Quote:Cincinnati Bengals linebacker Vontaze Burfict told ESPN's Josina Anderson in an interview Monday that he needs to change his style of play, but he probably would not have been flagged for his hit to the head of Pittsburgh Steelers wide receiver Antonio Brown in the wild-card round if his reputation hadn't preceded him.


"Like I told coach [Marvin Lewis], I wish I could take that play back because I probably would've hit him low," Burfict said in his first public comments about the incident. "I don't like hitting low, but I have to change because it's getting flags because I hit him high or hit him in the helmet, and it's so hard to determine where to hit the offender because they're gonna tuck their body, and you have to pretty much tuck with them."

Burfict was suspended for the first three games of the 2016 season for repeated violations of player-safety rules, with the league citing his hit on Brown as the tipping point. Burfict hit Brown after Brown couldn't catch a high pass fromBen Roethlisberger with 22 seconds remaining in an AFC wild-card game. Burfict received an unnecessary roughness penalty, and Brown suffered a concussion on the play. Brown did not play the following week in Pittsburgh's AFC divisional-round loss to the Denver Broncos.



The suspension was upheld earlier this month following an appeal, sources told ESPN.


Burfict told Anderson that he takes responsibility for the hit, which was part of the ugly ending that resulted in Cincinnati's exit from the playoffs.


"I tried to pull up at the last second, but it was obviously too late -- it's a bang-bang play," Burfict said.


Schedule Of Fines

This is Vontaze Burfict's first suspension, but he has a past littered with fines:
* 2015 Week 17: $50K for unnecessary contact of an opponent who was out of play vs. Ravens
* 2015 Week 14: A total of $69,454 for roughing the passer, face mask and unnecessary roughness penalties
* 2014 Week 6: $25K for twisting the ankles of Cam Newton and Greg Olsen
* 2013 Week 8: $21K for hitting Stephen Hill with the crown of his helmet
* 2013 Week 6: $7,875 for a face mask penalty vs. the Bills' Fred Jackson
* 2013 Week 3: A total of $31K for a hit on a defenseless player and striking an opponent in the groin
-- ESPN Stats & Information


The linebacker acknowledged that he has developed a negative reputation around the league, and he said that has an effect on how penalties are called.


"I play hard. Sometimes it gets me in trouble," he said. "My style of play is aggressive, and [the game has] changed, and I have to change with it, and that play right there, I think if I wasn't number 55, I wouldn't have got flagged."


Burfict has been flagged for personal foul penalties 16 times in the regular season and postseason since he entered the league in 2012. He was the most heavily fined player in the chippy Dec. 13 meeting between the Bengals and Steelers. Seven players from the teams drew fines amounting to nearly $140,000, but Burfict had to pay nearly half that in his three fines for three incidents in the game.


In another incident that drew criticism, Burfict was fined $25,000 for twisting the ankles of Cam Newton and Greg Olsen in 2014.
Sources previously told ESPN that Burfict met earlier this month with NFL commissioner Roger Goodell to discuss his on-field behavior and steps he could take to avoid disciplinary action in the future. Burfict, his agents and Lewis were at the meeting with Goodell and NFL executive VP Troy Vincent.



Despite his streak of penalties, Burfict remains one of Cincinnati's top defensive players. He recorded 74 tackles, one sack and two interceptions in 10 games the past season.

(02-23-2016, 12:30 PM)StrictlyBiz Wrote: Couple of things.....

He's flat out wrong that it was his number that got him flagged on the Brown hit. I could've been been out there wearing a number -6 jersey and I would've gotten flagged for that hit. He blasted him in his head with his shoulder as he was defenseless and going across the middle. (Bengal fans, this is where you chime in and bring up Shaziers hit) Any player on any team at any time is going to draw a fine and a flag for that hit, 100% of the time. (Bengal fans, missed calls do not change facts nor do they justify actual penalties)

He's right about it being a bang-bang play and that Brown was dipping his body and that's why he caught his head, but the NFL doesn't care about that and has said as much. The onus is on the defensive player to not hit him is the head or while he's defenseless regardless of what the WR does. It sucks but that's the way the NFL is calling it. EVERY team has been burned by that call at some point, you just have to deal with it.

