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Originally Posted by shilala
I honestly think you and I are talking about the same thing. We're just unclear about where these "lines" are. When I mentioned "smart", I didn't mean educated. I meant that they have an excellent command of their position and all things related.
I can see where your disdain for purposely harming someone would come from, and I share it. When I step on a football field, I leave that at home. Same as any other sport, I'll compete until I can't carry my dead ass off the field. It's competition.
Injury, getting hurt and hurting the other guy is part of football. Knocking a specific player out of the game has always been, and will always be part of the strategy of the game. Disagreeing with that is fine, but it doesn't change that it's what football is. It's why we watch it. Who doesn't cringe, hoot or get a rush when a wide receiver comes over the middle, catches a ball and gets hit and does three end-over-ends before he hits the grass? The defender could have just as well let him land and wrapped him up, but that's not how the game is played. Receivers know there's a price to pay for going over the middle, and fans appreciate a guy who has the nads to go take that hit.
I do agree with you that it gets out of hand. The Adrian Petersen link, for instance. His ankle is hurt and guys are trying to twist it in the pile. That's chickensh1t, and it'll get taken care of during the course of the game. The guy that did it is going to pay the price with a shot in the chin, finger in the eye, you name it.
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It's definitely a fine line here, but wherever you want to place the line, I'm against the implied headhunting that a bounty system has. A clean, hard shot (within the standards of a "natural play"), is something I love to see. I also love seeing the guys help each other up after such a shot, as well. What I don't like is guys taking (at least) borderline cheap shots, with the intention of causing an injury to get the opposing player out of the game. It's one thing if your QB is running for his life and getting battered because his o-line sucks, but another when the defensive players are taking those 2-3+ extra steps to get a shot on him to injure him. I think that's where my issue with the bounties lie. The perception that the players will take those cheap shots to be able to collect the payments.
As for players having the body control necessary to deliver a "minor" injury vs a major one goes...have you watched how much "control" a lot of the d-backs (and linebackers, for that matter) in the league have? LMAO. Seriously, though, I do agree that they have a greater body awareness and control than your "average" athlete. However, with the speed these guys are moving at, and the force they deliver, it's not as simple as having great body control and awareness. And, for that matter, they're not thinking "if I hit him here, it'll only cause minor damage to this part of his body, which will heal in x amount of time" when they go to make a play. They're thinking "hit hard, take him out".
I guess the main point I haven't been able to get across is that having an "official" bounty program takes away from the integrity of clean/pure competition in the sport, which is something I truly value.