Sunday night relates to the CJ
not no. No, the Chris God went into the day. William Jay,
Garner Johnson. This is Chris Godwin, who took the low hit
from PJ Williams,
ultimately tearing the ACL and ending the season of Chris
Godwin during his franchise tag year, which is, which is very
bad in, and of itself. Because it robs him from his shot at
the open market last year. The Bucs kept him from the open
market. With the franchise tag. This should this injury is
going to keep him from getting
full and fair compensation on the open market.
And here's Tom, Brady
talking about the injury to Chris Godwin and what he thinks
should happen as a result of a hit like that.
You know, Chris got hit,
you know, and then these yesterday which is a play that
I think they ought to
take out of the game of football from a receiver
standpoint. You know, I kind of
talked to the PA about it for a while about,
you know, and I'd like to speak to the rules competition
committee at some point. This offseason to, I've seen that
hit too many times where a defenseless
pass, catcher is in the process of catching the ball, and
he's hit by the defender. And,
you know, a lot of the Defenders will say, well, we
can't hit them in the head anymore.
Well, the point is you can't hit anyone in the head anymore
and you can't hit anyone in these anymore except for
receivers because you can still hit them in these which doesn't
make any sense to me.
You can't hit a defensive lineman in these.
You can't hit a punter in the knees. You can't hit
a quarterback at Annie's. You can't hit a DB in the knees,
except Were Somehow allowing hits on
defenseless receivers in these. So,
you know, it needs to be addressed and it needs to be
really thought out. It really impacts guys careers. And
Chris, you know, I know he'll overcome it. So it's a tough
rehab, but, you know, you you tear your ACL. That's
that's a lifelong injury,
you know, and I'm sure almost every pass catcher in the NFL
would prefer
hit to the head over hit to the knees.
I certainly would I take that, you know million out of
a million.
I appreciate the fact that Tom Brady is using his motto or
many. Yeah Big Sandy, aw, but there's a subtle point that
I want to make Chris. Yeah,
if Going to make these arguments. You still need to be
fair and accurate with the facts. And I know in today's
America, who the hell cares about fact, but you can hit
guys in the head. You can hit guys in the knees. It is in a
situation where it's wiped out completely. And you can only go
after a receiver who just caught a pass low. There are
instances where a hit to the head is allowed. There are
instances where a hit to the knees
is allowed on a quarterback who abandons the pocket. Soon as
you go out of pocket. We saw it with Lamar Jackson. I didn't
get hit in the knees. Got hit in the ankle. Oh, but you can
either quarterback low. Once he decides to leave the pocket. A
ball carrier, is fair game in the head in
the knees, anywhere to get him on the ground. The ball carrier
is in a position to defend himself. The key here is
the defenseless player protection, that prevents hitting
a receiver in the head or neck area or with your helmet
anywhere that in the opinion of
Tom. Brady needs to extend to the outer below the knees
category, that applies to a quarterback in a defensive
posture when he's in the pocket, because in that moment.
But when you're making the catch, you can't evade you
can't ward off. You can't run around,
you can't jump over that guy who is coming in to take out
your knees because you're focused on catching
the football. That's why you have the protection against the hit
to the head that same reasoning should. Apply
to hit the knee. That's a better argument than painting
with this ridiculously broad brush. That misinformed fans
because what happens is Tom, Brady says it sir. Everyone
else says it too. And people are walking around with in
a wildly inaccurate view of what is
and isn't allowed in a
Football game. That's what bugged me about what he said.
He needs to be more precise. Yeah, in his comments to make
his points. Yeah. Well either way, it mean, you're right.
It's not precise. And there's definitely some things he left
out there.
But I think what he's trying to say is players in some
positions of being unprotected have those protections on their
legs, which receivers don't, you know, maybe that's what he
could have said a little bit more. Clearly.
They got to look at something here.
They got to, you know, again
the people who made these rules about not getting The head of
the people that didn't didn't play football, you know,
either, you know,
we've yet to hear a football player. Talk about,
you know, I don't want to be hit in the head.
