Hines Ward will not be fined for breaking Keith Rivers jaw

[jjpro11]

I don't see much difference between this hit and the hit on Boldin a couple of weeks ago. Both hits were high...Why did Smith get suspended and Ward... nothing? I don't think either hit was done with intent to injure... intent to rock the guy? Yes... injure? This was nothing like the Sapp hit... Sapp hit a guy who was out of the play, and did intend to injure.

 

boldin was in a defenseless position and the defender hit him dead on helmet to helmet. not even close to ward.

[wildcat2334]

Of course he intended to injure Rivers.

 

If his intent was to block Rivers, he could have shoved him, or stuck his shoulder into him, with the same effect. He ceratintly didn't have to go in high, helmet first, to prevent Rivers from making a tackle

 

He wanted to punish Rivers, to knock him into next week, to knock him cold. Breaking Rivers jaw, or giving him a concussion, is just a by product of Ward's actions.

 

 

I have no love for Hines Ward at all- this was not a helmet first blow - he got him with his shoulder

 

come on guys - last I checked they were playing football. So, a WR gets a clean shot on LB with his shoulder and there is an intent to injure?? ridiculous. it was a clean block, the kind we have seen countless times and the kind of hit WR's dream about. You see the same block on punt returns, and crack backs- all part of the game.

 

the pusslification of the NFL is ludicrous - how long til they jjust go to two hand touch or flag football.

 

comparing that to the hit on on A Boldin is not even remotely the same thing

 

I hate all things Pittsburgh but I gotta give the chubby little WR some credit- he blew Rivers up

[Rovers]

boldin was in a defenseless position and the defender hit him dead on helmet to helmet. not even close to ward.

 

Rivers wasn't in a defensless position? He was blind sided. Ward went helmet to helmet too. Or, tell me he got his jaw broken by a dirty look. Take the homer glasses off. I don't think either hit was an intentional helmet to helmet hit.... but both WERE helmet to helmet.

[Azazello1313]

I just watched the hit again a few times to make sure I wasn't missing something. I really can't believe anyone here thinks that was a dirty hit. that hit on ed reed last year? maybe. a few others he's pulled off? maybe. but that hit on rivers, no way.

[piratesownninjas]

Rivers wasn't in a defensless position? He was blind sided. Ward went helmet to helmet too. Or, tell me he got his jaw broken by a dirty look. Take the homer glasses off. I don't think either hit was an intentional helmet to helmet hit.... but both WERE helmet to helmet.

You sure it was a helmet to helmet?

[piratesownninjas]

Ward is an opportunist, not a dirty player.

[kpholmes]

Ward is an opportunist, not a dirty player.

And he saw the opportunity to say "Screw you" to the NFL for fining him by making a legal hit worse than the ones they fined him for.

[whomper]

Ask yourself this... if Rivers got up un-injured and jogged off the field, would you be saying, "Wow, that was a great hit!"

 

Yes. I would. He Decleated a LB.

 

 

I don't see much difference between this hit and the hit on Boldin a couple of weeks ago. Both hits were high...Why did Smith get suspended and Ward... nothing? I don't think either hit was done with intent to injure... intent to rock the guy? Yes... injure? This was nothing like the Sapp hit... Sapp hit a guy who was out of the play, and did intend to injure.

 

Scotts hit was helmet to helmet. Wards hit was with the shoulder. No comparison IMO. His jaw broke when he hit the ground not from a helmet

 

 

Of course he intended to injure Rivers.

 

If his intent was to block Rivers, he could have shoved him, or stuck his shoulder into him, with the same effect. He ceratintly didn't have to go in high, helmet first, to prevent Rivers from making a tackle

 

He wanted to punish Rivers, to knock him into next week, to knock him cold. Breaking Rivers jaw, or giving him a concussion, is just a by product of Ward's actions.

 

Intent to injure and intent to hit someone as hard as you possibly can are 2 different things. That hit was perfectly clean.

 

 

 

Back in the old days of football they gave a term to what Sapp did a few years back. Its called Crippling the dummy Your head must always be on the swivle. Rivers could have potentially made the play. In Sapps case that wasnt true. What Ward does is perfectly legal. I think the underlying knock from the defensive guys is that he looks to blindside. Many times a wr is blocking in the open field so a Blindside is going to present itself a lot more than it would for anyone else that is blocking at the line of scrimage. I love how the Def guys complain yet on an interception they wet themselves trying to get a free shot at the qb. That hit from Ward on Rivers was perfectly clean .

