09-17-2015, 01:58 PM
(09-17-2015, 12:48 PM)jj22 Wrote: Then Jones gave Cooper a stiff arm that sent his head into his helmet then. Since a stiff arm is just the extension of the arm by definition. That's what your telling me.
I just don't think it was a stiff arm in the football sense. I've never saw a stiff arm from a non-ball carrier. So that was a jab (double) to the throat. Lets call it what it was and I'm fine with everyones opinion on the outcome.
Bit of an over reach there but I can see where some of what I said may be open to incorrect interpretation.
Stiff arms are a legal blocking technique in the open field. You can't start penalizing for a stiff arm above the shoulder pads (in the form of hands to the face) and not penalize ball carriers for doing the same. As is, as long as the person doesn't grab the face mask a hand to the head in open field just isn't a penalty.
No, I thought when I alluded to this play being something that SHOULDN'T be legal only people with close encounters with a tree could mis-interpret but I guess I was wrong. I already said stiff arms to the face should be a safety issue clearly. What I wan't as clear about is the other reason (I did say there was 2 reason?). Perception. You and Adam Jones are perceiving intention. You cannot penalize/fine for how you infer what is in a persons head when the action could be interpreted as a legal action. Is it possible it was a punch/blow? Sure, but the video evidence alone doesn't show that, you are inferring it.
As to some of your other statements. I am fine with what Jones did and I am also okay with the fine. Sometimes players have to take a fine to make a statement of standing their ground. I wouldn't have been okay with the final shove on the ground was a clear punch to the face. I'm not okay with going after a persons genitals either. NO MATTER WHO DOES IT.
(09-17-2015, 12:53 PM)type_stripe Wrote: Fair enough it was more than just playing football and a fine is warranted. But Finnegan and Johnson were each fined $25K for their incident...why the extra $10K for Jones? They did a lot more than playing football for a lot longer too.
As already stated by others, that was 5 years ago. Don't forget, this year a crack-down point in the NFL is fights. The $25K minimum was implemented this year. If you go back to fights in 2010 the fines were usually much less then $25K so that was a very stiff penalty at that time.
With the new rules around fights, in actuality multiple players could have been fined on both teams for either not leaving or entering the area of a fight. Fortunately they weren't since that would have been over-reach but the way the rule is written, they could have been.
