Meriweather

[WhiteWesWelker88]

He plays tough and I like him.


That was a terrible hit (very cheap)

 

[Haley]

The fact is, I loved watching Meriweather last year. So much so that we even started nicknaming our fast, tough little Jack Russell Terrier "Haley-weather" (the other larger one is "Nigel-fork"). He was always making plays last year and it seemed he was always right where he should have been. He'd come flying in like a rhino and just pummel anything in his path. This year I see him always taking bad angles on people and failing consistently to be where the ball is. He comes flying in still, but only after letting the carrier make an extra bunch of yards they shouldn't have had. And now this headhunting.

He needs to stop thinking about himself and start thinking about the team again. And frankly Wilfork's comments on this subject were not helpful in the matter. Watching BB and Wilfork effectively sending different messages was like watching bad parenting in action. The thing is, I really think he could be a fantastic safety for us. He has the skills, the toughness and the love of the game but his selfishness and willfulness are getting in the way of his own success. I guess that is always the way of things...

 

[mgcolby]

Drew4008 correctly referred me to this thread. Thanks,

Quote:
"Originally Posted by fluoropolymer
Forget what the league may do. The Patriots should voluntarily suspend Merriweather for a week. Sit his ass down. So far this year he has been a sub-par player that seems to always be playing "stupid". His hit on Heap was cheap, dirty, vicious, (fill in your adjective); but most of all it was stupid football.

It's obvious that Merriweather has the physical tools, but for some reason he doesn't work within the Patriots system. He admits freelancing, etc.

I love good clean hard professional football. But it is supposed to be a game to be played and enjoyed. It is a vocation for an elite few. It is also a vocation that leaves almost all of its participants handicapped in some manner or form by the time they end their career. I want to see players (for all teams) on the field competing; not wearing a cast or trapped in a wheelchair."

I am continually amazed by the callousness of posters. We are not living in the Roman Empire watching gladiators killing each other. As a society we define and place limits on acceptable behavior. We should err on the side of caution to protect people playing a game - even violent professional entertainment like football. The Kraft family has shown that running a football team professionally like a business can be incredibly successful. Safety, and protecting employees (both yours and the other guy's), is a necessary part of operating a business. And if you really want to see the game change (for the worse) let one or two players get really seriously injured and get the lawyers involved. One change in the law will open the floodgates for Personal Injury lawyers.

Do you sit in the red seats? :bricks:

Good clean football gets redefined every year, and as each year passes it looks less and less like itself.

Hitting is part of the game, helmet to helmet contact is part of the game. Intentional or otherwise. They are doing their best to rule it out in the open field but that is it. Watch the lineman hit, watch a blitzing LB come through a gap, helmets hit all the time in the trenches. But the average johnny come lately fans that are whining and crying about helmet to helmet hits don't see it in there because it isn't obvious or pointed out to them.

The game is a violent sport played by grown men who know and accept the risks. They have a choice, Roman Gladiators is a poor comparison because of that.

I knew the NFL was in trouble the day that I saw a couple eating dinner by candlelight with wine and the whole 9 yards, in Gillette's parking lot before the Denver game in 2006.

The NFL needs to leave it alone, people need to either enjoy the sport for what it is or don't watch. But because its all about the all mighty dollar, the league caters to the people that have most likely never stepped on a football field who are crying foul.

Don't get me wrong if a guy takes an extra step or two and is clearly trying to hurt someone, sure eject/suspend him. Or a late hit, knees to the head when he is down etc... those are cheap shots and there is no room in the game for that. You can also eliminate that without taking away the defenders aggression. But to say a guy is head hunting, because he left his feet to hit a TE that is half of foot taller than him and ends up making contact to the receivers helmet is downright ignorant. And now the player has to worry about a suspension if he judges a play wrong? It is dumb.

 

[Mack Herron]

Meriweather will likely get suspended, and Page went down with a pretty serious looking leg injury. Sanders was out Sun with a hamstring. Could be looking for another safety this week.

 

[JackBauer]

Meriweather will likely get suspended, and Page went down with a pretty serious looking leg injury. Sanders was out Sun with a hamstring. Could be looking for another safety this week.

Actually, if I'm reading Ray Anderson's comments correctly, it doesn't appear Meriweather will be suspended.

NFL football operations executive Ray Anderson told ESPN Radio's "Mike and Mike in the Morning" that the league will hold players accountable under a "strict liability" standard for illegal hits to the head and neck starting with games this week, saying the league will not apologize for trying to protect players' safety and enforcing the current rules.

