Big Lead Sports Bar

11/23/2010

Fallout From the Richard Seymour Slap Continues


It's been two days since Richard Seymour got all slappy with Big Ben. Has the firestorm calmed down yet? Not exactly.

Seymour's fine was calculated by the NFL at $25,000 per their progressive discipline policy due to this being a third offense. He was punished twice by the league last season, drawing a $7,500 fine for pulling the hair of Denver offensive lineman Ryan Clady and being docked $10,000 for hitting an opponent after the play in a game at Cleveland. The problem is, Seymour was not suspended by the NFL, as CBS' Gregg Doyel and a host of other writers thought would happen

In Pittsburgh, fans are questioning why the system lets Seymour walk away with a $25K fine after a post-whistle hit, while James Harrison had to cough up 75 large for a play that happened during game action against Cleveland a few weeks ago. I know this should be black and white territory per the CBA and the discipline policy, but there seems to be a bit of gray area creeping in. 

In the meantime, the league is being faced with questions of targeting the Steelers, given the abundance of penalties thrown their way and the lack of serious discipline taken towards Seymour as compared to Harrison. Adding fuel to the fire is national writers such as Fox's Alex Marvez, who writes, "The Steelers have every reason to feel paranoid after Sunday’s officiating debacle."

While I don't think the refs are targeting the Steelers as a whole, I've finally come around to the argument that Harrison has a target on his back from the league and at least some of its officials. I judge based on what I see, and until my eyes tell me otherwise, count me among those believing that Silverback is getting a raw deal. The tricky part is how he and the team will work around that perceived bias the rest of the season. 

I would say this should be an interesting Tomlin press conference today, but I know he knows better than to get himself fined as well and jump into the fray. The coach will tell you all about Buffalo's two-game winning streak and how dangerous Ryan Fitzpatrick is, but what Steeler fans really want to hear isn't going to come out of his mouth this afternoon.

Mondesi's House: The Director's Cut (more links, commentary, etc: twitter.com/mondesishouse
Email: mondesishouse@gmail.com

26 comments:

BurressWithButterflywings said...

Don't change a thing. Playing timidly got your butts kicked once this season. Keep your foot on the gas and let the flags fly.

Mortesnsen reported that the NFL Disciplinary czar leaned on the fact that there are imposed limits for fines pertaining to fights and that's the bottom line. Well, #1, this wasn't a fight and #2, they had no problem making changes after Harrison-gate 2010. IF they WANTED to fine him more or suspend him, they very well could have. This is the 3rd time he has done this and has clearly learned nothing from it. I guess that comes from being a Patriot, you cheat your way to 3 SB's, you get a little fine and it gets swept under the rug.

http://www.petitiononline.com/RemoveRG/petition.html

Anonymous said...

The NFL really can't deem Harrison as a repeat offender if they aren't going to heavily fine Seymour, who is also a "repeat offender".

Nothing but hypocricy

Steve said...

Hmmm, ya think having long time Raider and most likey Steeler hater Art Shell working with Goodell on this sham of a board has anything to do with this? Nah...no way.

Steve said...

Not only that, if this obvious and now blatant bias towards the Steelers continues and Dan and Art Rooney don't do something about it (Dan got Goodell hired, they can get him fired), I'll lose all respect for this ownership and they can and should sell the team if they aren't going to do anything and just stand by as NFL wrongly makes an example out of them. I still can't imagine how Goodell sleeps at night...evil retarded prick.

Borsk said...

Solution: Put a 6th string player on the field to take a shot at a QB after a play. Worse case? 25k and an ejection of a worthless player.

BurressWithButterflywings said...

Absolutely right.

If we meet the Pats in the playoffs, I'm Joe Shit the Ragman to punch Brady right in the face.

Steve said...

Seriously, I'd like to see Harrison punch Fitz in the face in the next game just to see how multiple offender Harrison gets treated differently than multiple offender Seymour. Do we even have to imagine how different the discipline will be? I hope Goodell gets hit by a bus on his way to a gay bath house.

slickdeals feeds for me said...

Please let the league know how you feel:
The phone number for the league office is 1-212-450-2000. Godell’s email: roger.goodell@nfl.com

I entitled my email "Richard Seymour assault on defenseless QB"

Steve said...

Ok cool. Should I include the gay bath house part?

BurressWithButterflywings said...

I e-mailed him 2 years ago in regards to Lamarr Woodley's fine for tackling Jason Campbell in an intimidating manner. I asked him to explain the proper technique for tackling that doesn't come off as intimidating. I received no response.

Steve said...

He has no time to answer emails as all his free time is spent browsing the NAMBLA website.

