Sherrod Martin fined 40K by the NFL

[SOJA]

Roger Goodell is a douche bag, how the fug is Sherrod fined 40,000 for an in game hit which he wasn't even trying to be dirty? Yet Finnegan the scum of the earth gets only 25 k. wow wow. I'm in disbelief, this better get appealed

[Dpantherman]

hits like Brandon Meriweather's where the intent is to head hunt. malicious hits. Thats what this league needs to worry about. If you are dumb enough to lean into a helmet to helmet hit, than maybe your brain is already effed up, or you are asking for trouble.

and no one has explain to me why the nfl doesn't give a damn about anyone but the receivers and QB's getring hit helmet to helmet. maybe its because they bring in all the $$$

[Brooklyn Bully]

Martin did what he was supposed to do. If you watch what happened. you will see that the reciever lead with HIS head into martin. So unless Martin falls backwards there will be helmet to helmet contact. The rule in itself is flawed, because all the offensive guys have to do is lean forward and they have a flag.

The system needs to be tweaked for sure, but there is no way a WR can catch a pass, start running, see the defender, and figure out how to make it look like a possible forthcoming helmet to helmet was the defender's fault. They're trying to score, not do some sort of "soccer flop" and get a penalty called. Those plays happen so fast. I saw the game and blamed Sherrod right away. I did not go back and watch it, nor did I DVR it to go back and see it. If the WR did cause it unintentionally, the ruled needs to be tweaked like I said. But I'd be curious to see who a Brown's fan says was at fault there. I hope you aren't just seeing things through Panther blue colored glasses.

[Vagrant]

hits like Brandon Meriweather's where the intent is to head hunt. malicious hits. Thats what this league needs to worry about. If you are dumb enough to lean into a helmet to helmet hit, than maybe your brain is already effed up, or you are asking for trouble.

and no one has explain to me why the nfl doesn't give a damn about anyone but the receivers and QB's getring hit helmet to helmet. maybe its because they bring in all the $$$

QB's and WR's are the two players on the field least likely to see a hit coming. I suppose you could include TE's in that also, but they rarely go high on those folks because they're so big and strong. Getting hit from your blind side in the head is never your fault at those two positions. If you're running straight and have awareness of a tackler coming down on you and you duck your head into helmet to helmet contact, you're more culpable in any damage you receive. The same cannot be said of defenseless players hit from the side or behind, which rarely happens to ball carriers.

[Brooklyn Bully]

Roger Goodell is a douche bag, how the f**k is Sherrod fined 40,000 for an in game hit which he wasn't even trying to be dirty? Yet Finnegan the scum of the earth gets only 25 k. wow wow. I'm in disbelief, this better get appealed

Dick Butkus laughs at anyone calling Finnegan dirty.

[MaineManPanther]

In MMA they have gloves. Johnson and Finnegan didn't. I'm pretty sure a bare knuckle to the skull can do enough brain damage. The reason the helmets have padding is supposed to help prevent against concussions. And Martin's hit wasn't even that hard. So the fine is stupid. It shouldn't be that much.

Gloves or not, a guy coming at you at running speed and using his momentum on your most delicate body part is more dangerous.

Martin was not nearly as bad as most of the hits. But this is the second time.

[ElkinPanthersFan]

The system needs to be tweaked for sure, but there is no way a WR can catch a pass, start running, see the defender, and figure out how to make it look like a possible forthcoming helmet to helmet was the defender's fault. They're trying to score, not do some sort of "soccer flop" and get a penalty called. Those plays happen so fast. I saw the game and blamed Sherrod right away. I did not go back and watch it, nor did I DVR it to go back and see it. If the WR did cause it unintentionally, the ruled needs to be tweaked like I said. But I'd be curious to see who a Brown's fan says was at fault there. I hope you aren't just seeing things through Panther blue colored glasses.

This isn't the first time though.. Watching other games I've seen exactly what he is talking about where once they make the catch, the receivers puts his head down and the defensive player is already committed. It ends up being helmet to helmet and has been called everytime this year when it has happened.

[Dpantherman]

And let me say first and foremost, the NFL needs to have concern, because this is a serious issue, but they made this change in the middle of the season and no one but those that met and decide this how long they talked about it. It was within 1 week that this was decided, rather than taking an entire offseason and mapping out a plan, they made a huge change to the entire game in 1 week. They need to re-evaluate what they asking the players to do, and meet with not just officials and high ups. how about talking to current players, former players, coaches, and former coaches, then figure out what to do, because right now this entire operation is flawed. big time.

[Cat'sGrowl]

Absolutely ridiculous.

How does the NFL get away with this?

If this was a fine, Talib owes about 75 grand to the NFL from that one hit a few weeks ago.

[ElkinPanthersFan]

The NFL is turning into NASCAR..police everything.

[carpanfan96]

The fine on Martin is stupid..... especially with everything else that's happened the last few weeks....

[unicar15]

So Andre Johnson gets paid 5x more than Sherrod Martin and gets fined half the amount for a play that was COMPLETELY out of the scope of anything that could be considered a football play.

Just to put it into perspective from a percentage base:

40K is 3% of Martins total salary worth (the sum of every year of his contract)

3% of James Harrison's salary is 450,000 dollars. So, in essence this is like if the NFL fined James Harrison 450,000 dollars for one hit. Completely absurd.

[SOJA]

Dick Butkus laughs at anyone calling Finnegan dirty.

Butkus was also good enough to back up his smack talk

[Brooklyn Bully]

This isn't the first time though.. Watching other games I've seen exactly what he is talking about where once they make the catch, the receivers puts his head down and the defensive player is already committed. It ends up being helmet to helmet and has been called everytime this year when it has happened.

It needs to be studied in the off-season and tweaked then. I'm seeing what I want to see, you're seeing what you want to see. They need to get together, and see what's actually going on and come up with a new system for 2011. If there is a 2011 that is.

I don't remember the game this past week, but it was on Sports Nation (the hit I saw). Some dude got brutalized. And it was all legal because the defender used his shoulder pads. I agree the helmet-to-helmet stuff is tricky, but the guys that intentionally launch with their helmets need to stop. From the Sports Nation clip, you can be just as nasty without launching head first.