Anderson, the league's executive vice president of football operations, backed away from the word "devastating" in describing the kind of hits the league will act upon beginning with games this week.

"I don't know where the word devastating came from. That's not my word," he said Tuesday. "What I would tell you is that if there are flagrant and egregious violations of our current rules, we will be enforcing, effective immediately, discipline at a higher level."

Looks like the stricter policy will be one that addresses plays moving forward.

 

[mgcolby]

Actually, if I'm reading Ray Anderson's comments correctly, it doesn't appear Meriweather will be suspended.



Looks like the stricter policy will be one that addresses plays moving forward.

That is how I read it as well. I think the players being talked about in the media will be fined, but expect suspensions next week.

 

[ctpatsfan77]

That is how I read it as well. I think the players being talked about in the media will be fined, but expect suspensions next week.

It pretty much has to be that way; as Reiss pointed out this morning, about the only fair ways to do it are: (A) let previous stuff go (though heavy fines are fair), and treat everything the same going forward, or (B) go back to the beginning of the season, and penalize ALL the "egregious" hits.

 

[PatsWickedPissah]

Meriweather will likely get suspended, and Page went down with a pretty serious looking leg injury. Sanders was out Sun with a hamstring. Could be looking for another safety this week.

Fine, just don't let BB return to the Slater era at safety

 

[fluoropolymer]

I wish I could afford the "Red Seats", but yeah I prefer a good Cab with my BBQ.

My reference to Roman Gladiator was a reference to "thumbs down" fans that think concussions, compound fractures, and paralysis are good and "just part of the game, so deal with it". We can hide our heads in the sand and wistfully remember the "good old days", but look at the damaged conditions of many of the retired great players. No workplace should leave its emplyees cripples, in constant pain, or mentally impaired. I believe the deplorable conditions of many of the retired players should be the key issue in the new contract negotiations; because the present players are going to get there soon.

And when I played the game a 260 pound lineman was the exception; not to mention the 265 pound linebacker with 4.4 speed. Face it folks, this is a different game. It is a business. And hits like Meriweather's, Harrison's, or the rest are cheap, respresent poor sportsmanship, and damaging to the long-term interests of professional football.

 

[old 55]

??

Meriweather played well. I certainly don't approve of his headhunting, but BB could have benched him after the penalty. Guess what? He didn't.

Actually he did, but not for the rest of the game.

 

[mosi]

Do you sit in the red seats? :bricks:

Good clean football gets redefined every year, and as each year passes it looks less and less like itself.

Hitting is part of the game, helmet to helmet contact is part of the game. Intentional or otherwise. They are doing their best to rule it out in the open field but that is it. Watch the lineman hit, watch a blitzing LB come through a gap, helmets hit all the time in the trenches. But the average johnny come lately fans that are whining and crying about helmet to helmet hits don't see it in there because it isn't obvious or pointed out to them.

The game is a violent sport played by grown men who know and accept the risks. They have a choice, Roman Gladiators is a poor comparison because of that.

I knew the NFL was in trouble the day that I saw a couple eating dinner by candlelight with wine and the whole 9 yards, in Gillette's parking lot before the Denver game in 2006.

The NFL needs to leave it alone, people need to either enjoy the sport for what it is or don't watch. But because its all about the all mighty dollar, the league caters to the people that have most likely never stepped on a football field who are crying foul.

Don't get me wrong if a guy takes an extra step or two and is clearly trying to hurt someone, sure eject/suspend him. Or a late hit, knees to the head when he is down etc... those are cheap shots and there is no room in the game for that. You can also eliminate that without taking away the defenders aggression. But to say a guy is head hunting, because he left his feet to hit a TE that is half of foot taller than him and ends up making contact to the receivers helmet is downright ignorant. And now the player has to worry about a suspension if he judges a play wrong? It is dumb.

Damn right. Chuck Bednarik's hit on Frank Girlford would be illegal and lambasted today. In its day, it was considered a thing of beauty.

I think that Merryweather is a scapegoat. On mike and mike, they say that Harrision (Steelers) should not be fined because he did not lead with his head. On the front page of ESPN, what do you see? Harrison leading with his head. The problem with the rules is the double standard.

I say let them play and stop the crying.

 

[MoLewisrocks]

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.

 

[JackBauer]

Sweet. There's nothing more enlightening than your continuing vendetta against Meriweather.