We don't, it's for the Optics of everybody else in the world
except for the people who are actually playing the game. Now,
I understand the lawsuits are involved in that too. It's not
just that, no. No, it's a
couple of things, it's couple of things. First of all,
the guys who are playing in their 20s, they're not thinking
about their lives in their 60s, 70s and 80s for them. That may
as Well, be 500 years into the future. They're thinking about
the here and the now and Larry Fitzgerald on that same. Let's
go podcast
last night reiterated. The point that
that has been discussed many times. He offered to pay
the price. No doubt. So there's no Defenders who hit him high,
right? Because because you're only thinking, I want to play
football. And if my my ACL is torn,
I may not have cognitive issues later in my life,
but it's going to short-circuit my football career
now, so, a football player in his career is always going to
choose a Mission
over a torn ACL and this is where the sport has to protect
the participants from themselves to a certain extent.
I mean how how many guys would go back into a game after
getting a concussion?
How many guys try to get back onto the field
before they're even properly evaluated. So,
so this is, this is, this is part of the push and pull that
we have.
But God, who first
opinion. But God, but I agree with your point that look,
you can't just care
about the heads of players now, it's the
Earns about concussions that
and I don't think litigation is an issue at this point because
everybody knows the risks and they still sign up, right? Very
rarely has a site Orleans situation where somebody walks
away, right, but but it's about it's about encouraging
parents. Let their kids play the game. I know to make
the game safer that way,
but I think they're also starting to realize Chris that
the safety concern extends to the lower body.
Yeah, because you can get
avoidable hits. And I think this is the next step and we
can Say it's because they think it's the right thing to do.
Or we can say it's because they want to play 18 regular season
games. Sometimes you get to the right place for the wrong
reason. That's why they're still doing this is they want
to get to 18 game? No doubt. That's what it feels like to
me. I mean
again it does I understand your right to a degree right about?
Yeah, they're protecting themselves or protected players
later down the road. But like you said, I think litigations
out the window. Now
everybody's nose and has been informed
period you know, so, okay we know
No, what we signed up for? We're big, boys. I certainly
like, I've told you before, I didn't think me getting
blindsided for from by Julius Peppers or Ray Lewis hitting me
was good for my health. I was like,
I'm Gonna Keep playing this football because it's good for
my health. Julius Peppers, smashing me in the grounds.
Good for me. I know what I signed up for. So that's out
the window
and oh and and again, where you know, I guess I look at it too.
Is
its
I have a soft spot of course and care for people. When
pliers. But it goes back to the you know, a little bit will be
heard Minkin Fitzpatrick saying during the break or anything,
you know, again hitting is part of the sport.
It's part of the one of the
tools, the defense has to intimidate the offensive side
of the ball. Now that that's been taken away to a degree,
and we've got thousands upon thousands, upon thousands upon
thousands of X players,
who are cognitive
and fine up into their 60s, and 70s and 80s.
I know we have a small group of people who, yes,
you know, it's certainly life has thrown them. Some some bad
pictures or some curveballs there and they're there, they
have had issues. But again, what I think you talked about,
you know, one, I feel bad for Defenders. What
are they supposed to do?
Because again, you aim for the chest or something like that
and then,
oh wait, but it looks like he turned his shoulder to hit
the guy in the chest. Oh, but it looks like maybe his head LED
with that. No.
Was it? Oh, wait, wait, this big head on top of his shoulders?
That has a big helmet on it, it when he was aiming for
the chest, hit the guy, just barely grazes helmet. So now he hit
him defenseless in the head what her Defender supposed to
do
and that's where I feel bad for a PJ Williams or anybody that
wasn't dirty. He's just trying not to get a penalty and he's
going low because he goes, I know, I can't have any issue
there.
I'm just going to hit him low and that's good and I'll get no
penalty. So that's where it's tough for defensive. Right
pliers. And their the NFL's got to do something about this.
I think, well, it's going to get tougher.
