Pollard on the Brady hit

[SVN]

http://www.boston.com/sports/football/patriots/reiss_pieces/2008/09/pollard_on_the.html

 

[DefenseRules]

I'm still pissed about what happened. Maybe I can be a little more rational tomorrow. Right now, I don't give a damn what he has to say.

 

[Seymour93]

He sounds remorseful. I believe him.

 

[hambone1818]

I might be alone in this but I don't fault Pollard and he certainly said the right things. Much like Wilfork last season, plays like this happen in a tough, physical game and all you can do is hope the injured player is all right. It didn't look like there was any intent--if there was any indication of intent I'd be singing a different tune--and for that reason I can't see fault Pollard if you also defended Wilfork last season.

 

[#12]

As much as I would love to hate him right now, I believe him when he says that was not intentional. Sure it may look dirty, but he did have someone on his back...everything happens so quickly, so I dont really think the slow motion replays can tell us anything about how dirty the play was. It is what it is...and it SUCKS but all we can do now is hope for the best. I still feel sick to my stomach. Didnt think I'd ever feel as bad as the SB loss, but this is close.

 

[BradyisGod]

Color me impressed with a lot of the posts on here. I think peopel are being remarkably rational here. I too don't believe that his act was malicious.

 

[patsfaninpittsburgh]

Stuck here in Squeeler land.

No flag? Did that rule get overturned? It looks like the injury happened on the Moss fumble.

 

[Lampshade]

Was nothing malicious in it in my opinion.

 

[GrogansArmy]

I didnt think Wilfork's hit last year was intentional and i don't think Pollards hit was intentional either. Accidents happen.

 

[pheenix11]

This guy is a friggin idiot. Maybe he didn't intentionally hurt Brady but he intentionally went after Brady's knee. WTF does he think is gonna happen when he lunges at a QB's knee? He was beaten and down on the ground and because he sucks the only shot he had was at Brady's knee.

He isn't malicious he's just an idiot. The NFL loses one of the best players in the game because he sucks and the only way he can get to the QB is by crawling around on the ground and lunging at their knees.

Brady is hurt because of this guy's stupidity, thats what pisses me off.

 

[PittPatriot]

This guy is a friggin idiot. Maybe he didn't intentionally hurt Brady but he intentionally went after Brady's knee. WTF does he think is gonna happen when he lunges at a QB's knee? He was beaten and down on the ground and because he sucks the only shot he had was at Brady's knee.

He isn't malicious he's just an idiot. The NFL loses one of the best players in the game because he sucks and the only way he can get to the QB is by crawling around on the ground and lunging at their knees.

Brady is hurt because of this guy's stupidity, thats what pisses me off.

I disagree. I don't think intelligence/stupidity had a chance to prevail as Pollard was being taken down near the feet of Brady. A defender's instinct tell him to clutch/grab/slap whatever he has to in order to get the ball down.
Also, I don't think 99.9% of NFL players target knees or joints to maliciously injure opponents. It's a crazy rough game and we are lucky to have a QB that has played 6 years without major injury.

 

[Patriotic Fervor]

I disagree. I don't think intelligence/stupidity had a chance to prevail as Pollard was being taken down near the feet of Brady. A defender's instinct tell him to clutch/grab/slap whatever he has to in order to get the ball down.
Also, I don't think 99.9% of NFL players target knees or joints to maliciously injure opponents. It's a crazy rough game and we are lucky to have a QB that has played 6 years without major injury.

Pollard likes to hit low, and the Brady hit wasn't the first one by Pollard today. He took Welker out low before that.

He may be remorseful, he may be a nice guy, but that play was the type that the league has clearly stated it wants to avoid. They've said time and again, no low on QBs.

Although I think this has more in common with Von Oelhoeffen's hit on Carson Palmer than Wilfork's smacking of Losman, the point remains - either this play gets addressed by the league, or no QB is safe from this point on. The league cannot have it both ways.

Put it this way - do you think the people are tuning in to see Tom Brady throw the football to his receivers, or tuning in to see a guy like Pollard deliver low hits that might knock a guy out...maybe for a long time?

If the league is not going to be concerned about the Patriots' investment in it's players, it should at least be aware of that which butters it's own bread, if for no other reason than self-preservation.