I know we have had to move past this but I have much respect for Gonzalez and appreciate him speaking up. This backs up Hartlines comments with a non Dolphin player having the same opinion.
http://www.nfl.com/news/story/0ap10...alez-angry-at-ridiculous-hit-on-dustin-keller
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I'm glad that someone else has spoken out about it, and especially someone with so much respect for him from around the league, and a player not from the Dolphins. The hit was bad enough, but for Swearinger to blame it on rules introduced to stop serious head injuries is, IMO, even worse.
Wayne Kjelsrud, Bpk, cuchulainn and 3 others like this. -
Kudos Tony - It was a BS hit for a preseason game and he's right, it might be career ending. My prayers with Keller for a complete recovery.
Skyfire023 and MikeHoncho like this. -
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Any direct hit to the knee with the helmet or shoulder, especially to a defenseless receiver, needs to be illegal. However, if we make it through this debate and it still remains legal... well, then, everyone knows how to tackle the Texans receivers from now on. Helmet-first, directly at the knees. I'd specifically target Andre Johnson with that 'fully-legal' way of tackling and see how Texans players/coaches/fans like that.
Even Solomon Wilcox (?) on Sirius yesterday - an ex-defensive back, stated that Swearinger had plenty of time to go for Kellers mid-section on a defensive receiver, but made the choice to go low. Rich Gannon stated he thought the next "protection for defenseless receivers" will be that if they are not moving forward and are defenseless, you won't be able to go at their knees.
I keep trying to purge the hit from my mind, but every time I think about it, it pisses me off. Huge impact on our offense. Huge.
ToddPhin, MrClean and cuchulainn like this.
Love that he's speaking out about it. However, removing my Dolphins' allegiances for a brief moment, I don't now how you can take low hits on a defenseless receiver out of the game without further ruining the game. How would that be enforced exactly? Penalty or fine or both? If a penalty is involved, that is where I get concerned in the form of subjectivity from the referees. At what point is there premeditation that the knee is being targeted? I realize that Swearinger's own words afterwards are what are causing the outcry, where he's essentially admitted to what he has done and that it was premeditated to go low. But in the context of the game, are you going to have a tribunal at the 25 yard line and bring witnesses from either side? How does a referee tell the difference between targetting the knee and a receiver making a football move causing the defender to fall at his knees. Upon replay, it's easy to see that I suppose. But not in the heat of the game. More time spent replaying the game?
I think there should ban helmet to knee tackles on helpless receivers.
Yrs of watching the CFL who implemented concussion mitigating measures before the NFL did led me to say this will happen more and more, knees and ankles and guys just submarining in and tear everything from ACL's to Achilles.
vizi0n, Bpk and MikeHoncho like this.
jboogie The sky is NOT falling!
GIF of the hit on Keller. It pisses me off to watch it, but I had to see it again after all the debate.:pity:
Any hit where the defender puts his head down should be penalized. Theres no need to decipher intent. You can hit wherever you'd like, but keep your head up.
, CWBIII, cuchulainn and 2 others like this.
It only makes sense that they should go at the waist. The waist bends in a way that a hit from the front won't eff it up. But if you take away the head, and take away the knees pretty soon we're going to see a lot of missed tackles in this league.
Just like the NFL wants it so I expect to see it soon.
Risks vs. reward. It sucks what happened to Keller, but how often do these hits occur?
I honestly don't think most NFL players will intentionally aim for a fellow player's knee. I think it was a stupid play, but not intentional. He could have been aiming to upend Keller. No different than a QB trying to throw a block and all the QB does is drop on the ground and play dead.
Now Swearinger is a defensive back not a QB so he should have better technique of course. But intentional vs. monumentally stupid, I think it's the latter. He honestly could have misjudged it, thinking Keller would have been higher than he was.
Bpk likes this.
Hmm. Perhaps.
If Keller were still a Jet, I think it would definitely have been covered more.
DOLPHAN1 Premium Member Luxury Box
with the comments Swearinger made in regards to the league forcing him to make a hit like that I'm surprised that the commish hasn't made a statement.
