Terence Garvin

100% with everything you just said. Guys can't even lay a shoulder-to-shoulder hit anymore. Incidental contact with the helmet is to be expected; if the league doesn't want it take the damn things away.

 

No, he should have just drilled him in the midsection instead of going anywhere any player's head/neck. I understand people not liking the rules but how the hit can be defended is beyond me.

 

Go back and watch 40+ years of this sport and then get back to us. Notice that every player analyst, on ESPN and NFL network, at least the ones I have seen, has a huge problem with the criticism of the play.

 

What does 40+ years of this sport have to do with this hit? Nothing. Every player / analyst does not see this as a legal hit.

http://www.nfl.com/news/story/0ap20...eelers-hit-on-bengals-kevin-huber-was-penalty

 

Um...yeah, where is the former player in your clip? Or news story? I'm talking former players, from Marcellus Wiley to Mike Golic, all have a problem with this. Why? Because they know Garvin did nothing wrong. Former punter Chris Kluwe is the only one who has a problem with it.

 

I guess you didn't hear that the VP of officiating said it was illegal in the video clip I posted the link to. It doesn't matter what former players think. They don't make or enforce the rules.

Think what you want but IMHO it is painfully clear that the hit was illegal, should have been flagged and will be fined. I'd love to see what your reaction would have been if McBriar was on the recieving end of that hit.

I'm done with this discussion.

 

Really?

 

Thats your opinion and this is America so you are entitled to be wrong! And I see you weren't really done...

 

Thats neither a player nor an analyst. Thats Dean Blando VP of officiating.

Some things that I find disturbing:
1) A punter/kicker is considered defenseless all the way through the play? Absurd. I can see if they are in the act of kicking, but once they become blockers/tacklers all bets should be off. If they are allowed to tackle, then they shouldn't get any protection that any other player would not receive.

2) By the letter of the law, its an illegal hit. But the law stinks. I honestly don't see any other way Garvin could have blocked him. He lead with his shoulder into Hubers chest and his head hit Hubers jaw after the initial impact. Huber didn't help himself by keeping his head on a swivel. Sure you can say that Garvin could have held his head up and "saw what he was hitting", but contact with Hubers jaw would have still been made by Gavins facemask and that IS STILL a penalty because he is a 'defenseless player.' Its a damned if you do, damned if you don't situation. I guess the only way to not draw a penalty/fine would be to simply let up and let Huber make a play.

I understand what the NFL is trying to do, but I think they really need to consider the situation and the intent when doling out fines.

 

All very valid points, but it's not like the rules say you can't touch their definition of a defenseless player.... it just says kickers/punters & qb's are sissy's and can't take a head shot like the rest of the NFL players. They have to live with these rules until they change them.

Another thing to consider is that teams only carry one punter and one kicker, you lose them and your team will see a drastic change. No team can afford to lose a punter or kicker mid game.

The NFL is already having problems with long-term medical and retired players, this is really a need necessitated by the big dollar claims and potential claims once the players retire.

 

Exactly.
Which is why I said that there is nothing that Garvin could have done for it not have not been a fine/penalty. Even if Garvin had followed the new "heads up" campaign and would have picked his head up, he still would have hit Huber in the jaw, only with his face mask instead. And that isn't allowed on a defenseless player and would have (should have) been a penalty/fine. There is NOTHING short of not blocking Huber that Garvin could have done any differently.

It sucks. And now they're trying to whack him out of 1/12 of his salary? Unfair and borderline criminal.

 

That's what I don't get from the drill him in the mid-section folks. Yes, that works if he's going for a tackle, but it doesn't work when you're tryig to go for a block in his situation. He can't go low there and if he aims for the mid-section, he's putting his helmet into the guys chest and still driving through and making contact with the crown of his helmet.

 

Right. You can't tackle a guy and call it a block. And if Garvin gets too much lower he risks injury to his own head. I've seen many times when a player gets a knee to the head, which is why you get low, but not too low. Garvin had his shoulder pads under Huber's, which is what we've all been taught to do.

 

give the man a raise steelers.

 

100% - that quote from Tomlin was BS and merely to appease the NFL front office with whom he's already in hot water - internally Garvin's getting high-fived and the hat is being passed for the $25k fine. Hell - I'll bet even J Harrison will chip in. Reminds me of a hit that Gary Jones laid on Don Beebe back in a late 80's playoff when we finally beat Buffalo. This young man just won another season with the Steelers. While I haven't watched in super slow mo - I'm wondering if what hit the punters chin first wasn't Garvin's forearm then possibly followed by part of his face mask. Would this have been a fine-able offense if he had made the same hit on any other player on the field at the time? They say you can't beat a dead horse - but a zombified punter is a different matter.