Denver's TJ Ward a man of his word, goes low on 87 again

PatsWSB47 said:

Whether or not ward could be penalized for the hit will never change my mind about it being an attempted injury producing one. I absolutely blame any player that attempts to take a guy out by hurting them....especially a guy who just last year did exactly that to the same guy he went after this time. Ward knew exactly what he was trying to do and he even celebrated the hit despite it being a pretty big play by Gronk. He celebrated it because it was Gronk that he hit low....the same Gronk he ended the season for last year. Now if you want to hide behind it the rule made him do it go ahead. I just happen to believe a rule doesn't give a hit man license for anyone just because they can get a way with it. F**k him.

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Well I don't believe ward was trying to injure gronk. I just think he was trying to tackle him the easiest legal way he knew how... I just don't believe ward has this evil intention to injury gronk every time he plays him.

LightSkinSmurf said:

Well I don't believe ward was trying to injure gronk. I just think he was trying to tackle him the easiest legal way he knew how... I just don't believe ward has this evil intention to injury gronk every time he plays him.

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You can't ignore the celebration for a very successful play by Gronk and the Patriots. It was the same Gronk he took out last year and he knew it. Get your head out of the sand.

Now having said that I think last years injury wasn't intentional but I think the attempt Sunday clearly was. He probably doesn't have evil intentions every time he hits Gronk but I'm convinced he did on that one.

PatsWSB47 said:

You can't ignore the celebration for a very successful play by Gronk and the Patriots. It was the same Gronk he took out last year and he knew it. Get your head out of the sand.

Now having said that I think last years injury wasn't intentional but I think the attempt Sunday clearly was. He probably doesn't have evil intentions every time he hits Gronk but I'm convinced he did on that one.

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I don't think celebrating a tackle that didn't even hurt gronk is proof that he tried to hurt gronk. That is reaching IMO. It could have just as easily meant that he knew that he just did what he said he would do. So he celebrated, possibly in an attempt to piss people off.

At least you aren't one of those people that thinks every time a pats player gets hurt that the guy obviously did it on purpose. I don't have a problem with people having a problem with the hit. I just think you are taking it out on the wrong person. I don't think you can get mad at somebody for making a legal hit and playing within the rules. Besides, its not like going for the knees is a rare play that never happens. Its just being highlighted here because gronk just got hurt from the same play by the same guy a year ago. Sensitive topic, but I'm putting my emotions aside to form my opinion on this.

To me there's going low which you have to do, then there's seeing a guy coming lining him up, and aiming your helmet at his knee.

LightSkinSmurf said:

That would be incorrect. There's a reason that hit is never flagged, because its not illegal.

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Actually, that hit IS flagged. It's called spearing. It HAS happened. The problem is that the point of emphasis, currently, is on the Corners and protecting the QBs..

BTW, I suggest you familiarize yourself with the following:

Rule 12, Section 2, Article 6 (i):
"using any part of a player’s helmet (including the top/crown and forehead/‖hairline‖ parts) or facemask to butt, spear, or ram an opponent violently or unnecessarily"

Rule 12, Section 2, Article 8:
" It is a foul if a runner or tackler initiates forcible contact by delivering a blow with the top/crown of his helmet against an opponent when both players are clearly outside the tackle box (an area extending from tackle to tackle and from three yards beyond the line of scrimmage to the offensive team’s end line). Incidental contact by the helmet of a runner or tackler against an opponent shall not be a foul. "

It was plain as day that Ward led with the crown of his helmet.

Just because you don't know or understand the rules doesn't make what Ward did legal.

LightSkinSmurf said:

Well I don't believe ward was trying to injure gronk. I just think he was trying to tackle him the easiest legal way he knew how... I just don't believe ward has this evil intention to injury gronk every time he plays him.

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Being willfully blind, reckless or indifferent to the possibility of injury to a player when you lead with your helmet into their knee is good enough to constitute "intention" in my view. And I think Ward was being far more than indifferent or reckless on that hit.

Jeff Howe ‏@jeffphowe 36m36 minutes ago
In my opinion, there's a difference between trying to tackle low and targeting a guy's knee. Ward did the latter here

Jeff Howe ‏@jeffphowe 36m36 minutes ago
Ward had plenty of time to decide, too. Here's where he was when he began breaking to the ball

PatsWSB47 said:

Whether or not ward could be penalized for the hit will never change my mind about it being an attempted injury producing one. I absolutely blame any player that attempts to take a guy out by hurting them....especially a guy who just last year did exactly that to the same guy he went after this time. Ward knew exactly what he was trying to do and he even celebrated the hit despite it being a pretty big play by Gronk. He celebrated it because it was Gronk that he hit low....the same Gronk he ended the season for last year. Now if you want to hide behind "the rule made him do it" go ahead. I just happen to believe a rule doesn't give a hit man license to anyone just because they can get a way with it. F**k him.

