Chris Polian covers it this week
Q: Can you discuss what might happen with linebacker Gary Brackett after the penalty Sunday?
A: On Gary, that rule went in two years ago, I believe. It was a player safety initiative in response to a hit (Pittsburgh Steelers wide receiver) Hines Ward had that broke the jaw of one of the Cincinnati linebackers. The rule is that a defensive player is granted the same protection as a defenseless offensive player – a receiver in the act of catching the ball, a quarterback in the act of throwing, anything like that. If you come back and contact a defenseless player in the head or neck area as you head back from a blindside toward your own goal-line, that is an unnecessary roughness penalty. Since it is flagged, obviously it will be highlighted for attention in New York. A player has a right to appeal any fine, but it is a rule on the books. Mike Pereira, the former head of (NFL) officials, said in his column on Fox (Monday), that it was the first time that penalty had been called. It was a great hustle play and a bang-bang play. We got flagged there.
Add The Sports Daily to your Google News Feed!
