Rams' Lamarcus Joyner merits major NFL discipline for illegal shot
By Kevin Seifert
http://espn.go.com/blog/nflnation/p...-merits-major-nfl-discipline-for-illegal-shot
The NFL has a thick rulebook and a detailed fine schedule, making it difficult to imagine how both won't be used to issue a significant penalty this week to St. Louis Rams defensive back Lamarcus Joyner.
Joyner, of course, delivered the illegal shot that knocked Minnesota Vikings quarterback Teddy Bridgewater unconscious Sunday at TCF Bank Stadium. I was shocked at how divided social media was on the play, but there seems no doubt to me that Joyner violated NFL rules protecting players who slide, and his hit caused Bridgewater's concussion.
Depending on how the NFL classifies the infraction, Joyner will be fined at least $8,681, but likely more. If Bridgewater is deemed to have been a "defenseless player," a term that seems created for the position he was in, Joyner's minimum fine will be $23,152. Because he has no known history of such hits, Joyner is unlikely to be suspended.
Teddy Bridgewater
Teddy Bridgewater left Sunday's game with a concussion after a hit from Lamarcus Joyner.
Let's take a closer look at the play. Bridgewater scrambled 5 yards for a first down and then initiated a feet-first slide with 13 minutes, 18 seconds remaining in the game. Joyner dove at him with his left forearm arched at a 90-degree angle. I received multiple tweets from those who thought Joyner barely made contact, but the replay shows his upper left arm hit Bridgewater's facemask, causing the helmet to bounce violently off the turf.
Bridgewater was diagnosed with a concussion and must pass through the league's mandatory concussion protocol in order to be eligible to play in the Vikings' game Sunday at the Oakland Raiders.
Referee Ronald Torbert penalized Joyner 15 yards for unnecessary roughness, and the rules in this area seem clear. According to Rule 7, Section 2, Article 1 (d)(1), "A defender must pull up when a runner begins a feet-first slide." The rule goes on to note that contact is legal if a runner has "already committed himself and the contact is unavoidable." But even in those cases, the rule notes, it is a penalty if "the defender commits some other act, such as helmet-to-helmet contact or by driving his forearm or shoulder into the head or neck area of the runner."
Joyner told reporters after the game that he had already "launched" when Bridgewater started sliding, a debatable contention. But even if that were the case, the nature of the ensuing contact not only was illegal but also destroyed the precise tenet of the NFL's campaign to protect quarterbacks who are willing to surrender further yardage in order to avoid big hits.
Whether Joyner intended to hurt Bridgewater is irrelevant, although there was little doubt what Vikings coach Mike Zimmer thought of it. Zimmer noted the "history" of Rams defensive coordinator Gregg Williams, whose theatrics were a major reason the NFL pursued the "Bountygate" investigation against the New Orleans Saints in 2012. At the time, it was reported that Williams encouraged head shots that knocked quarterbacks from the game, an edict that came to be symbolized by a recording in which he told players: "Kill the head, the body will die."
Independent of whatever philosophies Williams might preach, and regardless of intent, Joyner made a big mistake. He delivered avoidable contact to the head of a player no longer trying to ward it off, causing an injury the NFL wants to prevent at every turn. There is no defending or explaining it, and the league must use its array of disciplinary options to address the infraction.