There's going to be a strike zone now and see someone
explain to me years ago when the push first started against
certain types of low hits, football was designed under
the premise. That if there is any quality in size of players,
the little guy has
a tool in his bag which consists of hitting the big
guy, low the bigger, they are the Harder They Fall. Already
hit him low and take out his legs. Right? We have seen
a systematic
and not so gradual elimination of the ability
to hit guys. Lo and I think this is the next step in that
process. And again the cynical side of me says they're just
trying to make the game safer every way they can to justify
playing an extra regular-season
game fine. It makes the game safer, but it's going to create
a strike zone on pretty much everyone
and Chris. It may eventually apply
to the ball carrier.
It may be that the ball carrier can only be hit
from here. Here to above his knees.
And that's it. And anything else is a foul? We could get
there at some point. Here's the risk that the NFL runs and this
is a
theme that is expressed in the final chapter of Playmakers. My
book that comes out March 15, which Chris will never read.
But if he were to read it, if you were to read it, there's
nothing about JFK and it so he won't read it. If you were to
read it.
He would see that. I think the biggest threat to the NFL right
now that they don't realize is
so fundamentally changing the nature of the game as it. He's
always been played and they've already changed it
fundamentally. If you go back and watch games from the 80s
and 90s. It's already
a vastly different game,
and many would say, for the better. I'm just saying.
It's vastly different better or worse.
It's vastly different somebody out there. Chris.
Somebody would ten billion dollars laying around,
who would like to own an NFL team but can't get in the club.
Somebody is going to say, you know, what, I'm going to do,
you know, I'm going to do,
I'm going to start a football league and you know how we're
going to play. We're going to play the way that they used to
play. Yeah. We're going to play the way are the guys.
Want to play right where to go out there and we're gonna beat
the hell out of each other. Hey, anybody who thinks
football is brutal has never watched UFC for more than 30
seconds. It may not even take 30 seconds, you watch UFC
the right, 30 seconds.
It's more bread is far more brutal than football. But
because it's not nearly as popular. You don't have people
saying. Oh my god. Oh and because there aren't UFC teams
in every High School in the country people and saying, oh
my God, it is ridiculously brutal.
You got 10 concussions delivered in 10 seconds.
When somebody is finally. Securing a
an ultimate victory
in mixed martial arts. So
I think there will be an appetite for it.
There's a profit incentive for it and there will be guys
lining up the door to sign up to play in the old school
football league. And that's the risk. They run
especially as Tuesday and Wednesday, night is wide open.
If I had, I'm not saying that I would do it
but I can understand that somebody who had 10 billion
would because I'm not sure that I could do it with, you know,
the Morality In the And the idiot because I put somebody
out there
who has the money is going to do it
and they're going to make a crapload of money doing it. If
the NFL
goes too far and some would say they already have gone too far
in the direction of player. Safety. Yeah. It's a slippery
slope it is, they key can't you can't, you know appeal to
everybody
you can't. And that's what I think the NFL is trying to do
a little bit. They're trying to appeal to everybody and at some
point you're going to,
you're going to have to leave some certain group a little.
In, okay, or whatever it is. I don't know,
but they got to figure out the right balance. I know which
group, I know which group I'm not. I mean, I there's
a demographic out there 30 to 35 percent of the country, that
will
eat it up with a spoon,
a knife and a fork,
and a spork and a spatula. And every other utensil you, they
won't even use to. They'll just put their whole head in
the bowl. There is a group out there
that would love it
and you will make a hell of a lot of money off of it. And I'm
And it hasn't happened yet. In this
fractured country. We live in.
I'm surprised that it hasn't happened yet.
All right. Listen NFL's, King. All right, then
and then in again, you're not going to get the high end players
money talk. So one of these leagues are gonna have to come
out. And if they want to steal The Talented players away,
sure. I'm not going to just watch her hitting hard.
That's how you will.
You will not not do it a certain degree.
I'm not to a certain degree. No, but listen, I've been, it's
not about you. It's not about Out you about somebody out.
There was that bloodlust the people who watch Nascar for
the crashes right now. People watch hockey for the fights,
the people who watch skiing for the wipeouts, right? Those are
the people are going to tune into their going to be
interested by what may happen.