Take the Dress of the QB Already

Recently I read the piece about thefine that Melvin Bullitt got for hitting Mark Sanchez. Most of you have heard all the hub about some supposed hits that should have been flagged that Brett Favre took. Now Saints defensive coordinator Gregg Williams has made some comments about smacking the Colt QB around with hopes that “he doesn’t get back up and play again.” Of course the media is just itching to see if comments like that will get a rise out of either Jim Caldwell or Peyton Manning.

It is understandable that people get concerned about injuries. No one with half a hear wants a person that they use to watch every Sunday to live a stunted life after they are done playing either due to injury complications or too many hits to the head. The nurturer in many of us want to take care of thee guys and hopefully keep many of them from having to suffer when their playing days are done.

Having played football since I was little, though college , and into a 3 1/2 week stint with the now defunct Portland Prowlers of the also defunct IPFL (Indoor Professional Football League). For the last 12-13 years (some of them are kind of blurry) I have been an active rugby player. The point is, I understand what the players go through and the care that hey need when they are done. My knees ache daily, my back sometimes twinges, and my hands have nerve damage in them (minor, but annoying at times).

I mention this because like the guys that are lucky enough to plat in the NFL it was my choice to play. Big difference of course was that these guys are getting paid big bucks to do what they do while I just go cheap beer. Anyway…

Changing the game to protect these guys while they are playing will be a mistake. It is a full contact game; let me repeat that- A FULL CONTACT GAME. Injuries are sadly the nature of the beast. To play to avoid injuries or to change the rules to protect certain players from injuries will only take away from the legitimacy of the contest.

Gregg Williams should be wanting to knock Peyton Manning out of the game (he probably watched Curtis Painter in action). Caldwell should be annoyed about the comments too. Like the hits that knock some of these guys out of the game, comments are part of the contest. So don’t sweat ’em folks. We all know that Dwight Freeney is going to put Brees into orbit anyway.