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Leagues and Governing Bodies

More NFLers Speak Out Against League Suspending Players For "Football Plays"

In the wake of some recent player suspensions for on-field hits, Bengals S George Iloka said that the NFL is "going too far with its discipline for physical football plays," according to Jim Owczarski of the CINCINNATI ENQUIRER. Iloka was suspended one game for his helmet-first hit on Steelers WR Antonio Brown, though the league eventually overturned its ruling. Iloka said, "If you start suspending guys for that, the league is going to turn into a brand of football in which if you’re worried about losing viewers, you would lose a lot more." He referenced a play where Bengals CB William Jackson III held up on a sideline tackle that led to a touchdown by Steelers RB Le'Veon Bell because he was "so scared of getting a flag." Iloka: "That, to me, I would turn off football to see plays like that. [Jackson] told you legit, 'I was scared of getting a personal foul.'" Iloka also felt Steelers WR JuJu Smith-Schuster’s block on Bengals LB Vontaze Burfict that "knocked Burfict out of the game with a concussion was a football play that began with the shoulder and made contact with the head." Smith-Schuster’s one-game suspension was upheld, and Iloka said, "No one agrees with standing over someone that’s hurt, but football plays are football plays. This game is violent." He added that the league has "done a better job in eliminating unnecessary roughness and players are leading and trying to tackle with their shoulders more, but in the action of playing the game the 'target area' moves in milliseconds, so there will always be helmet-to-helmet contact." He also said that there "shouldn't be a targeting rule, because it would put too much pressure on officials and lengthen games with reviews" (CINCINNATI ENQUIRER, 12/8).

PART OF THE GAME: In Charlotte, Joseph Person notes a pair of Panthers defensive players "aren’t sure ejecting players is the way to proceed" while the NFL considers "implementing college football’s targeting rule." Panthers S Kurt Coleman said that the "difficulty in ejecting players for targeting" is "determining intent." Coleman: "It's not easy. I understand they want to make it safer and safer. There’s times when I’ve put myself in a vulnerable position knowing that I can’t hit a guy a certain way. If they make the rule, I guess we all have to adapt to it." LB Luke Kuechly "understands the NFL wanting to make the game safer, but doesn’t believe many players are head-hunting." He said, "I like to think for the most part guys don’t do that stuff on purpose. ... I don’t want guys to get kicked out of games for stuff that just happens bang-bang" (CHARLOTTE OBSERVER, 12/8). In N.Y., Daniel Popper notes despite being rookies, Jets safeties Jamal Adams and Marcus Maye "can still relate" to Steelers S Mike Mitchell, who "blasted the league over what he views as an overly strict approach to hitting." Maye said, "The game is changing. They’re just trying to keep us safe and protect everybody, which I get. But it’s also football at the end of the day, and it’s a contact sport, so I feel like certain hits will be made" (N.Y. DAILY NEWS, 12/8).

EFFORTS UNNOTICED? In Pittsburgh, Paul Zeise writes under the header, "The NFL Should Be Applauded For Its Player Safety Measures." The league has "made it clear it wants to make the game safer," though that fact is "always lost in these rants every time a player is suspended or fined, and it doesn’t seem fair." The league "doesn’t want to have a player die or become paralyzed on the field as a result of a hit that could have been prevented." The NFL’s system of justice does feel "random and sometimes unfair, so some of the Steelers are complaints are justified." Mitchell’s rant was "epic, but it was also a "bit ridiculous and off base." The idea that the NFL is "trying to turn the game into flag football is flat-out stupid." Football still is the "most brutal sport on the planet." Zeise: "There is no way to make the game safe, per se, but the NFL should be applauded -- not ripped -- for trying to make it safer" (PITTSBURGH POST-GAZETTE, 12/8). ESPN's Sarah Spain said the "flippant" way in which Mitchell spoke was "embarrassing for him." Fans "cannot watch football the way we used to." Spain: "Knowing what we know now, things have to change whether you like it or not" ("Highly Questionable," ESPN, 12/7). ESPN's Marcellus Wiley said the game has evolved, and Mitchell "must evolve with it" ("SportsNation," ESPN, 12/7).

DO THE EVOLUTION: ESPN's Jackie MacMullan said there is an "evolution going on" in football, and it is "a necessary one." MacMullan: "How many more Hall of Fame players do we have to see kill themselves with a shotgun to the chest because they want us to study their brains. That's the single biggest issue in the NFL and it will be for the next 20 years going forward, and changes have to be made." ESPN's Pablo Torre: "As a business, the NFL can't let people be that honest because that means the decline of the sport itself" ("Around The Horn," ESPN, 12/7). ESPN's Mike Wilbon said trying to "figure out what football is in the latter half of the 21st century is the huge challenge confronting this sport" ("PTI," ESPN, 12/7). In Houston, Brian Smith writes now that NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell has agreed to a contract extension, maybe he can "get around to moving the game into the modern age." Violence, "obviously, is at the heart of the game." Patriots TE Rob Gronkowski's "dirty, dangerous and absolutely intentional body slam against a defense-less" player in Bills CB Tre'Davious White has "no place in the modern game." A one-game suspension for a hit that "could have ended White's season" is just "one more reminder that Goodell's league still hasn't figured out how to properly use its all-mighty power" (HOUSTON CHRONICLE, 12/8).

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