Well, sloasdaylight and Chris Fitzgerald, I guess we'll just have to agree to disagree on the Cribbs hit. But like Solomon Wilcots said on the clip posted by Ray Salamon, the reason there was no flag thrown on the Cribbs play was because Cribbs was a running back, and therefore not deemed to be in a defenseless position.
While running some errands today, I was listening to Adam Schein and Rich Gannon on Sirius NFL radio. They both felt that neither of the Harrison hits should be classified as illegal; but that the Cribbs play shouldn't even be in the conversation regarding illegal hits. (And Gannon's career ended due to injury.)
Just goes to show how people can see the same thing and come away with different perceptions of it...
Like I said the Cribbs hit isn't against the letter of the law in regards to launching, but it was helmet to helmet. Running with you head up and then lowering it when he realized he was going have contact isn't showing me that "he didn't realize where Cribbs was" or that "he was trying to make a play." The play was over and he could have came over and used his shoulder or just made sure that Cribbs was pinned down and go back to work on the next play. He chose to use his helmet to "tackle" an already wrapped up player. That tells me like his wanted to use his helmet to inflict pain. That and his history of using his head and questionable launching tackles led to his fine being the largest of the three.
My perception of Harrison changed from a tough player playing on the edge to a thug in the Pitt vs Ari superbowl. Now I see on the the stuff that is right on the line and it seems like it only on the line because he wasn't able to do worse.
I think there are a few sides to this issue:
1. "You are trying to make it flag football": No, just trying to make sure that retired players know their names and are functional when they are in their 50s. Harrison will still be an idiot in 20 years, but they are trying to make sure that every player's life (including Harrison's) after football isn't confined to his mind or a wheelchair. The concussion became an extremely hot topic last year and it will remain that way as it should. The days of being a "warrior" for going back in a game with a concussion are over. To my knowledge only the Eagles Linebacker went back into the game this year when it was obvious he had a concussion. I believe he was removed from the game shortly thereafter. The average number of days missed from a concussion has doubled and you are seeing premier stars staying out for weeks with the effects of them. Concussions have effectively ended Brian Westbrook's career.
2. "Big hits are intrinsic to the game": This is the side I agree with. Legal, big hits that don't cause injury are exciting. Thuggery and headhunting shouldn't be a part of this game. Not just on the defensive side of the ball. I fully agree with the high-low chop block rule that is now banned for lineman/running backs. It is a block that is effective to the point of injury. Just like using your helmet to tackle is effective to the point of injury.
3. "Illegal Big hits are killing the game": This is the side the NFL is taking and I don't 100% agree with it. The players today are bigger, faster, and stronger than players in any generation before them. Big hits are going to happen. I do agree with the fact that the NFL is cracking down on hits to prevent copycats and continued usage of the helmet as a tackling device.
Of the three fines, Merriweather's was the most blatant, Harrison's had the most history behind it, and Robinson's was unfortunate. He really couldn't have done anything else but collide. Andy Reid, Deshawn Jackson, and Kevin Kolb have as much to do with that hit as Dunta. Dunta was never known as a big hitter in Houston and I bet if you ask him whether he wanted that tackle to happen he would say no. Andy called the play, Jackson ran through a zone into double coverage by the point of the catch, and Kolb threw it. I'm not a QB by any stretch of the imagination, but when two receivers are on one side of the ball with one DB covering and one DB off, it is pretty obvious it is zone coverage. Kolb should have know when he let that one go that it was going to get Jackson lit up.
A lot of things went wrong with that play and Robinson really couldn't control any of them. He rolled his man to the safety came back to the middle and followed the ball which arrived to the receiver a second later.
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