NFL Backs No-Call of Green Hit

The much debated no-call of the hit on Kansas City Chiefs' quarterback Trent Green has been backed by NFL officials.

NFL senior vice president of football operations Ray Anderson released a statement today saying, "In other instances this contact might be illegal, since a defensive player has the responsibility to avoid unnecessary contact even when he is blocked by an opponent. However, in this case, the late slide and the block in the back were mitigating factors."

NFL officials concluded that Robert Geathers was indeed blocked from behind by Kansas City wide receiver Eddie Kennison, and the Bengals defensive end even managed to twist his torso to avoid helmet-to-helmet contact.

Anderson added that quarterbacks who want to take advantage of the protection of a slide must start it before the prospect of imminent contact.

Source

• ESPN
• The Associated Press

Date

Wed 09/13/06, 7:41 pm EST

ASwaffAll-American

1195 days ago

Score 0

"NFL officials concluded that Robert Geathers was indeed blocked from behind by Kansas City wide receiver Eddie Kennison, and the Bengals defensive end even managed to twist his torso to avoid helmet-to-helmet contact."

Wow, is that a load of crap. Again, a receiver who barely makes contact with a defensive player doesn't move him that much. Bad call by the NFL.

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Manny StilesMajor Leaguer

1194 days ago

Score 2

you don't need much to move a person's center of gravity, the forces of nature (gravity and momentum) take care of the rest... a 90 pound girl can push a 300 pound guy off balance the same way Kennison did. It was an accident, not intentional. If Green didn't go lights out, this would have NEVER been an issue. Get OVER it.

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ASwaffAll-American

1194 days ago

Score -2

Pushing a guy off-balance and pushing a guy with enough force to make him dive into someone, snapping their head back, are two very different things.

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Manny StilesMajor Leaguer

1194 days ago

Score 0

Take the tackling out of football then. You make it sound like they are pulling some conspiracy here. The NFL officials know what they are doing, they investigated it and came up with their ruling. The CORRECT ruling by the way, why do you think you are the only one bitching about it? If you think you have info they don't YOU'RE AN IDIOT. They want to protect their QBs more than YOU want them to... If he didn't go lights out THIS WOULDN'T be an issue. He didn't get knocked out by the hit, he got knocked out by the ground. It wasn't a direct or deliberate hit to knock him out. QBs get hit hard/late/illegally all the time and get no more than a whisper. We've had 4 articles on this 'supposeedly dirty hit' already... No foul, no suspensions, one big headache - guess what? Football can be a violent game, here we are!

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ASwaffAll-American

1194 days ago

Score -1

I don't proclaim to have information they don't, nor have I ever come even close to saying anything that would make it seem like I think this is a conspiracy. I don't think it's a conspiracy, I just think they're wrong. And it wouldn't be the first time. They've been wrong before. Don't bite my head off like there's no room for argument here. I'm not the only person who feels that hit was unnecessarily violent. That doens't have to mean it was malicious, because I don't think the player meant it to be. But sometimes players go after things a little too hard, and people get hurt as a result. Football is, by nature, an intense sport. Sometimes players need to be told to pull back the reigns a little bit, like back in the day when clotheslining people was legal.

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ASwaffAll-American

1194 days ago

Score -2

By the way, the fact that Green's lights did go out is the whole point. This is like that moronic argument that Delmon Young wouldn't have been in so much trouble if his thrown bat didn't hit someone. Of course he wouldn't have. That was the whole point! Saying this wouldn't be an issue if Green's lights didn't go out is like saying we wouldn't need the horse-collar rule if horse-collaring didn't cause so many broken legs.

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Manny StilesMajor Leaguer

1194 days ago

Score 1

If Delmon Young hit someone with a broken bat while swinging, would it be an issue? Green got hit during a football play with the ball in hand, during the course of a game. Don't try to skew the debate by introducing sour grapes to your apples.

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ASwaffAll-American

1194 days ago

Score -1

The point is that you're trying to make it seem like it wouldn't be a big deal if what happened hadn't happened. IT DID HAPPEN, hence, it's a big deal. You can't undo what was done and make it a minor deal. My response wasn't sour grapes, my response was a perfectly valid observation that your point is completely without merit.

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TartanVarsity Captain

1193 days ago

Score 1

It doesn't matter whether Kennison touched him or not. Many blocks are made just my changing another player's course towards the ball. Kennison, just being there, forced Geathers into diving in front of him into Green. That is the way things are. The officials made the call. They are all professional atheltes, and know what is at stake each time they step on the field. This should be a non-issue, its football.

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ASwaffAll-American

1193 days ago

Score -1

But the ruling wasn't that Kinnison's position forced him to dive into Green. They said Kinnison blocked him into Green. I'm trying to talk about the NFL's ruling, and you're bringing up a different issue.

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