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Vontazed Burfict suspended w/o pay the rest of the season for being a habitual cheap shot artist


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https://www.espn.com/nfl/story/_/id/27735755/oakland-raiders-vontaze-burfict-suspended-rest-season

Spoiler

Oakland Raiders linebacker Vontaze Burfict has been suspended for the rest of the 2019 season for his helmet-to-helmet hit Sunday on Indianapolis Colts tight end Jack Doyle, the league announced.

Burfict was ejected in the second quarter of the Raiders' 31-24 win. He was initially flagged for hitting Doyle in the head across the middle. But after the officials conferred, Burfict was thrown out.

The league said that Burfict will be not be paid during the suspension, which covers the postseason as well. The league cited his repeated violations of unnecessary roughness rules in handing out the longest suspension ever for an on-field incident.

NFL vice president of football operations Jon Runyan wrote a letter to Burfict explaining the decision.

"There were no mitigating circumstances on this play," the letter said. "Your contact was unnecessary, flagrant and should have been avoided. For your actions, you were penalized and disqualified from the game. Following each of your previous rule violations, you were warned by me and each of the jointly-appointed officers that future violations would result in escalated accountability measures. However, you have continued to flagrantly abuse rules designated to protect yourself and your opponents from unnecessary risk."

Burfict's agent, Lamont Smith, told ESPN's Josina Anderson that the veteran linebacker will appeal the suspension and that he expects the appeal to be heard next week. Smith also told Anderson that he believes "the 12-game suspension is excessive and the play that triggered the suspension was a football play."

The 29-year-old Burfict received 13 suspensions and fines in seven seasons with the Cincinnati Bengals before signing with the Raiders as a free agent this offseason. Two of the suspensions were for illegal hits, totaling six games. He successfully appealed a five-game suspension in 2017 down to a three-game suspension.

In Burfict's first season with the Raiders, he was named a team captain.

"It's a tough decision, it's a tough call. I think it was a flag," Raiders coach Jon Gruden said Sunday. "It was very well-documented that the league was going to review those plays this year in New York City. So that's what happened and I'll wait to hear what their reasoning was. But it was a penalty, he went in there with his head down, it was called and, unfortunately for us, it was an ejection."

Colts coach Frank Reich said Monday he was "thankful the league took the action it did."

"When someone does something like that, attacks one of your players, it's not supposed to be in the game," Reich said. "Glad they did what they did. Actions feel very appropriate."

 

I'd applaud the NFL for perhaps finally getting serious about unnecessary head injuries, but of course they remain inconsistent idiots:

https://www.si.com/nfl/2019/09/30/vontaze-burfict-suspension-history

Burfict's suspension could seem harsh considering there is no expected suspension for Eagles defensive lineman Derek Barnett after his helmet-to-helmet hit on Thursday night against the PackersHowever, Burfict has a long history of questionable hits that dates back to his high school days

Edited by clapclapclap
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27 minutes ago, crimsonlonghorn said:

I agree the suspension is overdone and inconsistent etc etc. Hypocrisy yada yada. 

But, DAMN that was a cheap shot. Guy is on his knee and Burfict took three steps to deliberately blast him in the head. I've never seen anything like it, it was so deliberately cheap. 

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He wasn’t down though.  Maybe the NFL should get rid of down by contact.  This hit never happens then.  You’re also showing this in super slow motion not at game speed.

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9 minutes ago, Fondren & Main said:

He wasn’t down though.  Maybe the NFL should get rid of down by contact.  This hit never happens then.  You’re also showing this in super slow motion not at game speed.

Thanks, Mrs. Burfict.

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13 minutes ago, Fondren & Main said:

He wasn’t down though.  Maybe the NFL should get rid of down by contact.  This hit never happens then.  You’re also showing this in super slow motion not at game speed.

Yah, because so many other players have trouble with this. Spend a couple minutes reviewing this:

Pretty clear why the league did what they did. I don’t think the league is very consistent at all in what they do, but he’s earned this suspension easily. 

