Translating Eric Mangini
September 29, 2009Delonte West Reportedly Absent From Camp
September 29, 2009With all due respect to Denny, who brought to light the suspension of Ohio State safety Kurt Coleman and Jim Tressel’s reaction to it, I can’t say that I agree with the majority of Buckeye nation. As I said Saturday night in the comments here, Coleman led with his helmet against a defenseless player on the ground. It was a cheap shot and he deserves punishment for it. I replayed the hit several times after it happened and came to that conclusion. After Ohio State’s reaction and statement I went back to see it again, wondering if I had missed something.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tK0HbvED_x8]
The more I watch the play (thanks to Luke at 11 Warriors) the more I can’t believe the outrage over the suspension. The game was all but over, just 44 seconds remained when the ball was snapped. Back-up QB Eddie McGee ran off tackle to the left and was wrapped up by 2 Buckeye defenders. He had his arms pinned to his sides and was already to the ground when Coleman snaps his head back with a jarring spear. Certainly Coleman was heading towards McGee before he was tackled, but the ball carrier clearly was on his way to the ground when the Buckeye senior launched himself. There can be no doubt that he led with the head, and whether it was his intention or not to hit McGee in the head that is precisely where Coleman’s facemask landed. Take a good look at the replay again, especially the second angle shown in the video above. Coleman doesn’t come in with an arm or shoulder at all. If he was trying to ensure that the runner was down all he had to do was lead with the forearm or shoulder. This is what makes me question Coleman’s motive. If he’s leading with the forearm or shoulder he has his head up and could pull off at the moment and dive over the QB, avoiding the situation altogether. I’ll give him the benefit of the doubt though and believe him when he says it was unintentional.
As I mentioned, I was also quite surprised by the reaction of the school and coach Tressel. It was a moment of bad judgment, and I certainly am not trying to call Coleman a dirty player. I would agree that calling the hit premeditated is a stretch, but how can you not think that McGee was defenseless in that situation? He was completely wrapped up, including his arms and couldn’t have moved out of the way if he had seen Coleman coming. Saying that Coleman was punished because he was removed from the game (for the final 40 seconds of a blowout) is ridiculous. Perhaps what really fires me up is the welcome he receives on the sideline from Anderson Russell and Doug Worthington who give him props for the play, or Kurt’s smile as he is running off the field. Yes it is football and not chess, as commenters have been quick to point out, but football played hard doesn’t have to be played that way. It was a very dangerous play and could have caused serious injury.
The other objection that Buckeye fans seem to have is that the Illinois player who was flagged for a late hit on Pryor wasn’t suspended. Quite frankly, I don’t care at all whether he was or was not suspended. The late hit was simply a tackle that he continued out of bounds. (The play can be found here at the 3:40 mark.) Does the Illinois player react to the Ohio State bench barking at him? Yes. Does he throw a punch? I don’t know what he was doing with that right arm, but it really doesn’t matter since he doesn’t connect with anything. Moreover he plays for Illinois and that doesn’t effect me in the least bit for the Buckeyes next game.
I know this won’t be a popular stance, but I can’t even imagine the outrage we OSU fans would have if the sides were reversed and an Illinois player had done the same thing to Pryor.
17 Comments
Rick, I couldn’t agree more with you
I think it was a bad play. I don’t find it particularly dirty. I think the 15 yard penalty was enough and that the suspension is over the top. Tressel and company pulled him aside right after the penalty and gave him a talking to and the penalty was called.
I think sometimes slow motion hurts us by creating some reality that doesn’t actually exist in the super-fast speed of competitive athletics today.
If the B11 is going to suspend Coleman, that’s fine, but at least show some consistency. Prior got dragged into some equipment after he was well out of bounds earlier in the game that warranted a personal foul. I don’t see the potential for serious injury being any less with one play or the other.
Concussions, ACL’s, tomato, tom-ah-to.
“I know this won’t be a popular stance, but I can’t even imagine the outrage we OSU fans would have if the sides were reversed and an Illinois player had done the same thing to Pryor.”
I think that’s a completely valid and prescient point. As much as I truly do think the suspension is over the top and unnecessary (IMO the 15 yard penalty was a sufficient penalty for the play), I also can fully admit that had the roles been reversed, I would definitely be up in arms over it. I guess that’s a double standard and hypocritical, but that’s the very nature of being a fan, I guess.
FWIW, I have no problem with the suspension, and said so in my piece. By the letter of the law in the B11, it’s a suspension. But I agree with Chris M in thinking that Illinois’ guy should be out as well.
I don’t see it as dirty, but I’m admittedly seeing this from the OSU fan standpoint.
Rick, I respectfully disagree. You may have watched this clip numerous times, but I get the sense that you watched it with a bit of a bias. The hit unnecessary, but was only borderline late. And it certainly doesn’t appear to be malicious.