 

[mgcolby]

I wish I could afford the "Red Seats", but yeah I prefer a good Cab with my BBQ.

My reference to Roman Gladiator was a reference to "thumbs down" fans that think concussions, compound fractures, and paralysis are good and "just part of the game, so deal with it". We can hide our heads in the sand and wi(Please be quiet - edited)lly remember the "good old days", but look at the damaged conditions of many of the retired great players. No workplace should leave its emplyees cripples, in constant pain, or mentally impaired. I believe the deplorable conditions of many of the retired players should be the key issue in the new contract negotiations; because the present players are going to get there soon.

And when I played the game a 260 pound lineman was the exception; not to mention the 265 pound linebacker with 4.4 speed. Face it folks, this is a different game. It is a business. And hits like Meriweather's, Harrison's, or the rest are cheap, respresent poor sportsmanship, and damaging to the long-term interests of professional football.

I don't think you can compare the NFL to other workplaces (not that you did that) or condsider it a normal place of business. My point is that they are grown men and they know the risk. To me we might as well ban boxing or MMA, or ban blows to the head. Its the same concept.

I understand that current athletes are bigger and faster which opens up the game to more injuries, but again that is part of the game. And to me, getting players thinking to much about where and how they can hit people, could potentially lead to other types of injuries.

Harrison's hit on Cribbs was perfectly legal, hitting a RB in the helmet is not against the rules. RB's are not protected, that rule only applies to QB's and defenseless receivers. And again its because it is virtually impossible to regulate helmet to helmet hits. If a defender goes low, but the RB ends up at the same pad level, the odds are they will have helmet to helmet contact. The nature of the game makes it impossible to apply the rule with any consistancy.

They talk about player safety, but they only care about the money positions. They care about QB's knees, but screw the D-Lineman. If they care so much about player safety then why not eliminate the dirtiest play in football, the cut block in between the tackles?

The offense already has the overwhelming majority of rules that favor it. And it makes for some cheap BS, PI's that give 40-50 yards on a desperation play, automatic 1st downs on every infraction by the defense in the passing game. A prime example of what I like to believe was an unintended consequence of all the QB rules, is when a QB (McNabb does it all the time) appears to be running out of bounds and the defender lets up, but at the last second the QB cuts it back up the field and catches the defender off guard, gaining additional yardage. You can't blame the defender, because if he keeps going full speed he probably will make contact with the QB and get flagged.

Not all of that is directed at you fluoro, just me venting at the rule changes that have drastically changed the game. People call it a passing league well, no ****, when you can have multiple positive actions, 1 neutral action and 1 negative action occur on a pass, why not throw it?

I'll step off my soapbox now.

 

[MoLewisrocks]

Sweet. There's nothing more enlightening than your continuing vendetta against Meriweather.

I don't have a vendetta Jack. You do. You decided he's your FLA boy and he's gonna be a stud and you refuse to acknowledge his glaring and ongoing shortcomings - some of which he readily admits to - and you're gonna attack anyone who does.

 

[AzPatsFan]

im so glad people here cant make personnel decisions for this team

So am I. The newbies in their mom's basement are offering thier 2 cents worth of advice.

All the good safety tandems are hitters. They have to be to play the position. Intimidation makes for alligator arms and dropped passes wihtout a single player around the receiver. In the anti run game the ar frequently facing blockers and RB who outweigh tthme by anywher from 100 to 2 lbs, You have to hit hard to play the position.

I prefer the Mike Lombardi diagnosis of the Patriots Safeties, "With Meriwether and Chung rapidly develping into Probowlers, the Pats are set at Safety for half a decade."

 

[JackBauer]

I don't have a vendetta Jack. You do. You decided he's your FLA boy and he's gonna be a stud and you refuse to acknowledge his glaring and ongoing shortcomings - some of which he readily admits to - and you're gonna attack anyone who does.

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.

 

[patsfaninpittsburgh]

I don't have a vendetta Jack. You do. You decided he's your FLA boy and he's gonna be a stud and you refuse to acknowledge his glaring and ongoing shortcomings - some of which he readily admits to - and you're gonna attack anyone who does.

I'm all for safety.

However, exactly why does Mo Lewis "rock"?

 

[BradyManny]

Dumb play, but all you calling for him to be benched, while pining for the days of Rodney Harrison, must have a tremendous case of amnesia.

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.

 

[MoLewisrocks]

I'm all for safety.

However, exactly why does Mo Lewis "rock"?

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