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1 hour ago, berlinerbaer said:

Wow. Lost track of him ever since he left college. It's fitting that wears the silver and black.

He was a beast at ASU and always good for one PF per game. If they called targeting back then, he wouldn't have gotten much playing time.

This.

Dirtiest college player I've ever seen.

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He’s an ass who racks up too many PF’s. Agree with Fondren that this hit as a stand-alone shouldn’t warrant a year long ban. Players aren’t down until they’re contacted by defense. Runners, including QBs, often duck their heads or change directions at the last minute, resulting in the “helmet to helmet”. Because Burfict is so hated though, it gives Roger the Clown cover to do this and claim they are cracking down on concussion causing hits. 

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1 hour ago, Fondren & Main said:

The punishment doesn’t fit the crime for this particular hit imo.

It does if the punishment is for career accumulation of filthy hits.

What he actually deserves is a lifetime ban.  But I guess he won't get that until he paralyzes somebody.

Fuck that dirty cheap shot artist.

 

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55 minutes ago, crimsonlonghorn said:

I agree the suspension is overdone and inconsistent etc etc. Hypocrisy yada yada. 

But, DAMN that was a cheap shot. Guy is on his knee and Burfict took three steps to deliberately blast him in the head. I've never seen anything like it, it was so deliberately cheap. 

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Yep, should be a lifetime ban.  This shot along with all the others? Fuck that guy, let's see how he likes living under a bridge.

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He wasn’t down though.  Maybe the NFL should get rid of down by contact.  This hit never happens then.  You’re also showing this in super slow motion not at game speed.

Even if the rules were different and he was down (and I’ve watched the play in real time as well), he’d have done the same shit. Fuck him, it’s time to pay the piper.

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It's my understanding that for each game that a player is suspended, he loses 1/17th of his annual salary. (Yeah, I know there's 16 regular season games, but 1/17th is what I'm told. Anybody with better facts, please chime in.) If that's true, this asshole just lost 13/17ths, or roughly 76.5% of his 2019 salary.  Couldn't have happened to a nicer prick. Unless it was Briles. Or Sandusky. Or anybody from oklahoma.

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Uh, in previous generations this guy would have been one of the poster boys of the league. He had a reputation for getting into opponents heads going back to High School Like other players were seriously scared of the guy like they literally believed he was a psychopath and played differently because of it. Same thing in college at Arizona State. Anyway, I liked watching him play and I remember when these kinds of guys would just patrol the center of the field like they owned a whole little area and anyone who stepped to them would get punished.

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Uh, in previous generations this guy would have been one of the poster boys of the league. He had a reputation for getting into opponents heads going back to High School Like other players were seriously scared of the guy like they literally believed he was a psychopath and played differently because of it. Same thing in college at Arizona State. Anyway, I liked watching him play and I remember when these kinds of guys would just patrol the center of the field like they owned a whole little area and anyone who stepped to them would get punished.

Understand where you’re coming from, and I played free safety back when it was in vogue to destroy people with your head. I still love Tony Brackens’ hit on the Tech kicker, Westbrook destroying McElroy, as well as the ND running back, and Nathan Vasher obliterating Carlos Francis on that fake punt still gives me goosebumps.

That said, rules are now rules dude, and this guy’s fucked in the head.

 

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1 hour ago, trza-hawk said:

Uh, in previous generations this guy would have been one of the poster boys of the league. He had a reputation for getting into opponents heads going back to High School Like other players were seriously scared of the guy like they literally believed he was a psychopath and played differently because of it. Same thing in college at Arizona State. Anyway, I liked watching him play and I remember when these kinds of guys would just patrol the center of the field like they owned a whole little area and anyone who stepped to them would get punished.

It's one thing to intimidate with big, clean hits and make the WR think twice before coming across the middle. It's another thing to put other players' lives in danger by continually going for the head. If he keeps making hits like this, it's only a matter of time before someone's husband and father is going to be paralyzed before the age of 30. IT. IS. NOT. WORTH. IT. This is one time when I fully support throwing the book at him. If that's not enough, write a new book and throw that one too.