Edited October 22, 2008 by whomper

[Randall]

I think the same rules that apply for clipping should apply here. Slamming people when they aren't looking should change. Saying his jaw broke when he hit the ground is a little like saying the gun didn't hurt him. The hit caused him to hit the ground awkwardly because he didn't see the hit coming.

 

Make people hit people when they see it coming. Hitting someone in the back or blindside is cowardly in my opinion. I like Ward but he does this very often. Change the rule.

[Skippy]

Change the rule, Randall? Rivers was trying to make a play. What it sounds to me is that you are suggesting that if the player does not have his head turned toward you then you can not hit him. So if I run north to south but the entire time I keep my head facing east that would me that the guy coming from the west can't hit me.

 

No change needed, IMHO. This is not flag football, yet.

[Menudo]

I think the same rules that apply for clipping should apply here. Slamming people when they aren't looking should change. Saying his jaw broke when he hit the ground is a little like saying the gun didn't hurt him. The hit caused him to hit the ground awkwardly because he didn't see the hit coming.

 

Make people hit people when they see it coming. Hitting someone in the back or blindside is cowardly in my opinion. I like Ward but he does this very often. Change the rule.

 

 

So, we would have defensive players doing their best to not face up with an offensive players, as they know it is illegal to block someone who isn't looking. Sorry, but, this suggestion is laughable.

 

Hines Ward is a Wide Receiver. All of these guys he is hitting have no issue laying Ward out if he is concentrating on catching a pass. In fact, it is what they dream of, as they celebrate it like nothing else. When a QB throws a ball high, and a Wide Receiver is concentrating on the ball, the Safety or Linebacer is trying to take his head off.

 

All of this talk about a big, bad, 195 pound receiver being too rough on the 250 pound Linebackers is hilarious. I love hearing the idiots on the Ravens say that they have a bounty on Ward, as they will have that in the back of their mind, and it will take them away from concentrating on their assignments. Maybe they should concentrate on winning football games, and maybe they could prevent the Steelers from winning the division 90% of the time.

[Hugh 0ne]

Sorry, but, this suggestion is laughable.

 

Welcome to Randummy's world.

 

Oh, and kindly stop quoting him, I have him on ignore. TIA.

[Furd]

Intent to injure and intent to hit someone as hard as you possibly can are 2 different things.

Semantics. What else are you trying to accomplish by hitting someone as hard and violently as you can, particularly when the guy isn't looking?

 

That hit was perfectly clean.

 

Where did I say it wasn't?

 

Ward's hit was within the rules of the game. Its football, and those type of hits are part of the game.

 

Did Ward intend to break his jaw? Don't think so. Did he go after a specific body part? No. But he hit someone who wasn't looking with extreme violence. I just think that its naive to say that Ward wasn't intending to hurt Rivers. You simply cannot do what he did with any other intent.

Edited October 22, 2008 by Furd

[Menudo]

Semantics. What else are you trying to accomplish by hitting someone as hard and violently as you can, particularly when the guy isn't looking?

 

 

 

Where did I say it wasn't?

 

Ward's hit was within the rules of the game. Its football, and those type of hits are part of the game.

 

Did Ward intend to break his jaw? Don't think so. Did he go after a specific body part? No. But he hit someone who wasn't looking with extreme violence. I just think that its naive to say that Ward wasn't intending to hurt Rivers. You simply cannot do what he did with any other intent.

 

His intent was to block him as hard as he could to make sure the didn't make the tackle. Blocks are often missed or shed, so, if Ward comes up and tries a softer block, and he sheds it and makes the tackle, then Ward didn't do his job. Hines Ward did his job on this play, and did it well.

[whomper]

I think the same rules that apply for clipping should apply here. Slamming people when they aren't looking should change. Saying his jaw broke when he hit the ground is a little like saying the gun didn't hurt him. The hit caused him to hit the ground awkwardly because he didn't see the hit coming.

 

Make people hit people when they see it coming. Hitting someone in the back or blindside is cowardly in my opinion. I like Ward but he does this very often. Change the rule.

 

 

Im sorry but the suggestion is ludicrous. When a wr is focusing on a ball to make a catch and is obliterated after the catch while vulnerable should that change too ?

 

Semantics. What else are you trying to accomplish by hitting someone as hard and violently as you can, particularly when the guy isn't looking?

 

 

You are playing the game of football. Rivers was trying to make a play and Ward obliterated him. If Ward was streaking downfield with the ball and Rivers took an angle on him and ward didnt see him coming should Rivers pull up and gently tackle him

Edited October 22, 2008 by whomper

[Furd]

His intent was to block him as hard as he could to make sure the didn't make the tackle. Blocks are often missed or shed, so, if Ward comes up and tries a softer block, and he sheds it and makes the tackle, then Ward didn't do his job. Hines Ward did his job on this play, and did it well.