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Nobody ever heard of the name TJ Ward until he blew Gronks knee out. . Reminds me of how Bernard Pollard made a name for himself... by injuring players that were more talented and famous than he is

DaBruinz said:

Cute. We have posters in 2014 who still believe that God, ************ and Allah are real.

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Not the place to discuss religion, but shoot me a PM if you can advise which one of these is responsible for watching over Gronk so I can make the necessary prayers. Thanks

LightSkinSmurf said:

Well I don't believe ward was trying to injure gronk. I just think he was trying to tackle him the easiest legal way he knew how... I just don't believe ward has this evil intention to injury gronk every time he plays him.

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You apparently don't realize how sacred knees are to the NFL community. Whether injury was his specific intention, the fact remains that he chose a dirty hit when numerous other alternatives were available.

His intent was nearly obvious. . Just look at the replay angle from the line of scrimmage.. Ward had 15 to 20 yards to line that hit up and as he approaches Gronk, his eyes are literally staring directly at the knee and aiming his hit, then he lowers his head to use the crown of his helmet as the impact point square into Gronks knee.

The guy is a scumbag.. I'm not going to be wishing injury on anyone, but if I read next week that Ward left the game with a torn ACL from an offensive player going low on him, I wouldn't be crying myself to sleep that night I'll tell you that much.

From my experience playing the game, I would simply say that the only thing going through your mind when making a tackle is how to effectively get the guy on the ground and not miss the tackle. Missing a tackle is very easy to do. To suggest that players line up a spot to hit to injure a player makes no sense to me. The game is just too fast, and the guy you are trying to tackle is trying not to get tackled.

The other thing that makes Ward a punk is that he was playing for the Cleveland Clowns and takes an NFL superstar out who just missed like a year of football from surgeries and doesn't even have the decency to reach out to him or anything. . He's just like, yea whatever, people are talking about me now... look how much of a bad ass I am!

Nobody gave two ****s who TJ Ward was until he took out a superstar, and I think that he secretly likes the attention he gets because he would be irrelevant otherwise..

AndyJohnson said:

From my experience playing the game, I would simply say that the only thing going through your mind when making a tackle is how to effectively get the guy on the ground and not miss the tackle. Missing a tackle is very easy to do. To suggest that players line up a spot to hit to injure a player makes no sense to me. The game is just too fast, and the guy you are trying to tackle is trying not to get tackled.

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You could very well be right, but there was enough time to see Gronk thinking, "this guy's gonna take out my knee again, isn't he? Oh sh*t! He is!"

Oswlek said:

You could very well be right, but there was enough time to see Gronk thinking, "this guy's gonna take out my knee again, isn't he? Oh sh*t! He is!"

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I dont think so. I think Ward was thinking 'how the hell can I bring down this monster', and knew going high would be crazy so he made the hit he felt most likely to result in a successful tackle.

AndyJohnson said:

From my experience playing the game, I would simply say that the only thing going through your mind when making a tackle is how to effectively get the guy on the ground and not miss the tackle. Missing a tackle is very easy to do. To suggest that players line up a spot to hit to injure a player makes no sense to me. The game is just too fast, and the guy you are trying to tackle is trying not to get tackled.

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Evidently the only thing that enters Ward's mind when it's time to tackle Gronk is "helmet to knee, helmet to knee" = POS.

Anyone saying that Gronk is too big to wrap his legs up is:
1. Stupid
2. Ultimately advising every db in the league to go helmet to knee on him every time he has the ball.

mikey m said:

Evidently the only thing that enters Ward's mind when it's time to tackle Gronk is "helmet to knee, helmet to knee" = POS.

Anyone saying that Gronk is too big to wrap his legs up is:
1. Stupid
2. Ultimately advising every db in the league to go helmet to knee on him every time he has the ball.

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Thanks for the kind words.
Of course no one said what you think they did, so probably best that we both just move on.

I don't think folks understand how fast things happen out there nor do I think people know what goes through TJ Ward's mind milliseconds before he makes a hit.

All we know is that in order to make a tackle, he thinks it is acceptable to lead with the crown of the helmet on a player's knee at full speed.

As others have stated, this type of tackling technique on larger players is taught. Is this technique in the best interest of both the runner and tackler's safety? No. Is there a NFL rule against it? Personally I think it's ambiguous. Is there another technique that he could have used to tackle Gronk? Sure but it is not as impactful or have a higher probability of stopping a 6-6 270 man running at full speed when you are coming in at an angle.

I hate how TJ Ward tackles and I want a rule in place to prevent it. The question is does the league.

JarOfMayo51 said:

The other thing that makes Ward a punk is that he was playing for the Cleveland Clowns and takes an NFL superstar out who just missed like a year of football from surgeries and doesn't even have the decency to reach out to him or anything. . He's just like, yea whatever, people are talking about me now... look how much of a bad ass I am!

Nobody gave two ****s who TJ Ward was until he took out a superstar, and I think that he secretly likes the attention he gets because he would be irrelevant otherwise..

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I like the attention Tom Brady paid T.J. Ward. He abused him in the passing game.

No reason to launch yourself at a Players knee. just wrap him up