Ferguson says he accepts Darius’ apology
It’s difficult to imagine the mindset of any official of the National Football League who would allow headhunting to occur on the football field. Unfortunately, this is exactly what Gene Washington, the NFL’s chief disciplinarian, has done. You can argue that a $75,000 fine is substantial, and I suppose it is…unless you’re making hundreds of thousands of dollars per year. I do not know how much Donovan Darius makes (nor do I particularly care), so 75k may or may not be a significant chunk of his income. What I cannot understand is why Darius was not suspended. Indepedent of whether or not Robert Ferguson has made peace with Darius is the message that is sent when Darius is not even suspended for an assault that temporarily paralyzed Ferguson.
NEW YORK — Jacksonville safety Donovin Darius was fined $75,000 by the NFL on Tuesday for a hit across the neck of Green Bay’s Robert Ferguson that left the wide receiver temporarily paralyzed….
Ferguson caught a pass over the middle, and Darius hit him across the helmet and neck with a forearm. Ferguson lay on the ground and was taken off the field, regaining feeling in his legs later, after he was hospitalized.
He was released from the hospital Tuesday and is officially listed as out for Friday’s game against Minnesota with head and neck injuries.
Ferguson said in an interview with Houston television station KRIV that he thought the league took the appropriate action in imposing the fine.
“I think the league definitely had to step up and do something in that situation,” Ferguson said. “That’s a tackle that’s been outlawed for awhile.”
Ferguson said he didn’t think Darius meant to hurt him.
“It was definitely an illegal hit but I don’t think he did it on purpose, though.”
Granted, violence is part and parcel of the game of football. What too many players lose sight of, though, is the fine line between clean, physical play and outright thuggery. Darius went well over that line. Argue if you must Darius’ intent, or lack thereof, but you simply cannot “clothesline” a player at full speed and expect the hit to provoke no reaction.
To me, the fact that Darius was not suspended is an indication that the NFL really doesn’t take this sort of gratuitous violence seriously. Is it going to take another Darryl Stingley to shake up the NFL’s power structure? Is someone going to have to die?
If this were the National Hockey League that we were talking about, pundits nationwide would be heavily engaged in paroxysms of righteous indignation over the assault. Todd Bertuzzi has been demonized, and justifiably so, for assaulting Colorado’s Steve Moore and driving his head into the ice, likely ending Moore’s career. If it will land you in prison outside the arena or the playing field, it has no business between the lines.
There is no place in the NFL, or any other sport, for this sort of behavior. If an assault that would draw jail time in the real world is soft-pedalled when it occurs between the lines, what does that say about us as a society? That there is a time and place for brutal, senseless violence- and it’s on the playing field? That temporarily paralyzing a player is merely a cost of doing business?
At the very least, Donovan Darius should be suspended for the remainder of the regular season and the playoffs. Ferguson was temporarily paralyzed; what if his paralysis were permanent? I realize that it can be difficult to draw a line in the sand when it comes to violence in an exceedingly violent game. Still, throwing a forearm into another player’s neck at full speed clearly should be held to cross whatever line one may draw.
Darius has displayed no history of thuggery during his NFL career. Nonetheless, can the league afford to send the implicit message that paralyzing a player, even if only temporarily, is an accepted part of the game? Will a player have to die or be permanently paralyzed before this issue is taken seriously by the NFL? Let’s hope not.
This “punishment” is a mockery, and it sends the clear message that the safety and well-being of Robert Ferguson is a distant second to the game’s entertainment value.
