Meriweather

[mgcolby]

The game has come along way since then. Those that have nostalgia for the way the NFL was need to re-think. Maybe the big hits were never right to begin with, and maybe they aren't worth it.

What football fans don't understand is that a lot of it comes back to - ironically - the fact that these guys are ARMED with a helmet. I don't say PROTECTED by a helmet, b/c guys like Meriweather and James Harrison don't view it as such. They use their helmet as a weapon and they view it as a safety-net. And it's stupid.

In similarly aggressive sports, such as rugby, we constantly hear that the lack of helmet contributes to a healthier game as it prevents everyone from using their persons as weapons. I believe it - completely. Would Brandon Meriweather have launched his brain into Heap's brain if the only thing separating the two were their skulls and Meriweather's dreads? Hell no. It's easy to look tough and act violent when you have a state of the art helmet seemingly protecting you. Of course, some of these moronic players haven't realized yet that the helmets don't do enough. Maybe that will be their last cogent thought when they turn senile at age 45.

There's no reason the sport should leave people brain-dead and crippled for the rest of their lives. That's just asinine. We have - hopefully - advanced enough as a society that we are past this kind of barbaric thinking which is, frankly, just a step above the Gladiator/Roman colosseum type stuff.

And it's not good for the game. The irony is that football is - by far - the most mentally taxing and complex popular team sport we have in America, heck, maybe even the world. To cheapen all that complexity and reduce the sport's appeal to its violence, well, that's just stupid.

Meriweather's hit was disgusting, and he should be suspended. It was, by far, the worst of the 3 over-the-line hits we saw this weekend.

There's a way to play the game with passion and toughness that doesn't lead to hindered lives down the road - and its up to the players and the NFL to figure that out. Anyone who is looking back to the so-called "glory days" of the NFL is being extremely naive. It's time to move on to a better and safer NFL where players don't give up their future for the sake of our entertainment.

Do you watch UFC? Boxing?

 

[stinkypete]

This is year 4. I get the feeling what we see with Meriweather is what we will get from him. Meriweather reminds me of Tebucky Jones. He can make plays, but trade that off with poor instincts and inconsistency.

I say ship him off this offseason. Get some mid round picks, draft a safety and back him up behind Sanders and McGOwan. Chung is clearly our #1 safety.

 

[BradyManny]

Do you watch UFC? Boxing?

I don't. What's your point?

 

[JackBauer]

This is year 4. I get the feeling what we see with Meriweather is what we will get from him. Meriweather reminds me of Tebucky Jones. He can make plays, but trade that off with poor instincts and inconsistency.

I say ship him off this offseason. Get some mid round picks, draft a safety and back him up behind Sanders and McGOwan. Chung is clearly our #1 safety.

So you want to start Sanders or McGowan?

Sounds like a surefire recipe for success. I don't see BM as nearly the liability that Tebucky was, but different strokes I guess.

 

[MoLewisrocks]

Do you know what a vendetta is?

I have acknowledged his shortcomings. But, unlike you, I can also acknowledge the good things that he's done. And if you really are going to claim with a straight face that you don't have a vendetta against the guy, then your credibility really is shot. It's the same thing you did to Moss, and the same thing you do to every player who you have a bone with.

Yeah, I do. I didn't think Moss was a good fit for this system from the get go. But I deferred to Bill's judgement on that one, as well as his apparent belief that in order to stay ahead of the curve this team needed that kind of presence and weapon at that point in time. I never thought Moss was the anti christ. But I increasingly saw warning signs - dating back to his performance coming off the Florida incident and then down the stretch in 2007 - that while he was not a locker room provocatuer ala TO, he was in fact not in fact the kind of all in, mentally tough, whatever it takes, selfless player that this team won rings with. I said after 2009 I thought it was time to move on, although I doubted they would. Turns out they did...

What you call my vendetta is actually an appreciation born over time of what it takes to be a BB player. Everyone admires talent, but it takes a whole lot more here to survive let alone thrive because of the system which is founded on accountability not to mention the scheme that is contingent on discipline and responsibility.

I haven't had so much as a comment about Meriweather before this season. I had no vendetta against him, I was hopeful he would succeed and unlike some I understood it wouldn't necessarily happen overnight because the key would be could he lead that secondary as Rodney's heir apparent or would someone else step up and allow him to flourish even if he couldn't in fact be that leader. I have yet to call for his removal from the team. What I have observed is the coaching staff has issues with him and it's pretty clear why and that doesn't bode well for a player entering his 4th season here...regardless of perceived talent. If you can't do your job here as coached, it doesn't matter how talented you are.

