Jeff Howe: nfl declined to comment 4x on Harris comment about Gronk's knees

Silver Blue&Red said:

I like that idea, but could you imagine the windfall if the Pats actually said "We will deliver two to your one"? It would be all over the place. Lets face it, it's us against the world. and that's when BB, TB and co, are at their best. It's a lock. FU Denver, Peyton, Peyton lovers, The league and all the loser who are sick of the Pats dominating. Get used to it!!!

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It would be amazing, and it's not like anyone would hate us any more since most already hate us and we'd kinda weirdly have the moral high ground here. Plus there's strong precedent for it, since Rex Ryan made the whole "if you take out one of ours, we'll take two of yours" statement just a couple years back.

jays52 said:

There is still a very simple solution left on the table. Institute hockey rules, and sign the middle Jones Brother as a receiver. It's more money than he'd make in the UFC and the techniques he knows how to implement are best case career ending. I would pay good money to watch him sleep TJ Ward and turn him into a Speak N Spell.

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I think DB's aiming at his knees will be an ongoing issue for Gronk. He is dominant and vulnerable at the same time. If he doesn't find a way to protect himself, he will not be able to stay healthy for a full season and the playoffs. I like the spirit of this post, with a slightly different or additional approach. As an undersized little league catcher the bigger kids used to love to steam roll me on plays to the plate until I started to tag them in the nuts with a full on double stiff arm. Obviously not a great comparison on the scale of athletic achievements, but Gronk should apply the same principle by accidentally kneeing or finding another way to inflict pain on the perpetrator when he goes for the low tackle. DB's don't like to hit him high because it hurts, don't make your most vulnerable spot a soft target. If I were Gronk, I would think that it would be worth spending some chump change on a fine to send a message to dirt bags who were looking to cheap shot his knees.

Howe has become the best "print" reporter on the Patriots beat.

Curran seems to do less in print than Howe does, and anyway is more distinguished in analysis than reporting, initially by getting BB to open up on Fridays and then sharing it with us.

Reiss has scaled back his efforts, for whatever reasons. (He did write a book, and I'm sure part of the problem is indeed ESPN.)

But Howe is providing a lot of detail every week.

bradydaman29 said:

This is really a non-story. Tacklers quite often go for the knees, Brady mentioned it in the presser yesterday. When the running back gets a head of steam going, the tackler often launches himself like a missile right at the knees of the runner, forcing the runner to protect himself by lifting his feet off the ground, loses balance and falls to the ground. I think it's legal as long as they are approaching from the front.

Gronk has to learn to protect himself, which I noticed he has learned to do a little better this year, getting his upper body low when they come at him low, but he still needs to have more awareness around the approaching tackler and protecting himself by avoiding the big hit, even if it means sacrificing some yards and going down to avoid the impact.

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He and Edelman need to learn to avoid risking season-ending injuries at the expense of an extra foot. They don't need to turtle like Welker or Brandon Lloyd on every catch, but I cringe every time I see Gronk digging in to stay up while three guys are jumping on him.

bradydaman29 said:

This is really a non-story. Tacklers quite often go for the knees, Brady mentioned it in the presser yesterday. When the running back gets a head of steam going, the tackler often launches himself like a missile right at the knees of the runner, forcing the runner to protect himself by lifting his feet off the ground, loses balance and falls to the ground. I think it's legal as long as they are approaching from the front.

Gronk has to learn to protect himself, which I noticed he has learned to do a little better this year, getting his upper body low when they come at him low, but he still needs to have more awareness around the approaching tackler and protecting himself by avoiding the big hit, even if it means sacrificing some yards and going down to avoid the impact.

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Gronk has definitely learned to protect himself. He appears to be much more aware about the planted leg vs the lifted leg while being tackled low (if he hasn't his career would be in jeopardy). However you're missing the point by nearly a parsec. The Goodell led office has made it a loud, colossal BFD regarding 'player safety', 'integrity!' and even 'not allow a BS "bounty" to hurt a player!' etc etc. So now a player intimates, basically, he is going to wreck another player's knees. Shockingly! Patriot fans are calling out this cesspool office for not being consistent or honest in their oft stated positions on such things.

BradyFTW! said:

Why should the NFL comment? It's a legal hit. It probably shouldn't be, but that's a separate issue, and everyone knew the Broncos go after knees as a practice anyway. Given that it's legal, there's really nothing requiring intervention from the league here.

If the Pats want that behavior policed, they're going to have to do it themselves by warning the Broncos that for every cheap shot they take, they'll deliver two. If the Broncos know that targeting knees is going to turn into a war of attrition, leaving the winner too crippled to compete in the Super Bowl, maybe that'll stop them.

