Well, it was a treat of a weekend in the NFL. Da Bears brought Michael Vick back to earth, Brett Favre ran 10 yards for a key first down to help the Vikings win their first game under interim coach Leslie Frazier, Peyton Manning threw four interceptions in an ugly loss to the Chargers, and Steve Johnson blamed God for dropping a would-be game-winner of a touchdown bomb against the Steelers.
However, there is some heightened drama this week that doesn't involve football itself, which has been getting a lot of ink and air-time, that I have some thoughts on, so here goes:
Derek Anderson's Rant
This week's Monday Night Football was one for the ages; a match-up between a pair of 3-7 teams that technically still have the chance to make the playoffs, because their division leader, the St. Louis Rams, are only 5-6. And, so, the Arizona Cardinals hosted the San Francisco 49ers. Arizona, who made the Super Bowl two years ago and beat the Green Bay Packers in a classic first-round playoff match-up last year, flatlined early, their porous defense letting 49ers' backup back Bryan Westbrook run all over them.
By the 4th quarter, the game had reached its eventual final 27-6 score, with the Cardinals playing feebly, and Cardinals' much-maligned QB Derek Anderson (who went 16 of 35 for 196 yards and an interception) was shown-on National TV-sitting on a bench on the sideline, smiling with guard Deuce Lutui about something.
After the game, reporters asked him about it, and, originally, Anderson said Deuce had told him to stay positive, to stay upbeat. But reporter Kent Somers of the Arizona Republic kept after the subject, asking why they were laughing. At first, Anderson just said, "What Deuce and I talk about is our business." When Somers repeated the question, about why they were laughing, Anderson blew his top, flat-out yelling:
"You think I was laughing about something? I take this s---seriously! Real serious! I put my freakin' heart and soul into this s--- every single week! I'm telling you right now what I do every single week! Every single week I put my heart and soul into this! I study my ass off; I don't go out there and laugh! It's not funny. Nothing's funny to me! I don't want to go out there and get embarrassed on Monday Night Football in front of everybody!"
After that, ignoring Somers' mutters of "Sorry, sorry", Anderson said "I'm done" and stormed out of the room.
Understandably, there has been a lot of talk about this, even talk of Anderson potentially being fined. What everyone's saying is that they were down by 18, in the fourth quarter, they should not have been laughing, and Somers was just asking a question.
I was a journalism major, and I've interviewed people before. The fact that the MNF cameras showed Anderson and Lutui smiling is an unfortunate coincidence. I seriously doubt two professional athletes were laughing along the lines of: "dude, we are sucking!" I doubt that. I mean, after losses, don't players and coaches always say things like "we just gotta stay positive, not let it get us down, and come back here next week." If those guys were shown crying on the sidelines, or looking hopeless, they'd be branded losers with defeatist attitudes. Now, it's true that Arizona, at 3-8, is in the pits, will not make the playoffs, and is one of the league's worst teams. It's also likely true that Anderson has heard all of that. So, of course he's on edge. I think two guys trying to stay positive during a tough game was the right thing to do; it's unfortunate that the camera caught them smiling.
Finnegan/Thompson Fined for Fight
On Sunday, the Houston Texans beat the tumbling Tennessee Titans 20-0. During the fourth quarter, on two consecutive plays, Houston corner Cortland Finnegan tore off Houston wide receiver Andre Johnson's helmet. The second time he did it was after hitting him in the throat, and Johnson lost his cool. At which point, the 6'3, 225-pound Johnson tore off the 5-11, 188-pound Finnegan's helmet. Finnegan swiped at Johnson, was thrown on the ground, and promptly put his face to the ground while Johnson punched him, hard, twice, on the back of the head. A ref jumped between them, and Johnson drilled Finnegan in the jaw with an uppercut before being pushed away. Both were ejected from the game, and given $25,000 fines, but neither was suspended.
Finnegan has a reputation as one of the league's dirtiest players, and he brags about said reputation. He did not speak to the media after the game, while Johnson apologized for what happened.
There has been talk since as to why neither was suspended. The question has arisen "what do you have to do to get suspended?" Another question that has risen is that Steelers' famously hard-hitting linebacker James Harrison has been fined three times this season for head-to-head hits, two of which, in the same quarter against the Cleveland Browns, knocked Browns' receivers out of the game. The third was a hard hit on Saints quarterback Drew Brees. Harrison has been fined $25K for each hit, which amounted to $75K over the first three instances.
Now, I never appreciated Harrison's head-t0-head hits, especially not the way, afterward, he said "he was all right; he just went to sleep for a little bit". That was an ignorant and stupid thing to say, in my opinion. But Harrison was trying to make tackles; he was not throwing people on the ground and punching them in the head as hard as he could (and, make no mistake, Johnson was throwing haymakers). I mean, both Johnson and Finnegan were ejected from the game; Harrison hasn't been ejected yet, because, of course, he's only tackling.
I may write something else later. But these are the two big stories I've been wanting to comment on.
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