 

[mgcolby]

I don't. What's your point?

I don't see a big public out cry to prevent concussions in UFC and Boxing. My point is I wonder how many people that are against big hits to the head watch boxing and UFC.

That is not you, but I was curious given your stance.

 

[patsfaninpittsburgh]

I'm posting this in all the Meriweather threads but Tedy Bruschi's comments on this hit and all the hits and suspending players (as well as the Branch return and even his job vs. players closing ranks to protect the locker room as in the Moss situation). Great interview some of you won't like.

Tedy is more legit on subject than Rodney.

As a former "real" leader, I admired the way he disciplined Rodney on his occasional and minor onfield infraction.

 

[Synovia]

Do you watch UFC? Boxing?

Boxing is bad, but UFC does way more to protect its athletes than the NFL,or any of the major sports leagues. A concussion in ufc is usually a mandatory 60 day sit out.

 

[captain stone]

I'd refer you too Capn, to the Abe Lincoln comment, as it applies.

But what's the fun in that?

As for Lombardi's comments, I do believe he's (half) right.

 

[MoLewisrocks]

Tedy is more legit on subject than Rodney.

As a former "real" leader, I admired the way he disciplined Rodney on his occasional and minor onfield infraction.

I have posted a thread with a link to the audio replay of the Bruschi interview. BTW Harrison was suspended in 2002 while with SD for a helmet to helmet hit on Jerry Rice. He said that was when he decided to mend his ways, because it cost not just him but his team. And on another FWIW, Bill O'Brien told media today that he was in fact involved in an incident with Randy Moss at half time of the Miami game. Said that stuff happens...

 

[mgcolby]

Boxing is bad, but UFC does way more to protect its athletes than the NFL,or any of the major sports leagues. A concussion in ufc is usually a mandatory 60 day sit out.

I should have been more clear, I wasn't talking about how they handle concussions after the fact. They allow knees (while standing), elbows, fists and kicks (while standing) to the head.

I don't see anyone demanding that all blows to the head be removed from those sports and rightfully so.

 

[captain stone]

Re: Looks like Merriweather might get suspended

If that's the case, then I hope James Harrison gets hit with a multiple game suspension for what he did yesterday. Not only did he go helmet to helmet, not only did he launch himself to go helmet to helmet, but he did both to a receiver that was already going down. Then, a couple of series later, he did the same thing to Massaquoi. That's two in one game. He deserves to be hit with at least a two game suspension, one for each hit.

I completely agree; whatever suspension Stomper or anyone else receives, Harrison should receive double.

But Harrison plays for the Rooney Rule's Pits-Dirt Stealers, so I expect no suspension against him whatsoever.

 

[patsfaninpittsburgh]

I have posted a thread with a link to the audio replay of the Bruschi interview. BTW Harrison was suspended in 2002 while with SD for a helmet to helmet hit on Jerry Rice. He said that was when he decided to mend his ways, because it cost not just him but his team. And on another FWIW, Bill O'Brien told media today that he was in fact involved in an incident with Randy Moss at half time of the Miami game. Said that stuff happens...

I know he was suspended. That's why he was almost always a perfect boy scout while with the Pats. The few times he strayed, Tedy the "leader" immediately reeled him in.

As far as Moss and BOB, OK?

Two employees at work in an "incident" is unprecedented.

 

[emoney_33]

Because he made a big hit that was also a clean hit within the rules.

You celebrate a guy for a legal hit that almost KILLED a man and denigrate a guy for an illegal hit that didn't even take a player out of the rest of the game.

BTW Bruschi is all for protecting players but he never called for Meriweather to be suspended, he simply thinks that the league MIGHT make an example out of him to limit the head collisions league-wide.

 

[emoney_33]

I have posted a thread with a link to the audio replay of the Bruschi interview. BTW Harrison was suspended in 2002 while with SD for a helmet to helmet hit on Jerry Rice. He said that was when he decided to mend his ways, because it cost not just him but his team. And on another FWIW, Bill O'Brien told media today that he was in fact involved in an incident with Randy Moss at half time of the Miami game. Said that stuff happens...

Since no one claimed that report to be false, why would this be noteworthy?