 

How can you shed a block that you can't see?

 

Sorry, but you're not going to convince me that Ward was only looking to make a block.

 

 

You are playing the game of football. Rivers was trying to make a play and Ward obliterated him. If Ward was streaking downfield with the ball and Rivers took an angle on him and ward didnt see him coming should Rivers pull up and gently tackle him

 

I don't think that we are communicating. I'm not commenting on what Ward should or shouldn't have done on the play.

 

I do think that its interesting though that you said the Ward "obliterated" Rivers. I suppose that he did this with gentlemanly intentions?

[whomper]

How can you shed a block that you can't see?

 

Sorry, but you're not going to convince me that Ward was only looking to make a block.

 

 

 

 

I don't think that we are communicating. I'm not commenting on what Ward should or shouldn't have done on the play.

 

I do think that its interesting though that you said the Ward "obliterated" Rivers. I suppose that he did this with gentlemanly intentions?

 

 

Injure is such a strong and accusatory word that you keep using. I firmly belive that Ward wasnt trying to injure Rivers. Hitting someone as hard as you can within the confines of the rules doesnt mean you wanted to injure that person. I am sure ward wanted to hit him as hard as he could. He is a football player. Rivers was in pursuit and Ward legally decked him. The thought that you can only hit someone as hard as you can when they are looking would fall into so many scenarios it would be sickening to try and decipher when it was acceptable and when it wasnt

[Menudo]

How can you shed a block that you can't see?

 

When applied the way that Ward did, you can't. However, if Ward just comes up with a lighter block or push, it is possible that Rivers reacts to it and sheds it. Ward made sure that wasn't going to happen.

[Hugh 0ne]

So, based on what I'm reading here, would many of you say that, since Harrison is possibly done for his career, that Hines Ward is now the dirtiest player in the NFL?

[whomper]

So, based on what I'm reading here, would many of you say that, since Harrison is possibly done for his career, that Hines Ward is now the dirtiest player in the NFL?

 

 

You love this dont you

Edited October 22, 2008 by whomper

[Menudo]

So, based on what I'm reading here, would many of you say that, since Harrison is possibly done for his career, that Hines Ward is now the dirtiest player in the NFL?

 

[piratesownninjas]

And he saw the opportunity to say "Screw you" to the NFL for fining him by making a legal hit worse than the ones they fined him for.

I'm sure that's exactly what was going on through his head during the play... He was thinking "I'm going to lay this dude out" and did. I don't think Hines Ward set out to try and break anyone's jaw.

 

I think the same rules that apply for clipping should apply here. Slamming people when they aren't looking should change.

Why don't they just change football and take all of the contact out, then give everyone flags so no one gets hurt. No offense Randall, but this is part of the game, and I think your ideas make the game way too soft. Kieth Rivers knew that running without his head on a swivel could get him laid out. It's part of the game.

I'm going to venture out there and say that your opinion on this is biased based on the hit Warren Sapp threw on Chad Clifton a few years back...

[Hugh 0ne]

You love this dont you

 

Guilty as charged.

[loaf]

So, based on what I'm reading here, would many of you say that, since Harrison is possibly done for his career, that Hines Ward is now the dirtiest player in the NFL?

unequivocally

[Furd]

Injure is such a strong and accusatory word that you keep using. I firmly belive that Ward wasnt trying to injure Rivers. Hitting someone as hard as you can within the confines of the rules doesnt mean you wanted to injure that person. I am sure ward wanted to hit him as hard as he could. He is a football player. Rivers was in pursuit and Ward legally decked him. The thought that you can only hit someone as hard as you can when they are looking would fall into so many scenarios it would be sickening to try and decipher when it was acceptable and when it wasnt

 

 

I don't think that its accusatory at all. And whether it was within the rules or not isn't all that relevant.

 

When a 300 pound defensive lineman drives a QB into the turf, he's trying to injure him, hurt him ,punish him, knock him out of the game - use whatever words you prefer. He can tackle the QB without doing that.

 

Ward could have made that block without "obliterating" Rivers. He didn't. I'm not saying that he should have.

 

You can believe want you want. Maybe I'm wrong. But you'll never convince me (not that it matters) that Ward wasn't trying to injure Rivers. You simply cannot deliver that kind of blow without the intent to f*ck the guy up.