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well said..

they want to play dirty, we should do the same. don't let those scumbags bully us around

Two things, the guy who contacted the NFL should of added "Is there a bounty culture in Denver" to his message. That would of got there attention. And secondly, I hope our receivers fall into the DBs knees as they run forward.

Integrity for the NFL means, 'holding of certain teams to a higher standard than other teams".

Where is Kubiak in all of this brouhaha, do reporters question him about this?? Or are they all too busy gently massaging Peyton*'s balls???

borg said:

During yesterday's presser in Denver, did any of the mediots grill Forehead about the HGH shipments to his home? Rumor has it Jim Nance was spotted on his knees behind the podium at the time of Manning's appearance.....So Gronk was right

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That's a low blow.

DarrylS said:

Integrity for the NFL means, 'holding of certain teams to a higher standard than other teams".

Where is Kubiak in all of this brouhaha, do reporters question him about this?? Or are they all too busy gently massaging Peyton*'s balls???

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This Manning teabagging is so freaking annoying....

There hasnt been a single HGH question asked.

A sad day for responsible journalism.

They don't have a beast like Gronk that we'd have problems bringing down so it'll be tough going 2 for 1. However, if we're up by 3 TD's, GoAT should throw a high ball to TJ Ward or other DB, who's in the area of Gronk, and have Gronk just completely catch him in mid-air and body slam him through the ground....or spike him like he does a football.

Integrity of the game.

Only in American football can targeting someone with your helmet get you less games and penalties than being suspected of having footballs deflated by a negligible PSI. Only in our beloved NFL can a player openly talk about taking out the knees of one of the biggest players in the game (figuratively and literally) and not be reprimanded in any way. But let's file that appeal for some ****ing deflated footballs because we can't stand the pie on our collective faces and let's release data related to deflated footballs during the weeks leading up to the SB because that's the only thing that impacts the integrity of the game. It's laughable.

borg said:

During yesterday's presser in Denver, did any of the mediots grill Forehead about the HGH shipments to his home? Rumor has it Jim Nance was spotted on his knees behind the podium at the time of Manning's appearance.....So Gronk was right

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"What's up with our hero??"

The Brandon Five said:

He and Edelman need to learn to avoid risking season-ending injuries at the expense of an extra foot. They don't need to turtle like Welker or Brandon Lloyd on every catch, but I cringe every time I see Gronk digging in to stay up while three guys are jumping on him.

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I hate to say it but Edelman needs to start getting down and not go for as many yac's he's too important to the team. I'd rather see him on the field than on the sideline with an injury.

The "oh, you need to go at Gronk's knees, it's the only way to bring him down" people are full of it.

Going low, sure. But going low does not mean going at knees. You can go at the thigh. You can -- god forbid! -- grab and wrap the legs, etc. There are plenty of players (though not enough) who can and do tackle low without going for the knees and there's no reason why the others can't do the same.

If the NFL actually cared about player safety (which it does not), the defender initiating purposeful contact on the knee with a helmet or shoulder would draw an ejection and a suspension.

One-Be-Lo said:

"What's up with our hero??"

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What about the children?

Tuck said:

I hate to say it but Edelman needs to start getting down and not go for as many yac's he's too important to the team. I'd rather see him on the field than on the sideline with an injury.

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I think he was doing that in the last game. Or at least it seemed like every time he got wrapped up he went down without trying to fight through it. He still ducks and dodges though.

I heard Gronk say that he needed to drop his shoulders more and initiate the contact. I like the sounds of that.

Fencer said:

Howe has become the best "print" reporter on the Patriots beat.

Curran seems to do less in print than Howe does, and anyway is more distinguished in analysis than reporting, initially by getting BB to open up on Fridays and then sharing it with us.

Reiss has scaled back his efforts, for whatever reasons. (He did write a book, and I'm sure part of the problem is indeed ESPN.)

But Howe is providing a lot of detail every week.

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I like Howe, but like most media peoole he often makes **** up with no facts supporting it.. like stating that Gronk would be the equivalent to what he was in the 2011 SB with that ankle for the game against the Chiefs. . I knew immediately that he was full of it, because NOBODY in the media is privy to that kind of information

I still like his stuff, but people were in a panic over his article last week that he fabricated to stir up drama.

Tuck said:

I hate to say it but Edelman needs to start getting down and not go for as many yac's he's too important to the team. I'd rather see him on the field than on the sideline with an injury.

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I agree, I like that he's a scrappy guy but sometimes he makes himself incredibly vulnerable just to try and get 1-2 more yards and it's not worth it...

Like that wreckless dive he did behind Gronk last week in KC... he went airborne between 3 merging defenders and could have easily been hit or landed awkwardly to cause injury and it netted him like 2 more yards

I love how tough he is and his mentality to make plays... but he should watch some film on Marvin Harrison to see how he's more valuable as a possession guy picking up key 1st downs and protecting himself so that he can keep making those clutch 1st downs