 

[patsfaninpittsburgh]

You celebrate a guy for a legal hit that almost KILLED a man and denigrate a guy for an illegal hit that didn't even take a player out of the rest of the game.

BTW Bruschi is all for protecting players but he never called for Meriweather to be suspended, he simply thinks that the league MIGHT make an example out of him to limit the head collisions league-wide.

It wasn't like Mo Lewis hit a QB going out of bounds or anything.

We are talking about a non QB, mid section, in the middle of the field....right?

 

[emoney_33]

The game has come along way since then. Those that have nostalgia for the way the NFL was need to re-think. Maybe the big hits were never right to begin with, and maybe they aren't worth it.

What football fans don't understand is that a lot of it comes back to - ironically - the fact that these guys are ARMED with a helmet. I don't say PROTECTED by a helmet, b/c guys like Meriweather and James Harrison don't view it as such. They use their helmet as a weapon and they view it as a safety-net. And it's stupid.

In similarly aggressive sports, such as rugby, we constantly hear that the lack of helmet contributes to a healthier game as it prevents everyone from using their persons as weapons. I believe it - completely. Would Brandon Meriweather have launched his brain into Heap's brain if the only thing separating the two were their skulls and Meriweather's dreads? Hell no. It's easy to look tough and act violent when you have a state of the art helmet seemingly protecting you. Of course, some of these moronic players haven't realized yet that the helmets don't do enough. Maybe that will be their last cogent thought when they turn senile at age 45.

There's no reason the sport should leave people brain-dead and crippled for the rest of their lives. That's just asinine. We have - hopefully - advanced enough as a society that we are past this kind of barbaric thinking which is, frankly, just a step above the Gladiator/Roman colosseum type stuff.

And it's not good for the game. The irony is that football is - by far - the most mentally taxing and complex popular team sport we have in America, heck, maybe even the world. To cheapen all that complexity and reduce the sport's appeal to its violence, well, that's just stupid.

Meriweather's hit was disgusting, and he should be suspended. It was, by far, the worst of the 3 over-the-line hits we saw this weekend.

There's a way to play the game with passion and toughness that doesn't lead to hindered lives down the road - and its up to the players and the NFL to figure that out. Anyone who is looking back to the so-called "glory days" of the NFL is being extremely naive. It's time to move on to a better and safer NFL where players don't give up their future for the sake of our entertainment.

Interesting opinion regarding helmets. One question to answer is what is the frequency and severity of head injuries from pre-helmet days to now.

 

[TriplecHamp]

Boxing is bad, but UFC does way more to protect its athletes than the NFL,or any of the major sports leagues. A concussion in ufc is usually a mandatory 60 day sit out.

the athletic commissions hand out 180 day suspensions with no contact for 60 days when a fighter suffers a concussion. I believe boxing does the same because again they fall under the commissions not the actual promotion. Helmet to helmet hits are unnecessary and although Merriweather did launch himself and he did lead with the helmet, I don't see a reason to suspend him when he wasn't the first player to do it this season. I think its BS that now the league decides that its a good time to start making examples when we have seen other hits earlier in the season cause concussions. McClain bodyslamed somebody, IMO that is just as bad as a helmet to helmet hit but McClain wasn't crucified for it he was flagged.

 

[emoney_33]

the athletic commissions hand out 180 day suspensions with no contact for 60 days when a fighter suffers a concussion. I believe boxing does the same because again they fall under the commissions not the actual promotion. Helmet to helmet hits are unnecessary and although Merriweather did launch himself and he did lead with the helmet, I don't see a reason to suspend him when he wasn't the first player to do it this season. I think its BS that now the league decides that its a good time to start making examples when we have seen other hits earlier in the season cause concussions. McClain bodyslamed somebody, IMO that is just as bad as a helmet to helmet hit but McClain wasn't crucified for it he was flagged.

I agree, I think it's a TERRIBLE thing to come down the hammer without warning. If they want to do something about it they should warn everyone and let them know suspensions will be handed out going forward. Don't wait for some arbitrary "last straw" and punish a single player/team for doing it at the "wrong time" (yes obviously I know helmet-to-helmet is ALWAYS wrong).

 

[BradyManny]

I don't see a big public out cry to prevent concussions in UFC and Boxing. My point is I wonder how many people that are against big hits to the head watch boxing and UFC.

That is not you, but I was curious given your stance.

Ah, OK - gotcha. I have no real insight to those sports, so I can't really say. With football, its so popular & mainstream that the issue is very front & center these days.