ASUFinFan, xphinfanx, first&goal and 1 other person like this.
I actually agree with this.
With the speed of the game it's actually much much harder to try and avoid helmet to helmet hits than it is to avoid hits to a knee.
You cannot use the "speed of the game excuse" on this one.
He targeted the knee.
Honestly I'm just as upset with the Dolphins offensive players.
Not one individual even took it upon themselves to have a face mask to face mask conversation with Swearinger to let him know taking out their teammate was not acceptable.
Some hate Bryan Cox but in instances like this players like him are good to have around.
xphinfanx, MrClean and first&goal like this.
makes no sense to go low unless you're afraid of getting run over. if you're a DB and you see a defenseless receiver before he turns around, you should be hitting him midsection to try and jar the ball loose either for an incompletion or fumble.
DOLPHAN1 and MikeHoncho like this.
Funny how this sort of thing always comes up when we play the Texans. I recall an incident where Trent Green went low on a block on a Texans defensive lineman, and Green wound up with a severe concussion. What was it that lineman said about that 100% legal block?
Oh, yeah...
Texans are Dirty, Hypocritical Filth
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It would be a SCUMBAG move in a regular season game. I don't even begin to know how to describe how greasy it is in a preseason game. **** him.
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Larryfinfan 17-0...Priceless Club Member
The thing is, Paul, in this particular case, Swearinger had the vision and the time to make a perfect form tackle and chose not to. He chose to go low. Now it just so happened that he hit Keller's leg/knee just as he planted it and was spinning around to go upfield. I don't believe that Swearinger's design was take the guys knee out, but that was the end result. The real problem was Swearinger proclaiming that going low was his only choice because of the rules. Where in the rules does it say that a head up, mid-section tackle is illegal ?? No where. That's what was so bad about the whole incident.
Did you hear that NFL? Gonzalez says he would rather be hit the head than the knees.
Swearinger made a legal hit per league rules.
I can't believe this is still being talked about.
He never said that.
Gonzalez meant he would rather take his chances with a helmet to helmet shot than a helmet to knee shot when the TE isn't expecting it but we know this so please don't get clever. Its beneath rational thinking to get sarcastic with Gonzalez comments. You KNOW what he meant.. At least I hope you do. Coming from a HOF TE then I listen. Glad he's backed up Hartline. I'm proud of Hartline for saying what he thought. Too much 'no comment' and silence beit orders from Philbin lately. It needed said.
In re-watching the game, I noticed Swearinger on two plays early. First, on the opening kickoff, he cheap shots Wilson with a shove from behind as the play is ending. Next, on our first punt, he punches Wilson in the back of the head with another cheap shot. That was the play where Wilson gets the taunting penalty. The refs were right on top of everything in that game, not! I'm just kind of thinking this guys a dirty player. I'm kind of thinking the Texans are a dirty team. The new Raiders...
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Context is pretty important here.
Really? Ive noticed Swearinger has changed his Twitter pic from him wearing Texan uni holding a football to suddenly putting pics of a family man with his family. I have never studied psychology but that "sudden" change of persona speaks volumes. Yeah he's a lovely Daddy. Douche with bells on. He knows what he did. Maybe "football" but his lack of talent in tackling has wrecked a players career and given him a tag. Good luck to him. Not.
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I completely agree but don't you all think that its time for the dolphins stand up to the nfl and to the media ? Why is it when a dolphin player is the pursuer the media rips the dolphins but when its the other way around the media takes the other side ?
I am angry that the nfl plays favorites and all three of the Dolphins rivials are always right and the dolphins are always wrong.
THE NFL is chicken **** in discipline players they make rules then turn them inside out and we are the team that gets burned .
Considering Swearinger's college career, and his reputation as a dirty player who plays on the edge, I am far from convinced it wasn't intentional to target the knees.
Like I said before, if I had not seen the game and was only told a Texans DB took out one of our receiver's knees in such a fashion, it would have taken me all of 2 seconds to guess Swearinger first.
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