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2 hours ago, RPM said:

You never watched Bill Romanowski.

 

C'mon, I'm just practicing modern rhetorical practice of recency bias... But yeah, your larger point is right that there are a lot of old school guys who delivered hits like this. Lots of videos of Butkis and Ronnie Lot and Jack Tatum going headhunting. I'm 45 so I remember them. 

Yes, Romanowski was bad and he had a nasty little habit of dipping his head at the very end to deliver a blow, but even then I didn't see anything as deliberately dirty as the Burfict three-step-head-blast hit. That video is entitled "hard hits", not "dirty hits", which makes sense because a lot of those tackles in that video were just full speed hard hits, not helmet to helmet. (But there are a couple - like the one versus the Panthers - can't see who that QB was because it's too grainy)

What I remember most about Romanowski was how he was able to accurately spit through two facemasks directly into the opponent's face. 

 

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5 hours ago, Sock Drawer said:

Worse than Ndamukong Suh? Is that even possible?

Suh is a lineman so he doesn't usually get the same running start across the field like a lineman or safety to deliver these kinds of hits. His "dirty play" is more of the punching guys in the nuts or stomping on ankles type. "Dirty" but a lot less spectacular and away from the ball. A lot of times you have to watch the replay to see what he actually did. 

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5 hours ago, trza-hawk said:

Uh, in previous generations this guy would have been one of the poster boys of the league. He had a reputation for getting into opponents heads going back to High School Like other players were seriously scared of the guy like they literally believed he was a psychopath and played differently because of it. Same thing in college at Arizona State. Anyway, I liked watching him play and I remember when these kinds of guys would just patrol the center of the field like they owned a whole little area and anyone who stepped to them would get punished.

I miss that brand of football, I really do.  But, that shit's done.  I have many issues w/ it but....whatever.   I'm old, get off my fucking lawn. 

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The letter that they wrote to him is maybe my favorite thing the the NFL has ever done:

"There were no mitigating circumstances on this play," the letter said. "Your contact was unnecessary, flagrant and should have been avoided. For your actions, you were penalized and disqualified from the game. Following each of your previous rule violations, you were warned by me and each of the jointly-appointed officers that future violations would result in escalated accountability measures. However, you have continued to flagrantly abuse rules designated to protect yourself and your opponents from unnecessary risk."

 

The condescension is palpable. You can tell that they've told this mother fucker "or else" like a half dozen times.

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10 hours ago, crimsonlonghorn said:

I agree the suspension is overdone and inconsistent etc etc. Hypocrisy yada yada. 

But, DAMN that was a cheap shot. Guy is on his knee and Burfict took three steps to deliberately blast him in the head. I've never seen anything like it, it was so deliberately cheap. 

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Yep.  I agree with Joe Rogan on this one:  how to solve the impact/concussion issues in the NFL.  Take away the pads/helmets.  Or reduce their size significantly.  As a boxer with a taped up hand and glove can repeatedly hit a brick wall, but bare knuckles he wouldn't dare, so too are these guys launching their bodies and using their helmets as weapons.  It would of course kill the sport, but they are armored up and they know it.  The padding and helmet doesn't keep the brain from sloshing around in your head.  The players have to quit launching their bodies and leading with their heads.  Go old school.

No way this chuckle-fuck leads with his head like that if he's wearing this.

Getty-98483936-Leather-Helmet2.jpg

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But have y'all seen these other 14 players from different eras that also hit really hard, why do things change? Why isn't it 1982 anymore?

 

Fuck this guy. Plenty of defenders would've just touched Doyle's shoulder pads since he already had a knee down, and the refs would have blown the whistle. You see that shit all the time, defenders just touch a defender if he's not on his feet. He made a  decision to take 3 steps, launch the crown of his helmet into Doyle's face, and follow through with his arms for added force. GTFOH.

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Quote

"When someone does something like that, attacks one of your players, it's not supposed to be in the game," Reich said. "Glad they did what they did. Actions feel very appropriate."