Which leads to point #2. He sounds frustrated about how to play the game. And he's right. He doesn't want to hit low so he goes higher but Brown dips and he hits his head and he draws a penalty anyway. Us Steelers fans went thru this several years ago with James Harrison almost to a tee. It is unfair to defensive players, but again it's how the league is calling it in their attempt to change the way the game is played for player safety.

(02-23-2016, 01:38 PM)Murdock2420 Wrote: Actually the Shazier hit proves his point. If that was Burfict that delivered the hit Shazier did, it's 15 yards instantly.  That's just the way it is with Burfict now, anything close on a bang bang play is instantly 15 yards, even when it's clean.

And before all you yinzers start on about Shazier not being flagged and it wasn't a foul....

http://www.bengals.com/news/article-1/Nelson-hopes-to-return-as-combine-opens/3c1747a6-9293-44ba-802b-d2d0cda7a95f

Scroll to the bottom and read where a former NFL player who played for both teams talks about this very topic:

 "He says Steelers linebacker Ryan Shazier’s hit that knocked Bengals running back Giovani Bernard out of the game with a concussion in the third quarter not only should have been flagged as an illegal hit to the head, but it was more malicious than Burfict’s play.


“I want to put it into context for fans,” Wilcots says, “why Vontaze Burfict plays like he plays against Pittsburgh. Because Pittsburgh has been playing that way against the Bengals forever.

So unless you claim to no more about the NFL than a guy who played in the league, there is no room for argument. 

(02-23-2016, 02:09 PM)StrictlyBiz Wrote: Predictable response and why I wrote what I did in the parenthesis. Both times.  

(02-23-2016, 02:09 PM)StrictlyBiz Wrote: Predictable response and why I wrote what I did in the parenthesis. Both times.  

(02-23-2016, 03:00 PM)Murdock2420 Wrote: 1.)You wrote it in parenthesis to try and avoid the discussion, but it is absolute truth Burfict gets flagged for every fringe penalty due to his rep, deflect all you want.

2.)Are you really too much of a blind homer to admit that if Burfict makes the same hit as Shazier he gets 15?

P.S. once again, a pro player a guy who forgot more about football then you'll ever know said Shazier's hit was worse.....so please argue this more.

(02-23-2016, 03:23 PM)Griever Wrote: id feel bad for the dude if this was his first rodeo, but he has what, 14 personal fouls in the short time he's been in, and was the exact same way in college?

(02-23-2016, 03:29 PM)The Real Deal Wrote: Poor Vontaze not getting empathy from you. How will he sleep at night?

(02-23-2016, 07:13 PM)6andcounting Wrote: I'm guessing it's the CTE that disrupts his sleep, not lack of empathy.

(02-23-2016, 07:26 PM)The Real Deal Wrote:



I see 3 players that have a better chance of that being their problem than burfict. Because hits on the shoulder pads don't really cause CTE. My guess is the nfl rape job is what keeps him awake, but who's to say?

(02-23-2016, 07:45 PM)6andcounting Wrote: CTE doesn't develop after one incident. It's the result of repeated head injuries. Not going further back than college, Burfict has about 8 years of head bashing under his belt. And how many diagnosed head and neck injuries?

(02-23-2016, 08:11 PM)The Real Deal Wrote: "Chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE), a form of tauopathy, is a progressive degenerative diseasefound in people who have suffered A severe blow to the head."

(02-23-2016, 10:15 PM)6andcounting Wrote: Awesome copy and paste job from an unsourced Wikipedia article.

Here's how Boston University's CTE Center defines CTE:

"Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy (CTE) is a progressive degenerative disease of the brain found in athletes (and others) with a history of repetitive brain trauma, including symptomatic concussions as well as asymptomatic subconcussive hits to the head"

(02-24-2016, 12:10 AM)The Real Deal Wrote: Everything I do is awesome.

(02-24-2016, 02:12 AM)Vlad Wrote: That's not what your wife tells me.