Hurley: Dirty Derek Barnett Hit Deserves Suspension, Not Justification From The NFL
By Michael Hurley, CBS Boston
BOSTON (CBS) -- Nobody enjoys watching a player taken off the field on a stretcher, with teams shortly thereafter giving updates on that player's ability to feel his extremities. Certainly, nobody enjoys watching two players taken off the field on stretchers.
Unfortunately, that was the case on Thursday night in Green Bay. For the second player, Eagles cornerback Avonte Maddox, the hit that led to the frightening scene was entirely accidental, as it was delivered by Maddox's own teammate while trying to deliver a hit on a receiver.
The first incident, though, was entirely avoidable, and it had nothing to do with the sport of football. As such, the NFL is going to have to take it seriously.
Yet the league almost certainly will not.
That hit came on the very first offensive play of the night for the Packers. Aaron Rodgers threw a short pass to running back Jamaal Williams, who had no room to run and was swiftly wrapped up by a defender, with two other Eagles helping to push Williams back toward the line of scrimmage.
With forward progress clearly stopped and the play clearly over, the officials on the field blew their whistles. Eagles defensive end Derek Barnett either didn't hear the whistles, didn't see the running back being pushed backward, or simply didn't care, as he sprinted at the defenseless Williams and delivered a devastating headshot directly to the side of Williams' helmet.
Williams immediately went down, and his teammates quickly called to the sideline for medical attention. After a long delay, Williams was eventually loaded onto a stretcher and rolled off the field, offering a signal to the crowd that he was OK.
For delivering what was a clearly dirty, targeted and unnecessary hit, Barnett was only penalized 15 yards. He should have been ejected.
According the rule put into place for the 2018 season, the standards put in place for ejecting a player are simple:
1. Player lowers his helmet to establish a linear body posture prior to initiating and making contact with the helmet
2. Unobstructed path to his opponent
3. Contact clearly avoidable and player delivering the blow had other options
Barnett's violent hit checked all the boxes. He should have been thrown out of the game -- either by the crew on the field, or by officiating head Al Riveron in the replay center. When the new rules were announced in 2018, Riveron said quite clearly, "This is about eliminating unnecessary use of the helmet."
While the exact mechanisms of ejections depend largely on the officials on the field, the lengthy delay as the injured Williams was being tended to offered everyone -- especially Riveron -- the opportunity to remove the offending player from the game.
This is precisely the type of hit that has no place in football or any other sport.
Alas, the 15-yard penalty was the only punishment handed out to Barnett. He later almost connected on another headshot on a receiver, and he also recorded a game-changing strip sack on Aaron Rodgers.
While an error in the moment can be understood, what the NFL is trying to say after the game is the true problem.
ESPN's Adam Schefter reported early Friday morning that Barnett will likely be facing a fine and will not be suspended for the hit, because, according to Schefter, "at the last moment, he turned and hit Williams with his shoulder."
This is a lie. It's an out-and-out lie.
Barnett used his helmet to make direct contact with Williams' helmet. The play was over, Williams was completely defenseless, and Barnett nevertheless delivered a hit that was more akin to assault than it was to a tackle.
What part of this video shows a player "turning his shoulder"?
For the NFL to already have this ready made excuse -- that he "turned his shoulder," thus making it OK -- shows once again that for all the energy and air wasted by league officials for countless years, the NFL has little to no interest in actually protecting players. (Troy Aikman stating on the broadcast that "You can only imagine what Derek Barnett is feeling right now" did not help to capture the severity of what had just happened, either.)
It's not that a suspension for Barnett would magically cure all of the NFL's issues. But for one, it would actually hold a player accountable for a violent hit that has nothing to do with football. And secondly, if no suspension is coming, it might help if the league didn't try to spread propaganda while a player recovers in a hospital after taking a hit he never should have had to endure.
It's hard to expect players to hold each other accountable when the NFL cares not to apply that same standard to itself.
You can email Michael Hurley or find him on Twitter @michaelFhurley.