Maybe don't come over the middle if you don't want to be "attacked". Funny how they act like offensive linemen don't lead with their head into guys heads every play. Sure, a cheap shot, throw him out of the game. The rest of the season? Come on. You pay a guy to make guys scared to catch balls over the middle. 

Just take the helmets and pads off and put flags on em. 

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2 hours ago, BabaYaga said:

Yep.  I agree with Joe Rogan on this one:  how to solve the impact/concussion issues in the NFL.  Take away the pads/helmets.  Or reduce their size significantly.  As a boxer with a taped up hand and glove can repeatedly hit a brick wall, but bare knuckles he wouldn't dare, so too are these guys launching their bodies and using their helmets as weapons.  It would of course kill the sport, but they are armored up and they know it.  The padding and helmet doesn't keep the brain from sloshing around in your head.  The players have to quit launching their bodies and leading with their heads.  Go old school.

No way this chuckle-fuck leads with his head like that if he's wearing this.

Getty-98483936-Leather-Helmet2.jpg

Rogan backed off his previous bareknuckle stance.  He doesn't know jackshit about football either.

I mean I disagree with the suspension being the rest of the season, but I'm not trying to die on that hill either.  Burfict is an asshole so I don't really care.  I'd just hate for the precedent to be set for other players because of him.  I'm sure the NFLPA will get this reduced too.

 

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1 minute ago, Fondren & Main said:

Rogan backed off his previous bareknuckle stance.  He doesn't know jackshit about football either.

I mean I disagree with the suspension being the rest of the season, but I'm not trying to die on that hill either.  Burfict is an asshole so I don't really care.  I'd just hate for the precedent to be set for other players because of him.  I'm sure the NFLPA will get this reduced too.

 

He backed off due to the extreme facial lacerations (which look bad, but long term have less of a negative impact than concussions).  Not damage to the punchers hands/wrists.  But I get your point.

I do think he has a larger point that until the players feel that they cannot hurl their bodies through the air at others with little to no consequences, the concussion epidemic is only going to get worse.  We're just scratching the surface on TBI.  We had a little girls years back on my daughters team, put her out of commission for TWO years.  Scary.  

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Are people naming Suh because they think he should be suspended, too, or because they think his actions justify not suspending this psycho?

Burfict is suspended for a history of such hits. They're not part of the game. Unnecessary roughness has been a penalty forever; it's been a rule to protect players. The fifteen yard penalty is clearly not enough to deter some players who are not merely carried away in the midst of a violent game but who repeatedly use unnecessary violence against other players.This shit heel has been fined and suspended before. Of course the suspensions get worse. I would ban him altogether. He is a real danger to other players. An intentional danger at that.

Football has not become a gentle contest because of rules that protect players' skulls and brains. There have always been such rules. It's why clipping/blocking in the back is a penalty. It's the same with chop blocks. So, what? Protect knees but not heads? C'mon.

Defending Burfict or whining about the pussification of football seems to be posturing or sadism to me. Or both. To hell with that.

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8 minutes ago, RomaVicta said:

Are people naming Suh because they think he should be suspended, too, or because they think his actions justify not suspending this psycho?

I think they are holding Suh up and asking "Why not me?" He's been a consistently dirty player his whole career.

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In 1997 in little league my kid was told as a linebacker to put his face mask into the RB's earhole while being taught how to tackle in the case where he arrived from the side. At the time I remember telling him away from the coach to hit hard but no need to take cheap shots since I would not like someone doing that to him while he was playing QB on offense. There is plenty of hard hitting that can happen without cheap shots. So in summary:

tenor.gif

 

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I think the Suh comparison is because he's also known as a "dirty" player. It's just a different kind of dirty. 

Which is the reason the league and the media are so apoplectic over Burfict all of a sudden. It's less that he is "dirty" and more that the league already has to deal with bad publicity over head injuries drawing negative attention. Suh might be twisting ankles and stomping on hands, but he isn't giving anyone a concussion, either. 

(cue the Shaggy "here's a youtube video of Suh hitting someone in the head so you are wrong" response)

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