mo. Now that Moss is gone, you need someone new to get all sanctimonious about. I'm sure pretty much everyone and their mother could see this coming from a mile away.