The guy made an honest mistake. If he had a past history of this, then we could make a big out of it deal. Fine him and suspend him, be done with the issue.
[QUOTE=metro;436801]who freakin cares if he’s on his back? 99% of the time the gunner (Wesley) knows when he arrives the ball is arriving at the same time. Baker put it higher than normal and Tampa’s defenders did a [B]HORRIBLE job[/B] of impeding Wesley’s progress, allowing him to arrive too fast. Those two factors led to him getting there early.
If you know squat about football, you’d know a gunner rarely gets to the kick returner [U]THAT EARLY[/U].
Wesley has been around a long time and not known for being dirty.[/QUOTE]
whether they did a bad job of blocking Wesley doesn’t matter. I’ve seen a number of gunners shoot past a returner b/c he hasn’t made the catch and I’ve seen plenty slow themselves to allow them to catch it to make the tackle. Maybe he did have too much momentum to stop. That doesn’t mean you unload on the guy b/c you don’t have the time to back peddle.
I do agree with you that he probably did hit him, b/c he did not want to pass him and let him get any type of return and hoped the ball would be there when he hit him, but it wasn’t so it was dirty.
I know plenty about football… this isn’t baseball please don’t make it about the familiarity with the game.
I didn’t say Wesley was a dirty player, just that it was a dirty hit. It’s not like I’m dogging the guy. I just said he hit him late.
Agree to disagree.
[QUOTE=contemptor;436794]The ESPN article says the returner did call for a fair catch btw[/QUOTE]
Never saw the call for fair catch. If he did, then the ref didn’t make any mention of it in the penalty.
A split second later and he is a hero for causing a ‘game changing fumble’ and is shown all over SportCenter’s Top 10, ‘Jacked Up’, etc.
.
This will probably be on next week’s “Come on man!”
Misstimed the ball, that is all. I think it looked bad, but it wasn’t a dirty play. Nothing in Dante’s past would make you think he is that kind of player. He didn’t lead with his head - he put a pad into the guy. If he gets there a split second later we are all on here talking about what a great hit that was. I can understand why he might be suspended a game, but IMO he should get a fine and that is it.
[QUOTE=Mr. Bojangles;436815]A split second later and he is a hero for causing a ‘game changing fumble’ and is shown all over SportCenter’s Top 10, ‘Jacked Up’, etc.
[/QUOTE]
[QUOTE=NinerWupAss;436817]Misstimed the ball, that is all. I think it looked bad, but it wasn’t a dirty play. Nothing in Dante’s past would make you think he is that kind of player. He didn’t lead with his head - he put a pad into the guy. If he gets there a split second later we are all on here talking about what a great hit that was. I can understand why he might be suspended a game, but IMO he should get a fine and that is it.[/QUOTE]
Bojangles and NWA are right on…
Dante DID NOT lead with his helmet as many have said, he threw a pad into him. If you’ve never noticed these guys leave their feet to lay down a big hit, you must not be watching football. I agree 100%, if he’s a split second later (same exact hit), no one is complaining, instead they are talking about how he beasted the returner.
Dirty hit … try stupid play, both from us (Dante) and the Bucs. Call a fair catch dude - they invented it to protect you!
And BTW - if he did call for a fair catch (which he obviously DID NOT - watch the video), then this would be dirty as hell.
[QUOTE=metro;436777]he mis-timed it, big f’n deal
the ball was a split second from being there, had there been a fair catch then its dirty[/QUOTE]
Exactly----this is being overblown. He mistimed the hit, period. I think being thrown out of that game was PLENTY, not sure I would even have thought that was necessary to be honest, penalty yes but 1 personal foul is not grounds for ejection. Imagine, if the timing would have been right and he made the hit an instant after the ball was caught by Smith, the hit would have been the BEST play of the weekend.
[QUOTE=Mr. Bojangles;436815]A split second later and he is a hero for causing a ‘game changing fumble’ and is shown all over SportCenter’s Top 10, ‘Jacked Up’, etc.
.[/QUOTE]
Ding, ding, ding-----we have a winner!
Is it Wesley’s fault the guy didn’t call Fair Catch. Isn’t it the Punt Returner’s responsiblity not to be a dumb-a55?
