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In general, I have a problem with some league official levying fines arbitrarily for hits that are in compliance with the rules of the game. Hines Ward's fines are just that.
I agree that certain players in certain situations require protection by the rules. Kickers and punters are routinely left in a vulnerable position in the course of doing their job. However, a Linebacker or Safety who is looking to level a devastating hit on a ball carrier is not and should not be protected from a clean hit. It is the responsibility of any player on the field to protect himself at all times.
How many of you have heard the phrase, "Keep your head on a swivel?" Everyone that has played this game from Pop Warner to the NFL has heard it. I assume some of the league beaurocrats have not.
Some defensive players have said that Ward's hits are cheap because he hits people when they aren't looking. GIVE ME A BREAK!!! Does this mean that defensive players should be fined when they put the perfect hit on the receiver as he's focussed on the ball? Hines Ward is +/- 200lbs. But he routinely risks his own health to make blocks on people much larger than him to protect his team mates and to help his team win. This is what football is all about, sacrifice for the team. Ward's "old school" style of play should be welcomed in this time when multi-millionaire WR's routinely refuse to block and let their team mates get killed. Ward should be a role model for young players.
If this type of fining continues, what will be next? Fine an OG for pulling and making a devastating trap block because the DE wasn't looking? Fine a LB for separating a receiver from the ball when he goes over the middle? Football is a violent game. If you take the legal violence out of the game, you have destroyed the game itself and I for one, will stop watching it and watch only College and High School Football.
The league thinks they are protecting people when they levy these fines, but they are not. If offensive players are not allowed to make blocks to protect ball carriers, then you make the ball carrier more vulnerable to defensive big hits.
Offensive football is simple. There is one ball carrier and ten others doing their best to keep the eleven defensive players off of him and help him get to the endzone in any way that is within the rules. If you don't want WR's to block, maybe you should change the rules to have them run off the field when they're not getting the ball. But then, to keep it fair, you should have the CB's run off the field too.
I'm hoping that some people out there will see what I'm getting at. For those of you who don't, what Hines Ward does is football. The other options that I stated above are not football. If you want a game that doesn't resemble football, then change it. If you change it, I will choose to get my football somewhere else. And I'm guessing that millions of other football fans would agree with me.
Mr. Goodell, why don't you go back to fining the Pacman Jones' of the world and let Hines Ward do his job? He does it at a high level and is a credit to the NFL. He gives 100% effort in a time when the NFL is loaded with Primadonna's that only give enough effort to get their weely paychecks. He is something that all young players should aspire to be, a man that plays hard and sacrifices for his team.
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