Dante Wesley hit, good hit or cheap shot?

[Wither]

Well, I know who the idiots are now.

Doesn't matter if fair catch was called, the ball wasn't there, it's interference AND it was malicious because he launched himself at a defenseless player. Jesus Christ, some of you are stupid.

Meh, I'm neutral on this one. Stupid hit, but I don't think it warranted ejection. If the dude didn't play dead then it wouldn't have been a problem. There was no helmet-to-helmet and I think Wesley just mis-timed his hit, I guess thinking the ball was going to be there. Also, I don't remember the fair catch, but it could've been because the camera wasn't down there in time.

I thought it was hilarious, myself. But then again, I wasn't necessarily "all there" at the time.

[vumpler]

Very stupid hit, I wish he would have spit in his face to top it off.

You can just feel the frustration in the season all wrapped up in that hit.

Cower want crew signing in!

[Firefox]

Written by Steve Reed

Sunday, October 18, 2009 7:30 pm

TAMPA, Fla. -- Dante Wesley spent the second half of Sunday’s game against Tampa Bay watching it on television from the Carolina Panthers locker room after being ejected for a cheap shot on unprotected Tampa Bay returner Clifton Smith.

http://www.carolinagrowl.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=194:notes-wesley-says-hit-was-unintentional&catid=1:articles

After three: Dirty Panthers 21, Bucs 14

Posted by Darin at 10/18/2009 3:03 PM EDT on Herald Online

I'm still sort of in shock about the Dante Wesley hit. Unprovoked, stupid, and it comes from a guy without a resume of being a knucklehead.

Suffice it to say he's working for free this week, as the fine will be heavy, and he'll be lucky if he's not suspended.

http://www.heraldonline.com/665?plckController=Blog&plckBlogPage=BlogViewPost&insiteUserId=ded44479-eff0-4fb5-98bf-9edb9d130913&plckPostId=Blog%3aded44479-eff0-4fb5-98bf-9edb9d130913Post%3a2f8f77ef-fedd-477d-af40-c4f1e9c3ca1c&plckScript=blogScript&plckElementId=blogDest

[OBXPantha]

You can not hit the punt returner until the ball gets there. I don't care what football you played but in every league from pop warner up, you can not plow over the returner until the ball touches him or the ground. It is a rule to keep people from getting killed or seriously injured. It don't matter if he called a faircatch or not. Pay attention to any other football game the rest of the year and see if the gunner just runs down and hits the returner when the ball is still 40 feet in the air. It is a penalty every time.

[ItsNotGonnaBeAlright]

Why is there even a question of whether or not that was a cheap shot? Seriously, I'm as big a Panther homer as anyone on here, but I'm hoping Dante Weasly isn't just working for free next week...I hope he finds himself knocked down to PS material after that bush league bull s**t.

[Firefox]

You can not hit the punt returner until the ball gets there. I don't care what football you played but in every league from pop warner up, you can not plow over the returner until the ball touches him or the ground. It is a rule to keep people from getting killed or seriously injured. It don't matter if he called a faircatch or not. Pay attention to any other football game the rest of the year and see if the gunner just runs down and hits the returner when the ball is still 40 feet in the air. It is a penalty every time.

Eggsactly. Football 101. I can't believe some are claiming "there was no fair catch".

:cryin:

[JakeFlake]

cheap shot all the way.

[Seamonk]

Is anyone not surprised that Aqib Talib didn't get any penalties or an ejection himself? dude went off and instigated the fight and kept trying to go after Wesley and other Panthers players after he was pulled away from the fight pile and this isn't the first time he's done it. Pretty sure he bumped a ref too. (still bothers me Steve Smith got ejected for it back in 2005 and refs don't do anything for things way worse)

[mountainpantherfan]

How many players were back to recieve the punt? Answer that question because I counted 3 and that means that Smith was just as likely to be a blocker as he was a returner. So, for me it does matter if Smith called for a fair catch or not because if he didn't then it was a clean block on a blocker. If he did call for the fair catch then there is no question as who the returner was and the hit was a cheap shot.

[Woodcookedbbq]

This is kind of embarassing. That hit is the talk of the NFL.

[PuntJake]

cheap shot, and he might get a 1 game suspension as well as a fine because he left the ground driving a shoulder into the head/neck area.

odd thing though, the ball landed about 4 yards back so the returner wasn't even in position to catch the ball anyway, it would have landed 4 yards in front of him.

[Proudiddy]

Reminded me a lot of this...

[Kevin Greene]

This is kind of embarassing. That hit is the talk of the NFL.

We're famous, for all the wrong reasons.

[Claws]

i dont think he meant it- I think because the guy didnt call a fair catch wesley was just trying to time it perfect.

It sucked, he will be fined, but poo happens in football.

Of all i've read on the subject today, this one makes the most sense for me.

I don't think he was trying anything other than to time a perfectly legal hit but because he was early, it's dirty. jmo