There is a need to protect defenseless players but there is also a need to let players play the game. Anyone and everyone who has played football knows that this is not a contact sport, it is a collision sport. Over regulation of borderline hits it detracting from the game. It’s a very slippery slope. Where does it end? This year it leading with the helmet is targeted, next year leading with the shoulder is targeted, the year after you can only tackle from the hips to the knees. Soon we will be left with nothing more than glorified flag football.
In this instance the call on the field was correct, however, the call off the field was atrocious.
I didnt even know the B11 had authority to suspend for specific plays. Is it somthin new? And I think they are setting a powerful precedent.
For me the reason he does deserve s suspension was the fact that he was smiling on his way to the sideline. I was sitting down in AA on the Buckeye side of the field when it happened and thought it showed a total lack of sportsmanship. A defensive leader and captain needs to set a better example. I just wish the suspension came from Tress and not the man upstairs.
@Mrob- I’m curious what bias you think I had when I watched the game live and immediately thought of that hit as suspension worthy? I am a Buckeye fan, so that can’t be the bias.
I also played football for 7 years and have been a coach for 5. I know football is a collision sport, but I also know that you teach the correct way to make those collisions to keep everyone safer. As for outlawing ‘leading with the shoulder’ you and I both know that it would be nearly impossible to tackle without using your shoulder. Believe me, the day football looks more like flag football than tackle I’m out the door. I can’t stand the spread and all this ‘on an island’ type of offense, but that is the trend right now. Give me three yards and a cloud of dust. But there is no place for that type of hit.
looks like your garden variety late hit.
nothing more
I like Coleman, he plays hard, and he typically plays smart. However, that was plain and simply stupid and could have wrecked the Illini player’s season and possibly even his life – no hyperbole here. Equity in penalties (the uncalled personal foul mentioned several times above) notwithstanding, a suspension is warranted in this situation.
Coleman will have an excellent career in the pros. Let him chalk this up to an expensive learning experience.
@adam #7: Yes, it’s new, and it started two weeks ago after Charlie Weis spent several days “not complaining, but…” about a weak slap after the whistle during the UM-ND game.
Jim Delaney (the B10 Commish) decided to suspend the UM player, starting LB James Mouton — who wasn’t even flagged, and probably shouldn’t’ve been (the ND player didn’t even react) — Thursday evening after UM was done with practice for the week, which had the presumably unintentional side effect of giving UM exactly zero practice time with Mouton’s backup with the first team. Of course, it was before their game against Eastern Michigan, so it wasn’t a high level of competition… but still, that defense is terrible even when they’ve got the people who are *supposed* to be there playing.
Rich Rod was, naturally, a bit upset. He probably went overboard when he called out Purdue offensive lineman Zach Reckman, who cheap-shotted an NIU player at the end of Purdue’s loss two weeks back — but Delaney, in an effort to appear fair (?), suspended Reckman for last week’s game… against Notre Dame, which Purdue lost. That’s right, Delaney helped contribute to a Notre Dame victory. Smooth move, that.
So now this week, in his continuing effort to make the B10 a national laughingstock, Delaney has once again suspended an individual player for something that didn’t even lead to an ejection on the field.
Jim Delaney is a joke.
fire coleman
I want to agree that this shot was a cheapshot. If this shot was done earlier in the game, I wouldn’t have had such a problem with it because it is in the heat of the game. Look at the scoreboard, Why was he going after a backup QB who was already on the ground. I think that is why he was suspended for the game. There was no reason for Coleman to try to take someone out because the game was over. You can call me a hypocrite for saying if this was in the first quarter it would be different. I look at the context of a situation and this hit looked like a dirty shot to inflict pain (which is the point of Safety anyways, just not so late and at someone’s head). I am tired of 1460 chatters complaining about the suspension. Maybe a game is a bit strong, Is it possible to be suspended for a half by the Big 10? Seems a little more fair to me but the message shoudl be sent to the rest of league to just play smart.
If you question his intent, watch the video. At the very end you’ll see he and teammates laughing. Notice his teammate even whip his head back to miimick that of the Illinois fan. What you do not see here in the clip that I saw during the original footage was the big smile on Coleman’s face as if he was proud of the fact that he could have seriously injured the Illinois player. He should have been suspended for longer than 1 game. This is just another blemish on Tressel. Especially with his response to the leagues decision. Oh by the way I am an OSU fan. Just not a fan of dirty cheap shot players.
Football is a contact sport. Plain and simple. It was a late hit. 15 yard penalty end of story.
#14 – When you’re testicles drop post again to let us know. Otherwise, you’d be best suited to watch tennis or women’s croquet. No contact and no cheap shots.
[…] a little bit more in terms of opportunity for the Jeannette native. Also note that the Buckeyes will be without defensive back Kurt Coleman as well, so the Scarlet and Gray will be looking for a few players to step up in their […]
[…] discussed this week, senior captain/safety extraordinare Kurt Coleman is out due to suspension by the B11. The loss of Coleman is huge, but shouldn’t hurt the Buckeyes too much. With all due […]