Fletch, when I played football for 17 years I was as classy and sportsmanlike as they come. I played to inflict pain, not injury on opposing players. The term decapitated does not mean literally to knock their head off. It means to make offensive players pay for crossing the middle. It is an old football term defensive guys use when discussing hitting people extremely hard. I was a quiet player toward other teams, letting my playing ability talk for me. I played with silent aggression that showed. I believe in respecting your opponent. Within that respect, your opponent deserves for you to give your best effort, and that means you try to knock their block off. The good players understand and respect the hit hard mentality. The general public just does not understand, nor will they ever understand the inner workings/mentality of a high end football player. I also coached highschool football for three years. I taught the right tackling techniques and showed kids how to play with their pads, not their mouths. I would routinely toss kids from practice and pull them from games if they taunted people to excess or ran their silly little mouths like so many players these days do. Again, you misinterpreted my comments. I believe in playing hard and strong. I also believe that showing emotion is part of football and small celebrations and letting out strong emotions are a vital part of football.
I can't stand Ray Lewis. Don't like his attitude or the taunting after a "hard" hit. He shouldn't even be playing. Didn't he stab someone, allegedly?
Shhhhh don't say that too loud. I think someone would disagree with you (although you're absolute right).
100% agree on having an opinion. It's your right. It doesn't change reality, though. Limbaugh said, once....."Having an opinion, in and of itself, is nothing noble......if you're opinion is just plain wrong".
Nah, he just drove the getaway car. Of course he didn't know why they needed to get out of there asap, he just hit the gas. I'll never forget the SNL "TV Funhouse" skit of his account. "Oh snap, I didn't see nothing." Still cracks me up. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9XZDzOGFXts
I have no problem with the NFL wanting to regulate this more and protect the players. After all, they're working, doing a job. We all want to be protected in the places we work. However, I surely hope that they do this on a case by case basis. It's hard for anyone who hasn't played at the pro level to say that he hit the guy like that on purpose or he didn't. The problem here, is that the game is moving so fast. You have 250 + pound men, who run like deer, running at one another. There are bound to be big collisions, injuries. I hope that what they're referring to are hits like Merriweather and Harrison dealt. They weren't necessarily cheap shots, but piss poor examples of how to play the game and tackle with football skill. They were simply throwing their bodies and forearms headfirst into guys.
ray ray??? most intimidating guy in the game! i love him! all his sound bytes! playing next to him woulda been a dream. side note... after the all-start game i was in Jan. 02', in TX and blew my knee (ACL, MCL, PCL & Miniscus) that fall i took my tour of workouts (Vikings, Saints, Ravens and Falcons) you typically workout for the team on Tuesdays "players day off" and he was in the weight room working out while i had to test out at 225# (bench reps). a few other LB's trying out with me and we had to pair up... i was the odd man out, so Ray Ray came over and spotted me! OMG!!!!!!!!! "you ready young fella, lemmie see what you got! all you got, right now! 27reps! my most EVER! love you Ray Ray!
Thanks for that very clear and classy explanation. I'm sure you are right in that I will never quite understand the mentality of a high end football player. You however, sound like someone that I would be very comfortable with coaching my boys. Thanks again for taking the time to give me a little better understanding.