As said before, Wesly didn’t fail to block Wesly, Wesley didn’t punt higher this time, & Wesley didn’t fail to signal fair catch. I’m sorry the dude got a concussion, but that doesn’t make it not HIS fault.
If I sleep with someone without a condom & get Aids, you may feel sorry for me, but it would still be my fault.
[QUOTE=stonecoldken;436919]
If I sleep with someone without a condom & get Aids, you may feel sorry for me, but it would still be my fault.[/QUOTE] LMAO…Good analogy.
[QUOTE=C49erMoose;436820]Bojangles and NWA are right on…
Dante DID NOT lead with his helmet as many have said, he threw a pad into him. If you’ve never noticed these guys leave their feet to lay down a big hit, you must not be watching football. I agree 100%, if he’s a split second later (same exact hit), no one is complaining, instead they are talking about how he beasted the returner.
Dirty hit … try stupid play, both from us (Dante) and the Bucs. Call a fair catch dude - they invented it to protect you!
And BTW - if he did call for a fair catch (which he obviously DID NOT - watch the video), then this would be dirty as hell.[/QUOTE]
Spot on. Didnt see the fair catch, and even if it was a fair catch it wasnt dirty (bad intentions), just dumb.
[QUOTE=stonecoldken;436919]
If I sleep with someone without a condom & get Aids, you may feel sorry for me, but it would still be my fault.[/QUOTE]
Well, some of us might…
My $.02.
A gunner gets paid to make these type of hits. I don’t thnk he intended to anything other than make a big hit hopefully cause a turnover. However, it’s dangerous as hell to get the timing that wrong as big and fast as these guys are now. It was a little longer than a split second IMO. Gettig hit when you’re ready and getting hit totally unprotected and unbraced are WAY different.
Anyone else think Munnerlyn was a little nervous the next time he fielded one? I would have been.
[QUOTE=hootie;436947]My $.02.
A gunner gets paid to make these type of hits. I don’t thnk he intended to anything other than make a big hit hopefully cause a turnover. However, it’s dangerous as hell to get the timing that wrong as big and fast as these guys are now. It was a little longer than a split second IMO. Gettig hit when you’re ready and getting hit totally unprotected and unbraced are WAY different.
Anyone else think Munnerlyn was a little nervous the next time he fielded one? I would have been.[/QUOTE]
That is why there is a fair catch rule. Dud should have fair caught it. He was a dumb ass for fielding the ball. Like I said poor judgement on Wesley fault for lowering the boom, but that is what they get paid to do and nothing about the hit was dirty, just bad timing.
I actually have much more an issue with his conduct AFTER the hit. The dude is laying on the ground and he is walking around all pissed off and crap. That is what I thought showed the most disrespect - not the hit itself.
I think what is lost is the guy has to be afforded the oppurtunity to field the ball regardless of whether a fair catch is called or not. You can’t hit him until he has the ball.
Once he touches the ball, blow him up if he doesn’t call for a fair catch.
[QUOTE=hootie;436947]Anyone else think Munnerlyn was a little nervous the next time he fielded one? I would have been.[/QUOTE]
he sure as hell looked like it. Did you see his face as he walked off the field?
[QUOTE=hootie;436952]I think what is lost is the guy has to be afforded the oppurtunity to field the ball regardless of whether a fair catch is called or not. You can’t hit him until he has the ball.
Once he touches the ball, blow him up if he doesn’t call for a fair catch.[/QUOTE]
The thing about this is that the return man is allowed to try and put a hit on the gunner in order to let the ball go into the endzone for a touchback, so if no fair catch is called for- you deserve to be fair game too.
The NFL & NCAA need to cut out the crybaby PR Fair Catch anyway. Bring back the XFL rule of a Free Ball after 35 yards. That was F***ing awesome!
Arena League, which is now AF2, doesn’t has a free ball on missed FG’s, missed PAT’s, punts, etc. Go home & play on the girl’s team, damn it!
[QUOTE=DanTheNiner;436956]The thing about this is that the return man is allowed to try and put a hit on the gunner in order to let the ball go into the endzone for a touchback, so if no fair catch is called for- you deserve to be fair game too.[/QUOTE] Good point.