Florio championing his holier than thow life

[papasmurfbell]

http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2010/12/08/john-harbaugh-supports-helmet-to-helmet-rules-except-when-theyre-applied-to-his-players/

 

John Harbaugh supports helmet-to-helmet rules, except when they’re applied to his players

 

In an interview with Bob Costas aired during NBC’s Football Night in America, Ravens coach John Harbaugh sounded like a guy who has no problem with the league’s new approach to helmet-to-helmet hits against defenseless receivers.

 

“Going helmet-to-helmet or shoulder-to-helmet against defenseless players is no longer part of the game. There’s no question in my mind that our team has figured it out, most of the league has figured it out, and shortly everybody will figure it out,” Harbaugh said.

 

“It’s not that hard to figure out. You’ve got to respect each other. And I think that player safety is really important. And if you have enough respect for the guy you’re playing against, you’ll adhere to that.”

 

That was before Ravens linebacker Jameel McClain received a $40,000 fine for applying a helmet-to-helmet hit against Steelers tight end Heath Miller at a time when Miller fell within the definition of “defenseless receiver.”

 

“I was shocked,” Harbaugh said Tuesday night on his weekly radio show, via Aaron Wilson of NFP. “He’s a first-time offender. Jameel, there was nothing he can do. I think the league understands that. I can’t imagine why they fined him so much.”

 

But, Coach, Jameel went helmet-to-helmet against a defenseless player.

 

“Jameel tried to go low,” Harbaugh said. “He did everything humanly possible to hit the tight end low. You fine a guy $40,000 for trying to apply the rule. He tried to do something that’s against the rule of physics. I say you’re taking someone’s money unfairly.”

 

And there you have it. Coaches like Harbaugh fully support the rule, as long as it’s used only to protect his players and not to punish them. Regardless of Miller’s actions, McClain led with his helmet, placing the impact beyond the rules.

 

McClain actually was lucky that he was fined only $40,000. First-time offenders coughed up $50,000 for illegal hits applied on October 17, and Falcons cornerback Dunta Robinson’s infraction was far less obvious than McClain’s.

 

The better argument that Harbaugh should be advancing is that fines should be based on percentages of base salary, given that McClain will earn $470,000 in 2010. His fine represents 8.5 percent of his gross pay.

 

The numbers are wildly inconsistent, when compared to base salaries. For Robinson, the $50,000 fine reflected only one percent of his $5 million base salary. For Patriots safety Brandon Meriweather, a $50,000 fine chewed up nine percent of his $550,000 base salary.

 

Steelers linebacker James Harrison has coughed up more than 16 percent of his $775,000 base salary for four illegal hits this year.

 

That said, those percentages shrink for players like Harrison when factoring in bonus money. That’s why the best approach would be to fine players based on percentages of cap number, not base salary.

 

It’s an easy fix, and it’s a fair fix. And it’s an argument that would make Harbaugh seem far less hypocritical than he now does, given the stark contrast between his nationally-televised remarks to Bob Costas on Sunday and his local-radio comments on Tuesday.

 

Florio with this helmet to helmet stuff has been a real douche. He is full of himself. A lot of these hits are unavoidable except in Florio's perfect world where the laws of physics do not apply.

[ForceEight]

Agreed in full. Byrne emailed him back:

 

Earlier today, we pointed out that Ravens coach John Harbaugh, who expressed support of the league’s enhanced focus on hits against defenseless receivers, took issue with the $40,000 fine imposed on Baltimore linebacker Jameel McClain for a helmet-to-helmet hit against Steelers tight end Heath Miller.

 

“Your harsh comments on John Harbaugh this morning are not based on the reality of Jameel McClain’s hit on Heath Miller,” team spokesman Kevin Byrne said via e-mail to PFT. “It was not a helmet-to-helmet hit. It was shoulder pads/arm to helmet. I think if you look at the tackle again, you’ll see this.”

 

Byrne said that McClain was aiming for the middle of Miller’s body and that Miller fell, changing the target area. “That happens,” Byrne said. “It’s bang, bang, happening in less than a second.”

 

The Ravens have a supporter, in former V.P. of officiating Mike Pereira. Pereira not only thinks McClain shouldn’t have been fined. Pereira thinks that the officials were right to not even throw a flag.

 

“I thought the hit this past Sunday night by Ravens linebacker Jameel McClain on Steelers tight end Heath Miller was not a foul,” Pereira writes for FOXSports.com. “I felt the contact that occurred was shoulder-to-helmet and unavoidable.

 

“McClain did not lead with the shoulder, forearm or the helmet,” Pereira said. “I know the defenseless player rule doesn’t say anything about leading with the shoulder but when you watch this play in real time, it truly happened so fast that the contact was clearly unavoidable, and McClain did not lower his head, lift his forearm or lead with the shoulder.”

 

At one point in October, NFL executive V.P. of football operations Ray Anderson compared the rule to “strict liability” legal requirements, which impose responsibility regardless of intent. But the decision to impose no fines for the hit that knocked out Colts receiver Austin Collie suggested that the league will take into account the question of whether the hit was unavoidable.

 

In this case, the league presumably concluded that the hit was avoidable, given the fine. When watching the video carefully, it appears that McClain reacted to the sight of Miller falling, and then directed a forearm into Miller’s head.

 

Remember, these are elite athletes, who are capable of reacting in a split second and adjusting their bodies accordingly.

 

Then again, maybe the league simply wasn’t interested in building a moat around 280 Park Avenue to keep out Art Rooney, Mike Tomlin, and a hoard of pitchfork-and-torches wielding Pittsburghers.

 

http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2010/12/08/ravens-think-mcclains-hit-on-miller-was-unavoidable/#comments

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http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2011/03/14/jameel-mcclains-40000-fine-cut-in-half/

 

We continue to hear of big NFL fines from the 2010 season reduced upon appeal.

 

The latest: Ravens inside linebacker Jameel McClain’s $40,000 fine for hitting Heath Miller — giving him a concussion — was cut in half to $20,000, according to Jamison Hensley of the Baltimore Sun. McClain said after the game he wasn’t trying to hurt Miller, and the league eventually listened.

 

The NFL also recently reduced notable fines to Titans cornerback Cortland Finnegan and Jets safety Eric Smith.

 

How do you collect said fine if the players are not allowed to come to work?

[vmax]

It takes one to know one...Florio's a hypocrite too. He'll transend logic, spin it, doctor it...anything to get a story to get readership.

That's what he's doing here.

 

He's much better at breaking factual news in the last 12 months but before that, he was more troll than reporter. He's still got the troll in him at times....but he has been able to break true news vs his "according to a league source" crap we were fed for years.