10-22-2016, 09:14 AM
(10-21-2016, 05:16 PM)Shake n Blake Wrote: Fair enough, although with the way Munchak clenched his hands around Nelson's dreads, it looked more like he was pulling them than trying to get untangled.
I'm not so much defending Burfict as I am pointing out the hypocrisy from most Steelers fans and from the league itself. I agree that every team has dirty players or enforcers or whatever you'd want to call it. It's just frustrating as a Bengals fan to see so much outrage when we finally get a player like that. The Bengals have been the victims of such players for years, but now the league has an issue? Now the Steelers (and their fans) are whining about playing clean?
From our perspective it seems unfair to put it mildly.
Couldn't there be hypocrisy going the other way? For years the Bengals fans bashed the Steelers dirty players but defend Burfict.
And I don't know that "now the league has an issue" with big hits and dirty plays. It's not a recent thing but maybe it seems that way to you guys since you finally got the guy who is in the crosshairs.
Either you guys forget, don't know, or are unaware of how the league handled James Harrison several years ago. He was exactly like Burfict (minus the nut twisting). For years he was the league's whipping boy. A marked man who didn't get the benefit of the doubt. Can't hit high. Can't hit low. Can't even look even get close to the QB without drawing a flag. I remember several instances of insignificant bumps that drew roughing calls while Roethlisberger was getting his nose broken with no call. It frustrated us much the same way it does you. And our fan base made excuses and defended him, just like yours. And early on I was probably one of them. But soon you realize that it is what it is. The league is trying to make the game safer and is going to act to keep guys in control. And once you develop that reputation and are on the refs radar, you are not going to get the benefit of the doubt.
So I don't think that it's hypocrisy from Steelers fans as much as it is as them saying "we remember how you were to Harrison, now you better treat Burfict the same." I guess you could call it a lack of empathy. I think our fan base is years ahead of yours in that regard. We've lived what you're going through right now. Give it time the league will break Burfict just as they broke Harrison and they next boogeyman will emerge somewhere else.
