NFL Week 3

[dlgood]

It's disappointing to see the Redskins lose yet another close game to the Cowboys. Particularly as my boss is a Cowboys fan, and I'm not hearing the end of it anytime soon.

On the other hand, it was sort of nostalgic to see Dallas fullback Richie Anderson throw for a touchdown on a half-back option play.

Richie Anderson is a graduate of Sherwood High School, in Sandy Spring, Maryland. My high school. Richie's actually a few years older than me, but I certainly remember watching him when he was the star running back. And when the school had the big assembly when he signed with Penn State. Richie was also the best QB on the team, so when Al Michael's asked if anyone knew Richie was a lefty... yeah. I did. That was a Bob Stroup play. Richie right. Richie left. Richie to pass. It's not like we were buds, although I knew his cousin. It's just cool to see a local guy do good.

BTW, did anybody see the Sunday night, Raiders-Buccaneers game? Rich Gannon suffered a broken vertebra on a hit from Derek Brooks. For all the talk about the injury and about how good Gannon's backup Kerry Collings looked, nobody seemed to be talking about the hit itself. Looked like a classic helmet-to-helmet spearing case. As far as I know, Brooks has been a clean player throughout his career. But that might well be a career-ending injury for Gannon, and it looked like an illegal (though not dirty) hit to me. Hits like that should be illegal. I'll be curious to see if there's a fine or suspension.

Comments

brooks hit

[hjcallipygian.livejournal.com]

I wouldn't be surprised if he got a fine, but I wouldn't be surprised if he didn't, also. I saw the hit live, and I know my first thought was, "Slide! Dude, slide!" The hit was very dangerous, but at the same time, Gannon went into it just as much as Brooks did, and that's what would make me not surprised if there was no fine or anything.

My parents are big Florida State fans (both are alumni, but really only my dad is a big fan), and they've both met Derrick Brooks. Pops says that Brooks is incredibly nice and cool to talk to, and back when my younger brother was about nine or so he met him, too, at some media day and said he was cool to an annoying little kid, too. For whatever that's worth.

Also: being a Jags fan this year might well raise my insurance rates for heart issues and blood vessels in the brain issues.

Re: brooks hit

[dlgood.livejournal.com]

I saw the hit live, and I know my first thought was, "Slide! Dude, slide!" The hit was very dangerous, but at the same time, Gannon went into it just as much as Brooks did, and that's what would make me not surprised if there was no fine or anything.

Gannon definitely went into it head first, which is a bit suicidal for any pro-QB. But, Brooks put his head down too, and you just can't do that. I think there's a good chance nothing will come of it, because nobody's talking about that hit. And Brooks' reputation as a class guy will probably go in his favor. I don't necessarily want him to get slapped hard, but I hate seeing players get hurt like that.

And yeah - those Jags look like a crop of cardiac kids. But, they're giving you good drama and some hope. And that's gotta be cool after a few years of mediocrity.

Re: brooks hit

[hjcallipygian.livejournal.com]

But, they're giving you good drama and some hope. And that's gotta be cool after a few years of mediocrity.

Yeah, I was at the AFC Championship in 1998 when the only team we lost to all year long was the Titans. I guess that was technically 1999, but the 1998 season. Still, all the same.

Brooks put his head down too, and you just can't do that.

(I'm just gonna play devil's advocate on this one, if that's cool with you.)

If this were Porter instead of Gannon, I could understand that. But Gannon, as a QB, has rules in place to protect him and he chose to ignore those rules.

Re: brooks hit

[dlgood.livejournal.com]

Sure. But again the rule in question is helmet-to-helmet. Brooks is free to hit the quarterback however he wants if Gannon is incautious enough to not slide. But he can't hit helm to helm - that rule protects everybody from receivers to running backs, to QB's out of the pocket.

That said, I'd have to see a replay to make sure it was hat on hat.

Re: brooks hit

[hjcallipygian.livejournal.com]

That said, I'd have to see a replay to make sure it was hat on hat.

It was, although it was more of a situation where they head-butted one another. It certainly wasn't anything like that one hit that Warren Moon took from the blitzing corner that is shown so often (where the corner put the top of his helmet right into Moon's chin and didn't just knock him silly, but literally knocked him right the fuck out -- you know that hit, right?).

Re: brooks hit

[dlgood.livejournal.com]

It doesn't look intentional at all. I remember seeing the slow-mo, and it looks like Brooks drops his helmet after Gannon is already starting to go down. But slow-mo almost always makes it look worse. It's certainly not a dirty play - but it's still the sort of thing the league has to look at. I don't want to put dresses on the players, but I also don't want to see careers get ended. It's hard to tell where the lines have to get drawn on these sorts of things.

Re: brooks hit

[hjcallipygian.livejournal.com]

Like I said, just playing devil's advocate here. It's fun to discuss this type of stuff.

I think there definitely should be a fine, simply to set precedent if for no other reason. Sure, Brooks is a good guy who donates a whole bunch to charity, and there's no way anyone could convince me he wanted to hurt someone (as a matter of fact, I think they said something right after it happened about how he was celebrating the tackle until he saw that Gannon was hurt and then shut up and pointed it out to the Raiders). But there was helmet-to-helmet contact, and there are guys in the league who want to hurt other players. Just because Brooks did it by accident is no reason not to levy a fine.