HomeRunFromBehindTheMeatballs said...

I feel like it was more of a punch than a slap, but if you're gonna call it a slap... then i feel like a golden opportunity has passed to make a 'slapsgiving' reference.

Oh, and you bet your ass i'm signing that petition! Even though it'll do no good.

HomeRunFromBehindTheMeatballs said...

http://blog.triblive.com/view-from-the-press-box/2010/11/22/harrison-looking-at-another-fine/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+triblive%2Fblog%2FViewFromThePressBox+%28View+from+the+Press+Box+Blog%29

I just read that lil gem... Could Harrison get fined for a BS roughing call?

If anything the NFL OWES him and Ike an apology for senselessly/unfairly taking a TD off the board.

slickdeals feeds for me said...

I'll be signing the petition, too. I definitely don't expect a response from Godell, but I would like to think that a large enough response from the fan base could do some good. At the very least, I want to make sure I'm heard on the matter - it's all about fairness.

Unknown said...

I think Steve made a good point. Where is the ownership in all of this? Maybe Dan Rooney needs to ditch his job in Ireland and right the ship back home. I honestly feels for these players and how they're getting dumped on while their management and leadership idly stand by.

Steve said...

The Steelers, regardless of market size have one of if not the biggest fanbase in the NFL. If they actually gave a crap about what we think, I doubt it would have ever gotten to this in the first place. Fairness obviously isn't in Goodell's vocabulary. Your response and the thousands of others sent to the NFL on this matter will simply be searched for terroristic threats by interns hired to read them and that's all. Besides, if Goodell doesn't care what Harrison or Troy thinks, why would he care about what anyone else thinks?

Bababooey said...

I'm not one to think too far ahead of games...but what do you think the over/under will be for the amount of flags during the Pittsburgh vs. Baltimore game?

Steve said...

I bet there's odds on it in Vegas.

chris said...

ESPN thinks the steelers are being targeted too

http://espn.go.com/blog/afcnorth/post/_/id/20759/are-the-steelers-being-targeted

Steve said...

My blind dead dog does too. The Raiders fans thinks he's just being a homer though.

Nate said...

Goodell doesn't have to care what Harrison or Polamalu thinks. They're players. However, he should care what fans think. The fans are the customer, the reason the NFL makes any money. And if you don't think fan displeasure can make a difference, ask the Indiana Pacers how they've been doing financially since the Malice in the Palace. They've even got a good group of players now.

Also, is it possible for people in Pittsburgh to get mad without throwing around gay-bashing terms? It's the 21st century, people. Grow up.

Steve said...

So, you think Steelers fans will stop watching football and buying the NFL product if they aren't happy with the direction of the NFL and it's perceived unfair treatment of their football team? Do you think the NFL is even slightly worried about that?

I hear Goodell has a slot open on his board for a director of political correctness and Captain of the humor police. You should apply Nate. Would you be happier if I replaced "gay bath house" with church? Does it really matter?

Bababooey said...

Tranny!

BurressWithButterflywings said...

It doesn't matter what the national media says, Bob Smizik KNOWS any suggestion of targeting is merely typical Pittsburgh paranoia from a fan base that is lower than whaleshit and dumber than a bag of hammers. Any Pittsburgh fans with a mind of their own or who believes anything other than exactly what Smize-dick ,The Human Thesaurus Gene Collier, and the omniscient Ron Cook say are obviously incapable of even feeding themselves let alone using their eyes to judge something they blatantly saw!

Of course, that same fanbase's readsership kept him employed for the last 200 years, but who really wants to split hairs?

Nate said...

"So, you think Steelers fans will stop watching football and buying the NFL product if they aren't happy with the direction of the NFL and it's perceived unfair treatment of their football team? Do you think the NFL is even slightly worried about that?"

Considering that Steelers merchandise is pretty consistently among the top selling in the NFL, yes. Yes, I do think Goodell would be worried about that.

"I hear Goodell has a slot open on his board for a director of political correctness and Captain of the humor police. You should apply Nate."

Sorry if I don't think that bashing an entire group of people because you're mad about a football game is funny. If nothing else, it makes you sound like a seventh grader. I'm glad you've taken the time to thoughtfully reply to what I've said with such mature intellect, and with a firm grasp of economics to boot.

Spatula said...

On the afternoon show on the Sirius NFL channel the hosts made three points about Seymour hitting Ben: 1. It wasn't a punch; it was a mild shove; 2. Ben deserved it for something he said to Seymour (they never stated what he said); 3. Ben flopped making the shove look like a hit. Yep, they're assholes.