Rams' Lamarcus Joyner merits major NFL discipline for illegal shot/ESPN

[RAMBUSH]

I personally think mike Zimmer should be fined , and sued for slander ! Moron!

 

[RamzFanz]

Some people aren't getting it.

It's an illegal hit, it's against the rules. He'd be getting a fine and a penalty even if Bridgewater didn't get hurt. The reason it's illegal is because during a slide a player can't really protect themselves.

He launched and led with his elbow. He knows better.

Les, he hit TB with his upper arm while trying to spin away.

He is clearly trying to tuck his arm away at contact.

No reason to feed the lynchmob.

 

[RamzFanz]

I personally think mike Zimmer should be fined , and sued for slander ! Moron!

He should be. He should at least be scorned by the media for making slanderous accusations against a good kid. Zero class.

 

[MountainRam]

Williams isn't a cheater. Maybe unethical, but not a cheater at all.

In my book, What Jerry Jones is doing (hardy thing) is unethical. What Gregg Williams did was cheating (ala Belichick)

 

[ChrisW]

You can't watch those plays in slow motion and make judgment. Watch it in real time. Joyner didn't have much time to pull up. It's football. Get over it and stop trying to weaken the game. It wasn't intentional so give him his fine and move on.

 

[thirteen28]

Les, he hit TB with his upper arm while trying to spin away.

He is clearly trying to tuck his arm away at contact.

No reason to feed the lynchmob.

This is what I was trying to explain. And the speed at which it all happened made it virtually impossible to avoid contact.

What is Joyner supposed to do, not try to tackle the ballcarrier? Suppose Bridgewater didn't slide, should Joyner just let him run right on by just in case he tries to slide?

It's easy to cast aspersions here, but none of us can move nearly as fast as the two athletes in the picture, and at those speeds you are going to have situations where someone trying to make a legit play makes contact in a way that ends badly for one of the players involved.

If it upsets you this much, perhaps you should lobby for a rule to make the QB down by two-hand touch. Until then, I have no problem with Joyner or any other Ram defender trying to stop a ballcarrier, fully understanding that sometimes the QB will slide and bad things will still happen.

 

[blackbart]

If you are going to slide at the very last split second, you are putting yourself in danger. If that extra yard is so important, tuck yourself down like a running back, and you are less likely to get hurt.

I agree, if they are really interested in protecting the player then you have to get down much earlier otherwise you get what you get. Making a slide at the last second is not soon enough to get the protection afforded by a special rule.

 

[FRO]

In my book, What Jerry Jones is doing (hardy thing) is unethical. What Gregg Williams did was cheating (ala Belichick)

How is it cheating? All he was guilty of was paying for performance and hits, as well as hurting guys. Not pretty, but I don't see how that was cheating, but I'm open to changing my mind.

 

[MountainRam]

How is it cheating? All he was guilty of was paying for performance and hits, as well as hurting guys. Not pretty, but I don't see how that was cheating, but I'm open to changing my mind.

I am looking at it as take the best player (starting QB) out by illegal hits and vola! a competitive advantage to win the game. Tape video signals and take air out of footballs and vola! a competitive advantage to win the game.

 

[Mikey Ram]

Neither side of this discussion if going to be swayed in their thinking...I'd just like to see what happens, then move on and let it go...

 

[FRO]

I am looking at it as take the best player (starting QB) out by illegal hits and vola! a competitive advantage to win the game. Tape video signals and take air out of footballs and vola! a competitive advantage to win the game.

I see your point there.

 

[Mikey Ram]

I am looking at it as take the best player (starting QB) out by illegal hits and vola! a competitive advantage to win the game. Tape video signals and take air out of footballs and vola! a competitive advantage to win the game.

Wow, you're saying those things are the same ??? Don't think I could possibly disagree more with a thought process..And that's not a commentary about the hit, just lumping the 2 things together...If I misunderstand your comment, I apologize...

 

[RamzFanz]

In my book, What Jerry Jones is doing (hardy thing) is unethical. What Gregg Williams did was cheating (ala Belichick)

What Williams DID, past tense, was cheating, hence the fines and suspension. He paid his dues. Heavy dues. And he has to live with the aftermath. People accusing him today for every Rams hit are unethical.

 

[MountainRam]

Wow, you're saying those things are the same ??? Don't think I could possibly disagree more with a thought process..And that's not a commentary about the hit, just lumping the 2 things together...If I misunderstand your comment, I apologize...

No need to apologize.

 

[MountainRam]

What Williams DID, past tense, was cheating, hence the fines and suspension. He paid his dues. Heavy dues. And he has to live with the aftermath. People accusing him today for every Rams hit are unethical.

Agreed. I am moving onto bears

 

[nighttrain]

This is what I was trying to explain. And the speed at which it all happened made it virtually impossible to avoid contact.

What is Joyner supposed to do, not try to tackle the ballcarrier? Suppose Bridgewater didn't slide, should Joyner just let him run right on by just in case he tries to slide?

It's easy to cast aspersions here, but none of us can move nearly as fast as the two athletes in the picture, and at those speeds you are going to have situations where someone trying to make a legit play makes contact in a way that ends badly for one of the players involved.

If it upsets you this much, perhaps you should lobby for a rule to make the QB down by two-hand touch. Until then, I have no problem with Joyner or any other Ram defender trying to stop a ballcarrier, fully understanding that sometimes the QB will slide and bad things will still happen.

Exactly,well stated. Certainly was not intentional, just NFL football.
train

 

[RamzFanz]

No need to apologize.

Being that you're new you may have not noticed but when you use sarcasm, we typically use a blue font. We do this because if it's not recognized as sarcasm, it might look like a type of comment that is frowned upon by the board.

By the way, welcome aboard! I hope you enjoy it here.

 

[LesBaker]

At full speed it's still clear he could have pulled up, he lunged after Bridgewater was sliding.

Joyner is a good kid who made a bad error/mistake. He'll take his medicine for it like other guys have when they have made errors in judgement. That's how it goes. Oddly I don't see a single person other than Rams fans on message boards saying they are cook with the hit. Sometimes our guys do things wrong too you know.

And as far as any of the comments about "softening" the game I say Ohhhh puuuuuleeze. For decades rules have been changed to help players reduce the risk of injury. Hitting a player that cannot defend himself should be a penalty and sometimes result in a fine.

 

[A55VA6]

Shouldn't even get a fine in my opinion... this shit happens all the time, but just because he put Bridgewater to sleep, it's more of an issue. And Zimmer is a good coach but he can suck my balls because that comment he made about Gregg Williams was a little overboard..

 

[RAGRam]

So I was able to slow the play down and watch it frame by frame, there is approximately 0.3 seconds between Bridgewater beginning his slide and Joyner beginning his "tackle" theoretically enough time to react to the slide assuming he was expecting Bridgewater to slide. At that point there was a further after that there's a further 0.2 seconds between the beginning of the "tackle" and contact. The idea that in those 0.5 seconds he could have thought "Oh yeah Williams is going to give me another $50k if I take out Bridgewater here" is ludicrous at best and liable at worst.

 

[shaunpinney]

In slow motion it looks like a deliberate dirty shot, in REAL TIME it looks like a player committed to a tackle and a player committed to slide colliding...

I'm not sure if wrapping his arms around the Teddy would have helped, then again he's a Ram, he'll never play a game in the NFL ever again....