Touch the quarterback at your own
risk
Paul Zimmerman has covered the NFL for Sports Illustrated
since 1979. His exclusive online column appears each
Friday.
Posted: Fri November 28,
1997
The trouble with NFL officiating is the same thing that
troubles the American court system: The rich guys get all
the breaks. Ditto if you're an NFL quarterback. There's
little justice in either world, but I'll move to a lower
soapbox and say that the
thing that bothers me most about the refereeing is that it
makes life dangerous for the non-QBs. Officials' antennae
are always out for the guys who breathe too heavily on the
signal caller. But elsewhere on the field, all sorts of
dangerous practices go
unnoticed.
Arizona vs. the
Giants. Cardinal center Mike Devlin circles around behind Giants
defensive tackle Keith Hamilton, well after the play is
over, and launches his 300 pounds at the back of Hamilton's
knees. OK, it might have been payback for Hamilton's hit
on Kent Graham in
the first game, a blow that took the Arizona quarterback out
of action for two weeks. I didn't think Hamilton's hit was a deliberate
thing, but Devlin might have disagreed. Still, the
cripple-shot to the back of the knees is one of the
filthiest things you can do on
the football
field.
Once I asked Pittsburgh coach
Chuck Noll if he ever thought about coaching a system involving legal
crackbacks, as the 49ers did.
"I might coach it, but my players wouldn't do
it," he said. "Could you see a Franco Harris or a
Rocky Bleier doing that to
anybody?"
It's hard to believe that no member of the officiating crew noticed Devlin's killer shot on Hamilton,
but what they
did notice was Hamilton's retaliation, a minor kick—honest,
just a little one. This drew a flag and got Hamilton thrown
out of the game. Which should carry an automatic fine, but
the Giants bitched so loud to the league office that, upon
review of films,
Hamilton was let off the hook and Devlin was fined. So where
were the on-field
officials?
Dallas vs.
Washington two Sundays ago. Gus Frerotte's deep pass to Leslie
Shepherd is overthrown. Dallas nickel back Omar Stoutmire
comes in after the play is over, blindsides Shepherd and
ends his season with a dislocated elbow and broken wrist.
What penalty was assesed by
Walt Coleman's crew? None, and this was a foul right out in
the open. Again, on further review, the league office
levied a fine on Stoutmire, which is swell, but it hardly
protects a guy from the blindness of the officials while
the action is going
on.
It's interesting to note the way the NFL handles severity
of fines. Stoutmire, who ended a guy's season, was assessed
$5000. Devlin, who could have ended a man's career, had to
pay $7500. But the biggest numbers went to guys who had
messed with the QBs.
Kansas City safetyman Jerome Woods paid $10,000 for a late
hit on John Elway. Colts linebacker Quentin Coryatt was
fined $15,000 for nailing Brett Favre. You'll notice that
both quarterbacks are superstars, neither of whom were
damaged badly enough to
miss any
action.
Do the big names get preferential
treatment? You bet they do. In the last Detroit-Green Bay game the
Lions defensive end Kerwin Waldroup talked some trash to
Favre after one play. Favre retaliated by letting him have
it in the puss. Now a Keith Hamilton probably would have gotten
thrown out for this, but
the only reaction from Jerry Markbreit, the NFL's showpiece
referee, who was standing right next to the play, was to go
over to Favre and tell him to take it easy. Oh,
brother.
Sometimes it seems that they're all in this together,
officials, league, TV announcers. In last weekend's
Miami-New England game, the Patriots' LB Willie McGinest came
close to a late hit on Dan Marino, which drew this comment
from NBC's Randy
Cross:
"If there's a quarterback in this league you don't hit
late, if there's even a question, it's Dan
Marino."
Why? Why should he be any different, under the law, than a
Craig Whelihan or a Paul Justin? Because different rules
apply to the supers, folks. And quarterbacks in general get
more protection than the rest of the
slobs.
One more thought and then I'll get off this depressing
topic. Once, at a Competition Committee press briefing, I
started ranting and raving, as usual, about the NFL's fine
system, and Don Shula, the head of the committee, said,
"Well, what would
you
do?"
I told him I'd have a Biblical system of punishment: An eye
for an eye. If a player commits a foul and it takes a guy
out for the game, then he has to sit the game out, too. If
it costs him his season, i.e. the Stoutmire-Shepherd blow,
then his season
is finished as well. If it's a career-ender, then his career
is likewise terminado. This drew laughs all around, but I
still believe in my
system.
On the subject of laughs, here come the
forecasts:
The two best teams in the NFL to suffer losses: Green Bay
at Minnesota in the Monday nighter and San Francico in
Kansas
City. The Packers have saved their worst games this year
against teams with non-winning records, which means their
emotion doesn't always run high. They'll take Minnesota
fairly seriously, after the scare the Vikings gave 'em last
time, but they're coming
down from the Dallas extravaganza and I think the emotion
will be all on the Minnesota side. Same deal with the
Niners. They've clinched their division. They're on cruise
control. They're ready to get
nailed.
Giants to beat Tampa Bay in
Jersey. The Bucs have lost their running game, and they won't get
it back in this one. And if those Meadowlands winds start
kicking up, well, QB Trent Dilfer will have a brand new
experience.
Miami over
Oakland, which packed it in early against the Broncos Monday
night. First bad break and the Raiders go belly up.
Philly over
Cincinnati. Sorry, I'm just not a Boomer Esiason man, and I think
that in Bobby Hoying the Eagles finally have found
themselves a
QB.
The Jets, still on a roll, to win in
Buffalo. Yeah, I know, Rich Stadium is a rough place, but the Jets
have taken two out of the last five there, and that's when
they were a zilch team and the Bills were post-season
regulars.
Biggest blowout of the day—Carolina over New
Orleans and their fourth new QB, Billy Joe Hobert. A formula pick:
Never bet on a quarterback with two first names against a
zone-blitz
defense.
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