Yes they are! That's the point! Contact made at the point where the ball is not in the QBs hands is illegal and dirty. THAT is a dirty play. Contact made at the point where the ball is IN the QBs hands is legal. That's been the ruling in the NFL for years. What part of this are you guys not understanding?
While I haven't read every post, I've yet to see one that claims the contact was a late hit. Anyway, I'm not making that claim so Brady having the ball is irrelevant to me.
So you are saying that ANY contact with a QB holding the ball is legal? Your statement in bold implies that. Blows to the head are illegal. Grabbing the facemask is illegal. Grabbing the back of the shoulder pads and then falling to the ground is illegal. Spearing with the top of the helmet. Driving the player into the ground. And on and on. So just because a QB (or any other player) has the ball doesn't mean that ANY contact is by definition legal. No posts that I've seen have made the assertion that QBs holding the ball shouldn't be touched.
Dude, Morris TACKLED him to the ground. A point in which should have been flagged and called holding. Notice the word HOLDING in there. Pollard was on his stomach, not all fours.
Agree with everything you wrote, including the holding penalty. Everything I've discussed happened after this point. So the whole issue is around what happened after Pollard disengaged from Morris. Really don't need to argue about anything that happened before then because your points are factual.
First of all, Pollard didn't go for his knee. Pollard went for Brady's legs.
What Pollard intended to do is irrelevant and completely unknown to you and I. And the last time I checked, the knee is located at the approximate midpoint of the leg.
It's a move that's very common in the NFL when you're lower than your opponent.
The commonality or uniqueness of a move is irrelevant to whether or not it is legal. And what you can do to a lineman or RB is different than what you can do to a QB in the pocket. You may not like it, but that is fact.
As Pollard (with Morris on his back) went to sack/stop Brady, Brady stepped into the throw with a little extra something. That's common of a deep pass from a quarterback. As Brady stepped up to make the throw, the side of his knee collided with Pollard's helmet as Pollard was on the ground. It was that point in which he was hurt.
That is total fantasy but I will give you points for originality. Saying that Pollard lunged in front of Brady and was on the ground, then Brady stepped into Pollard with the side of Brady's knee hitting his helmet. Wow. If this is what you saw, I totally understand your point of view now. I would suggest you go to
www.lenscrafters.com as soon as possible.
Encourage that type of play? Sure. I'll encourage real football for the rest of my life. Do you want to encourage the league to put a pink skirt on the quarterback? Good luck with that.
If the same play happened in every game this weekend and every starting QB in the league was put on IR, would you feel the same? That would lead to some "real football", wouldn't it?
Once again me and MoFo are the only ones making sense and stating facts in a controversial thread while everyone else is bringing their opinions in.
The only facts you have (not a late hit, Pollard was held, Brady had the ball), nobody is disagreeing with you. Your observations about the actual contact are enjoyable to read but are hardly factual. You don't need to bother continuing in this thread. Anyone who thinks that Brady knee initiated the contact with Pollard's helmet has made their point perfectly clear.
