{image1} The NFL set the price on a man's head this week.
$75,000.
Not that much, when you ponder the horrors of somebody ending up the next Daryl Stingley. But hey, Robert Ferguson did not end up in a wheelchair for life like Stingley. The unspoken bottom line from the league was loud and clear. Let's not get too worked up about it.
Just issue the invoice, and move on.
Naturally, those who are paid by the likes of ESPN to comment on all things football, tended to think that the $75,000 the league clipped Donovan Darius was actually too much, if you can believe that.
When in doubt, ESPN talking heads always defend the player accused, even when it comes to player on player crime. I found the trio of Trey Wingo, Mike Golic, and Sean Salisbury particularly amusing on Tuesday afternoon. All three of them stated, without a shred of evidence to back them that the Darius' dirty deed was in no way intentional.
It would have been one thing to say, "the hit didn't look intentional to me." Instead they all apparently had an un-obstructed look at Darius' football soul, and determined it was incapable of cheap malice.
A reasonable observer might have said: "I don't think he was trying to hurt him, but I am pretty certain that he was trying to clothesline him!"
Plenty of players in the NFL go for spectacular hits, knowing that very often the equally tough men on offense pop right up. In that case, everybody gets on SportsCenter, and nobody has to end up in a wheelchair.
Whatever.
The league didn't suspend Darius for any games, mostly because he did not have any "priors" when it came to cheap shots. This is now officially his first, despite the continued protests of Jags coach Jack Del Rio.
The coach apparently couldn't just go quietly with a fine for his safety, but instead continued in the role of Iraqi Information Minister trying to tell us how the hit couldn't have been dirty since he didn't lead with his helmet, and that he was just "clubbing at the ball" and well... missed. Oops.
Quick question. How many coaches teach DB's to "club at the ball" when approaching a fast moving wide receiver in the open field?
Right. Uh, huh.
There's a players code in the NFL that is unwritten, and mostly unspoken. But the code is well known. And it is this: While we may be gladiators, we are professional gladiators, and everybody has to make a living.
That means you don't dive at the back of kneecaps. You don't chop block. You don't roll up on ankles. You don't head hunt with your helmet. Clotheslines, leg whips, head slaps and body slams may be the stuff of old school legend, but they have no place in the modern game.
For one, the eye melting speed and size of players today, make such throwback moves an invitation for tragedy. If not for the league's renewed focus the last decade to fine or suspend headhunters into retirement, we would probably have had at least one on-field paralysis since then.
Not that I am trying to protect every NFL wideout in bubble wrap like a piece of fine china. Hell, they know the deal. You play that position, and you will be asked at times to go over the middle. It is why wideouts tend to have all the fun, get the most press, and make tons of money.
But there ought to be some consistency when people judge players who are in violation of "the code." Right now Todd Pinkston of the Eagles is getting killed by fans for "short arming" passes in traffic in back-to-back weeks. He has been called a coward, or worse, by some in the media.
And rightfully so. A wideout has to make an unflinching play at the ball no matter where it is thrown. It is central to the job description. The same way that QBs cannot be permitted to "turtle up" in the pocket at the first hint of pressure.
But if we expect wideouts to be fearless, then we also have to expect defensive backs to play within the rules. Or when that's not possible, at least within the boundaries of "the code."
The financial stakes involved in a career ending hit, have been multiplied significantly from the days of Dick Butkus throwing guys onto their heads. Not only do millions ride on the health of star players, but so do the fortunes of a franchise.
Look at Philly with Terrell Owens. Imagine if you will, that the hits on both T.O. and Ferguson were reversed. Let's also say that Owens was in a neck brace and out for the season.
You think $75,000 would have done the trick in that case?
Please.
I know that this column will put me squarely in the "sissy" camp of football fans by those who honestly believe that the NFL should go back to days where the only way you could get called for a "late hit" was if you decked a guy in the parking lot after the game.
Fine. Call me whatever names help make you feel tougher.
The fact remains that even in a sport as brutal as professional tackle football, there needs to be lines that simply are not crossed. Good sportsmanship, fair play and respect for your opponent are not values mutually exclusive of good old hard-hitting football.
After all, there is a penalty under the heading of "un-necessary roughness." This fact would seem to confirm that some "roughness" is indeed not crucial to the existence and advancement of the sport.
Steve is a native Washingtonian and has worked in sports talk radio for the last 11 years. He worked at WTEM in 1993 anchoring Team Tickers before he took a full time job with national radio network One-on-One Sports.
A graduate of UC Santa Barbara, Steve has worked for WFNZ in Charlotte where his afternoon show was named "Best Radio Show." Steve continues to serve as a sports personality for WLZR in Milwaukee and does fill-in hosting for Fox Sports Radio.
