[Elvis]

Q: Your thoughts about Rodney Harrison criticizing you?

JF: "Yeah, I saw it as a matter of fact. I was actually…I don’t want to say I took things personal, but it was kind of a personal attack on me. But, again, I think you have to consider the source. I saw it last night on the airplane. You’re talking about a guy that had a great career. I mean, the guy played a long time. He was hard to defend. He was a really active defensive player. But, this is coming from a guy that had 18 unnecessary roughness penalties, seven personal fouls, four roughing the passer penalties, a total of 77 penalties in his career and was voted three times the dirtiest player in the National Football League and was suspended for a hit, a helmet-to-helmet hit on Jerry Rice in 2002. Okay? This is where these comments are coming from. I’ll just say this: Since 2000, it’s been a privilege and honor for me to be on the competition committee. Our main focus, as you guys have followed this league for a long time know, our main focus is player safety. So, for Rodney to come out and say that I did something like that is absolutely absurd. So, that’s all I have to say on that.”

[Elvis]

[moklerman]

Yeah, Rodney was the worst possible choice to voice an opinion on this subject. I think the Joyner hit was dirty and don't believe that there was nothing he could do to avoid it but it's the culture the Rams are trying to develop. No free passes when you're carrying the ball. Which is exactly what teams like NE and Baltimore have done. Which I don't like. Spearing guys when they're already on the ground, always hitting a guy when it's unnecessary, etc. Too many players are lost that way.

But, if that is what one is going to do, I think a 15 yard penalty and fine will be just fine in exchange for the opposition losing their starting QB.

[ramfaninsd]

wasn't harrison the one who rolled up on trent green's leg in 99.

[OldSchool]

I think the thing that pisses me off the most about this whole thing is Joyner is dirty but nobody is talking about Joseph's elbow to Foles throat late hit. Nobody is talking about Von Miller and that was one of the dirtiest moves I've ever seen in football.

http://uproxx.com/sports/2015/11/von-mi ... on-throat/

[OldSchool]

wasn't harrison the one who rolled up on trent green's leg in 99.

Yup that along with the laundry list of things Fisher read off. Rodney shouldn't be on tv, it's a really poor choice by NBC.

[moklerman]

As fans, that's a great response. As a HC? I'm not so sure responding to Rodney was the best thing to do. Acknowledging Rodney means Rodney wins. Not only did he respond though, Fisher actually took time to research Rodney. The message board equivalent of digging up posts from other threads. I'm sure many will feel this is a win for Fisher but IMO, he sunk to Harrison's level and that's a big fail.

[snackdaddy]

wasn't harrison the one who rolled up on trent green's leg in 99.

He did more than roll up on it. He went knee hunting. In a preseason game against a team that wasn't even in his conference. Its not like there was a rivalry. Thats just the kind of player he was. Dirty. Trent Green has every reason to hold animosity towards him. But he did the Rams favor. Never woulda discovered how good Kurt Warner was.

The Joyner hit was not intentional, IMO. Or even dirty. A dirty hit implies intent. It was illegal. He had a split second to make a decision and he made the wrong one. And he was penalized for it. He'll pay the price for it with a fine. So its not like he got away with murder. I believe once a QB makes a decision to be a runner instead of a passer he shouldn't be afforded any more protection than a running back or receiver. He should do so at his own risk.

The league wants to change the culture of hard hitting defenses. But a lot of teams want their guys to play hard and aggressive. And sometimes it will be construed as dirty play. As much as the league wants to change defenses for player safety, teams still want a defensive edge.

I personally don't like the direction the NFL has been going. I get that they're worried about player safety. But the attraction to the NFL for me and most others my age was the hard hitting, aggressive style of play. Today's NFL wants it to be about offense. Long runs, frenetic style passing attacks. A lot of points. But they better be careful how far they go. Taking the aggressiveness out of defenses just might cause future fans to lose interest before they start.

[Elvis]

http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/20 ... criticism/

Jeff Fisher responds to Mike Zimmer’s criticism

Posted by Mike Florio on November 9, 2015, 8:01 PM EST

After Sunday’s game between the Rams and Vikings, Minnesota coach Mike Zimmer made clear his disagreement with the hits on quarterback Teddy Bridgewater. With a calm, matter-of-face tone of voice, Zimmer made it clear that he wasn’t happy.

“If we were on the street, we probably would have had a fight,” Zimmer said, while also pointing to the history of Rams defensive coordinator Gregg Williams, who was suspended for a year due to his role in the Saints bounty scandal — a program premised on knocking opposing players out of the game.

On Sunday, it wasn’t just the elbow from cornerback Lamarcus Joyner to Bridgewater’s head, which caused Bridgewater’s head to bang off the turf, knocking him unconscious for several seconds. Previously, a low (but unflagged) hit caused Bridgewater to grab at his knee, but ultimately not to miss any time.

On Monday, Fisher responded to the criticism from Zimmer, starting with some free advice from the coach who has 329 regular-season games under his belt to the coach who has 24.

“I think a good a lesson to be learned from this is control your emotions immediately after the game and go back and look at the tape before you jump to conclusions,” Fisher told reporters on Monday.

“Mike’s and my handshake was very short,” Fisher added. “He didn’t say a word. I went out to congratulate him. I was going to ask him how his quarterback was and congratulate him on the win, and he was gone. I understand that, but you also need to control your emotions after a game and go look at the tape and then adjust accordingly. Again, I don’t know who they play this week. I don’t care, but we’ve moved on. We’re on to Chicago.”

Fisher’s position continues to be that Joyner didn’t deliberately target Bridgewater for injury.

“Lamarcus made a decision to go hit the quarterback prior to Teddy initiating the slide,” Fisher said. “That’s what happens. Had Lamarcus not made helmet contact with him, there would have not been a foul. It was penalized on the field. What more can you ask for?”

The tape still shows the elbow hitting the head. Intentional or not, Joyner was unable to avoid Bridgewater’s helmet; the NFL demands that professional athletes have greater control of their bodies in those circumstances. While it’s not the kind of thing that triggers a suspension for a first offense, it’s the kind of thing that surely will draw a fine.

Otherwise, the league’s six-year campaign to promote player health and safety (especially as it relates to concussions) will have been meaningless.

[Hacksaw]

Zimmer needs to dial 1-800-BOO-HOOO. Bridgewater looks like a cream puff.
Joyner wasn't going bounty.
I agree you don't stoop the the lowest denominator.
I believe it was Confucius who said "Never argue with anyone less intelligent than yourself because an observer won't be able to tell the difference". That somewhat applies here.