Pryor fined 7500 for hit on Favre...

[jmt57]

What happens when QB's purposely lower their helmet to draw penalties?

Or lower their head as they try to protect their body and the ball as they are about to be sacked?



On a side note, check out Michael Hurley's opinion on the subject today; the title to the column pretty much sums up his position:
NFL Should Be Embarrassed for Fining Myron Pryor for Hit on Brett Favre - Instant Opinion - NESN.com

As the world watched every slow-motion, HD replay, it was clear that Pryor did not initiate any helmet-to-helmet contact. He hit Favre in the chest, and his helmet slid up into Favre's chin -- a chin that was barely protected by an old-fashioned, Riddell leather strap, which essentially offers zero protection.

Had Favre been wearing a chinstrap that was produced after 1987 (they're going for about $10 online), he probably wouldn't have been a bloody mess on the field, and Pryor wouldn't have been getting any mail from the league office.

Really, this isn't about Pryor losing $7,500, and it's not about Favre needing stitches. It's about the league trying to police players from playing football.
The league has already told defensive players that they can't touch quarterbacks below the waist (or in the case of Terrell Suggs, you can't even try to hit a quarterback below his waist).

Now, the league wants players to hit the quarterback, but they're going to have to slow down, or alter their body position, or something to prevent themselves from hitting quarterbacks in certain ways.

Which ways can't they hit the quarterback? Well, they can't know that until they get fined.

Makes a whole lot of sense.

 

[shmessy]

You are effectively making one of my points... that after Pryor hit him like that, there was no way to prevent Favre's head from getting hit due to "post contact physics".

If that's true, then: hit him differently. Don't hit him like that.

The point of the fine is to alter tackling behavior so injuries like Favre's don't happen.

Can everyone here honestly say if Pryor had been a Viking and the exact same hit with the exact same result had been on Brady, they would be arguing the same way? I think not.

You must be joking.

So "post-contact physics" (your term) meaning 'their heads whiplashed towards each other after the initial legal contact' justifies Pryor being fined for an illegal hit.

Brilliant.

 

[PatsWickedPissah]

Have you actually played the game? This game moves faster than you can likely imagine, so your apparent perception that defenders will crunch trajectory physics faster than NASA probably needs to be considered unrealistic.

There is also no rule that says "don't hit in the head" as you apparently interpret it. ..

If a player's body, as a consequence of a hit, strikes the defender's helmet, how is the defender "using" his helmet? "Using" implies action, not inaction (specifically the action of the tackled player's body on a helmet directed elsewhere). Some players bend, some are rigid. Do you expect defenders are skilled mind-readers on how offensive participants will take a hit?

It's physics and probability. There are myriad possibilities where a helmet can end up when hiting a player. Angle of incidence, coefficient of friction, force vectors all come into play. Expecting a human being to analyze all the consequences of a chest hit and then adjust his impact point still within the legal area and all this in less than a split second is beyond ludicrous. Instead we have the clownish situation of a bunch of league pukes running Hi-Def game shots again and again in slow motion determining if there's a fine to be assessed.

 

[unoriginal]

There's really not all that much to say about this fine other than that it's horse****. At least its relatively small.

 

[Kontradiction]

There's really not all that much to say about this fine other than that it's horse****. At least its relatively small.

Not for Pryor.

 

[Haley]

This actually makes them hypocrites. They were the ones saying how easy it is to make clean hits and how people would not receive fines from clean hits. IMO this was a clean hit, even if Farve's chin came down on Pryor's helmet. The bleeding was most likely caused by the shoulder assembly, which has an edge, not from the round helmet which doesn't have an edge. How many times have you been cut by a spoon??

Guyton's hit deserved the fine (I am surprised it was as low as it was). But Pryor, he just got jacked.

 

[Froob]

They should be applauding Pryor for making a clean hit just as they explained in their video. I hope Pryor doesn't let them get away with this and appeal it. Can't wait for Mike Pierra defend this call. "Well as you can see the defender can't make contact with favre..."

 

[sbpatfan]

Good lord, look at all the god damn fines this week. And they're all on defensive players.

 

[Haley]

Is it possible the NFL is profiting off this somehow? I know this is supposed to go to charities but the magnitude is really making me wonder if they have figured out how to either skim off the fund somehow (maybe interest or something) or tax claims perhaps.

 

[MassPats38]

Is it possible the NFL is profiting off this somehow? I know this is supposed to go to charities but the magnitude is really making me wonder if they have figured out how to either skim off the fund somehow (maybe interest or something) or tax claims perhaps.

In some fashion. The comedy gold in this whole fine issue is trying to protect players while simultaneously looking to extend the length of the regular season.

 

[juny]

Is an appeal even an option at this point? The NFLPA need to do their job and fight this fine.

 

[captain stone]

What happens when QB's purposely lower their helmet to draw penalties?

Then the defender gets fined $7500 for a first offense,
because that's exactly what happened to Guyton vs Lord Farvequad in the 1st qtr.
Guyton was at fault, however, because unlike Pryor,
he didn't use his arms to wrap around His Lordship like Pryor did.

If I were Bill, I would pay Pryor's fine out of my own pocket.

 

[PatsWickedPissah]

They should be applauding Pryor for making a clean hit just as they explained in their video. I hope Pryor doesn't let them get away with this and appeal it. Can't wait for Mike Pierra defend this call. "Well as you can see the defender can't make contact with favre..."

He didn't agree with the decision on WEEI

 

[PatsWickedPissah]

In some fashion. The comedy gold in this whole fine issue is trying to protect players while simultaneously looking to extend the length of the regular season.

How stupid am I.
That's the posturing BS behind the 18 game season move.
"We're protecting the players so they can play more."

 

[Gwedd]

He didn't agree with the decision on WEEI

No he didn't. He called it a clean, by-the-book hit. (paraphrase).

Goodell is a sack of horse hockey and needs to be removed from the NFL for the good of the game.

 

[PatsWickedPissah]

No he didn't. He called it a clean, by-the-book hit. (paraphrase).

Goodell is a sack of horse hockey and needs to be removed from the NFL for the good of the game.

That's what I said!

 

[emoney_33]

We were supposed to complain before we knew there would be a fine? This issue seemed settled when Mike Perreira said it looked like a clean hit. Shouldn't he know?

No, you were "supposed" to complain when the NFL sent out a video that said players are responsible for the END RESULT and it doesn't matter what they aim for.

BTW this has little to do with actually protecting players. The league is going to continue down the path of assisting the offense at every turn possible for as long as "offense sells" is true. I mean does anyone in their right mind think that a stupid hand grazing of the head penalty is ACTUALLY there to protect the QB?

 

[Gwedd]

That's what I said!

I was agreeing with you! :rocker:

 

[convertedpatsfan]

This is absolutely ridiculous. It was a perfectly clean hit. If Favre hadn't gotten injured, no one would have even blinked over it. It's insane that an old man gets hit legally and the NFL steps in after the fact to fine the guy. The refs saw the play and didn't even throw a flag. Just a joke.

 

[patfanken]

just adding my two cents to the outrage. Guyton's hit was worthy of the penalty by today's oussy rules, but I will never understand how Pryor's hit could by any stretch of the imagination be called fine-able is beyond me. I'm sure it was pointed out before this, the head ref emeritus on Fox said it was legal.

Now Florio, in hi Pittsburgh-centric, patriot hating web site says its clearly a fine; but if incidental contact, and despite the stitches, it was incidental contact, merits a fine, then give the f*cking QBs a red shirt and make a 2 hand tag is a sack. Oh BTW, you also should make defenders keep their hand below their shoulders, because you never know when one of them might brush the QB's helmet.