01-13-2016, 02:53 PM
(01-13-2016, 02:49 PM)Sovereign Nation Wrote: It does matter. Is Shazier suspended for 3 games? I wonder if we were to go back through every game that Shazier has played we will see 1 or 2 such hits, and those hits aren't called. Since no flag is thrown, then the commentator and analyst will usually just call in an extremely hard hit and claim that is what makes football so good.
While any play that is flagged, even if the viciousness of the hit isn't as bad as the one that isn't, will get remarks of disgraceful and unnecessary. This helps fuel public perception of 1 guy being a "great player" while the other is a "dirty one".
Keep in mind the whole thing that started this was a LEGAL tackle (not even hit) on Bell, then Vince Williams made a threat over twitter saying that he was "gonna paint that boi", you could look at that as a death threat or a threat of a vicious beating.
Yet the media has constantly reported that it was Burfict that injured Bell. They don't mention it was just a tackle, they don't mention it was legal, they just mention that Bell was injured due to Burfict. They also ignore the tweet.
Now we have 1 player suspended for 3 games due to the reputation (one given to him by the media as well as the Steelers themselves) while 2 players get to play and no such punishment for them.
While I can agree with some of what you said, Burfict was not suspended because of reputation. He was suspended because of his history of personal fouls. The league office warned him after the Baltimore game, he was told that he was being "put on notice" and that they would be watching him. Part of his reputation is the media, but a big part of it is earned.
