Fun facts about the NFL.
- You can now apparently hit the opposing QB in the head many times throughout a game and NOT get a penalty for it. Even if you launch yourself at them with the crown of your helmet, you will merely get a personal foul that will be offset because the QB clearly intentionally grounded it.
- Meanwhile, jumping up and down to celebrate a touchdown while drectly in front of a player on the other team is a serious affront and the player needs to be called out and threatened with ejection immediately.
Dave
Staff member
Both calls were completely correct. Sour grapes, indeed.
Technically, that may be true. But the ridiculous stranglehold the NFL has on celebrations is stupid. No Fun League, indeed.
Not to mention that they are treating headshots like they're no big deal.
Dave
Staff member
I agree on both of your counts, but the fact remains both of those calls were correct. Now, they may not have called others, but these specific ones were right.
And I SO wish they would allow celebrations. These guys are professionals. This is entertainment. Let them entertain. A lot of my favorite memories of the NFL are about touchdown celebrations. The Dirty Bird, the hiding of the cell phone, things like that. Let the teams celebrate. Now, I can see not being allowed to get in people's faces, but let them dance and have fun. Get the crowd going. Give them a show.
fade
Staff member
ESPN seems to disagree with you there, Dave. As does a lot of other sites.
The simple fact is that Stewart targeted Cam with the crown of his helmet. Which we heard about all last year was an offense that required immediate ejection of the offending player. Watch the video in this report.
Now, the Targeting rules as found here read:
"if a player illegally launches into a defenseless opponent. It is an illegal launch if a player (1) leaves both feet prior to contact to spring forward and upward into his opponent, and (2) uses any part of his helmet (including the top/crown and forehead/”hairline” parts) to initiate forcible contact against any part of his opponent’s body."
"Penalty: For unnecessary roughness: Loss of 15 yards. The player may be disqualified if the action is judged by the official(s) to be flagrant."
Now, go watch that video again. Stewart left his feet, head down, straight into Newton's helmet. So why wasn't he ejected? Well, officials may not have thought it was flagrant, but then you have Newton laid out on the ground afterward. If that's not flagrant, I want to know what is.
Or does Newton's attempt to dump the ball off and drawing a grounding call nullify an ejection?
Dave
Staff member
The penalties offset. It sucks and it doesn't seem like this is how it should be, but it is. Even had it been flagged for flagrant and ejected, it still would have been nullified by the offsetting penalty. Because yes, Cam intentionally grounded the ball. The call for roughing the passer was correct because at the time in the eyes of the ref, it was not flagrant enough to warrant an ejection. Instant replays from a television angle make it easy to see that it was probably targeting, but they don't have that luxury during the game from their angle.
It sucks, but it's the way it is. The player will be fined but I doubt he'll be suspended.[DOUBLEPOST=1473445590,1473445162][/DOUBLEPOST]
It sucks, but it's the way it is. The player will be fined but I doubt he'll be suspended.[DOUBLEPOST=1473445590,1473445162][/DOUBLEPOST]
Weird. When I put in the threads it put yours at #15 instead of at the top. I merges by timestamp instead of in the order it should.
Cut the bullshit. We all know this is just you taking credit for my brilliant and original idea to have a place to talk about the most popular sport in America in the sports area!
Yeah, sorry about getting a bit out of hand in the Epic win thread.
I respect the fact that the way refs called it is the way it was and will stand. Stewart absolutely deserves to get suspended for that hit, though. If the NFL really wants to say that they are against concussions and want to keep players safe, they need to suspend him for that.
A fine is nothing to these guys, they make millions a year and so what's a couple hundred thousand dollars for putting the hurt on someone? Especially someone like Newton who doesn't get the calls like other QBs do. The best way to get the message through is to take away playing time.
If that was Romo or Brady, do you think we'd be talking about a lack of flags? No, we'd be here talking about how dirty Denver played.
I respect the fact that the way refs called it is the way it was and will stand. Stewart absolutely deserves to get suspended for that hit, though. If the NFL really wants to say that they are against concussions and want to keep players safe, they need to suspend him for that.
A fine is nothing to these guys, they make millions a year and so what's a couple hundred thousand dollars for putting the hurt on someone? Especially someone like Newton who doesn't get the calls like other QBs do. The best way to get the message through is to take away playing time.
If that was Romo or Brady, do you think we'd be talking about a lack of flags? No, we'd be here talking about how dirty Denver played.
Oh I know, it's just that there seems to be a bit of a consensus forming that there were a lot of missed calls that should have gone in the Panthers' way. This just seems to be a trend with Newton, whether intentional or not, he just does not seem to get treated the same as other QBs. I see that as an issue. And Stewart's play is just the most egregious recent example and as such should be treated with seriousness, not a simple write off because there happened to be an opposing foul at the same time.
Yup, exactly my point.
I was replying more in response to the assertion that Cam has historically not gotten calls from refs. I didn't see much of the game except the end of the 4th quarter, but from the excerpts I've seen I'm mostly on General_Specific's side. That said, I don't watch enough football to know how other team's quarterbacks are treated by the refs.
To me this is a big problem with the NFL that eventually catch up with them. You shouldn't need a law degree to keep up with the rules
Most players do know how to run out of bounds to stop the clock though. Most players
Most players do know how to run out of bounds to stop the clock though. Most players
Dave
Staff member
Most players do know how to run out of bounds to stop the clock though. Most players
Cam Newton's lack of calls issue is this generation's Hack A Shaq. Little cornerbacks and linebackers hitting great big Cam doesn't get called because in the back of people's minds he is too big to hurt.
I wanted the refs fired from that Carolina game. And, I don't like Carolina.
I wanted the refs fired from that Carolina game. And, I don't like Carolina.
I suspect that blotsfan will be posting in The I'm Drunk/Wasted/High thread part too drunk to count thread shortly.