Will Belichick get fined?

[Guiness]

Will Belichick get fined for his comment about Welker?

Pretty low-brow if you ask me. Sure, it was a pick play, which, strictly speaking is against the rules even though it's rarely called. But to say that was a deliberate attempt to injure is quite a reach, he didn't go low or anything.

http://sports.cbsimg.net/images/blogs/talib-injury-welker01202014.gif

[pbmax]

I am stunned Talib was hurt and not Welker. Bill does have a point, Welker was trying to run into him when he could have angled to Talib's deeper shoulder and still bumped him while getting open. He alters his path just to charge into him. Not an attempt to injure but definitely a pick.

[denverYooper]

Bill is acting like a high schooler who knows his ex-girlfriend is fucking the star QB.

[Guiness]

I am stunned Talib was hurt and not Welker. Bill does have a point, Welker was trying to run into him when he could have angled to Talib's deeper shoulder and still bumped him while getting open. He alters his path just to charge into him. Not an attempt to injure but definitely a pick.

Agreed, with Welker's two concussions already this season, he could've easily found himself answering questions like "what was your first pet's name?" for sideline doctors before being allowed back on the field.

He didn't clip him, he was trying to take him out of the play, not injure him. I think this should be treated by the league the same as criticizing the refs.

[mraynrand]

... he could've easily found himself answering questions like "what was your first pet's name?" for sideline doctors before being allowed back on the field.

So now the docs are into credit card fraud? Don't they pay 'em enough?

[red]

i don't see anything wrong with it. sure its a pick,but picks happen all the time

hearing all the whining and crying about it, i figured welker tried to take out his knees or something

[Fritz]

I wish that the refs would just call the damn play by the rules. Pick plays are illegal and they ought to be called, especially the flagrant ones. Like that one.

[Joemailman]

Actually, Welker may have felt he was throwing a legal block. The pass, intended for another receiver wasn't caught, but Welker couldn't see that as his back was to the ball. It's really a fraction of a second between Welker's hit and the ball hitting the receiver in the hands.

[mraynrand]

OTHER PROHIBITED ACTS BY THE OFFENSE
Article 4 Other Prohibited Acts By the Offense. Blocking more than one yard beyond the line of scrimmage by an offensive player prior to a pass being thrown is offensive pass interference.
Note: It is also pass interference by the offense to block a defender beyond the line while the pass is in the air, if the block occurs in the vicinity of the player to whom the pass is thrown.

[woodbuck27]

We've seen far worse than that.

I'm not with BB on this one.

He doth complain too much.

[Cheesehead Craig]

BB isn't going to get fined. Nothing is going to happen to anyone involved in that play, except for Talib who is going to need serious rehab.

[red]

and honestly, watch the video

welker took the worst of that hit by far

[Guiness]

OTHER PROHIBITED ACTS BY THE OFFENSE
Article 4 Other Prohibited Acts By the Offense. Blocking more than one yard beyond the line of scrimmage by an offensive player prior to a pass being thrown is offensive pass interference.
Note: It is also pass interference by the offense to block a defender beyond the line while the pass is in the air, if the block occurs in the vicinity of the player to whom the pass is thrown.

1 yard - we had a discussion here a few years ago (when Al Harris was playing so well) about the 'no contact past 5 yards' rule, someone looked it up and I think it actually the same, 1 yard, but it's always ignored.

[smuggler]

It's definitely OPI and probably unsportsmanlike conduct, as well, if you're doing it deliberately.

[Maxie the Taxi]

If memory serves, the Patriots were penalized for a pick in that game.

The moral of the story is that the there are way too many penalties called in the NFL today...or not enough. My point is that there are way to many rules in the NFL and way too many that require a judgment call. So there is little consistency and too many momentum changing and game changing calls. IMO the biggest sore spots are pass interference, offensive holding and encroachment.

[pbmax]

If memory serves, the Patriots were penalized for a pick in that game.

The moral of the story is that the there are way too many penalties called in the NFL today...or not enough. My point is that there are way to many rules in the NFL and way too many that require a judgment call. So there is little consistency and too many momentum changing and game changing calls. IMO the biggest sore spots are pass interference, offensive holding and encroachment.

Agreed. The whole pass game rulebook should be gone over and weeded out.

[smuggler]

They pretty much call encroachment every time and seldom get it wrong. That and false start are actually two of the penalties that are nearly 100% correctly enforced.

[Pugger]

I wish that the refs would just call the damn play by the rules. Pick plays are illegal and they ought to be called, especially the flagrant ones. Like that one.

This.

[woodbuck27]

I wish that the refs would just call the damn play by the rules. Pick plays are illegal and they ought to be called, especially the flagrant ones. Like that one.

Yes. Try to get it straight and focused on consistency.

[Maxie the Taxi]

They pretty much call encroachment every time and seldom get it wrong. That and false start are actually two of the penalties that are nearly 100% correctly enforced.

I wish we had statistics on that. With all the twisting and pointing by OL and jumping by DL now, it's hard for an ordinary fan to be convinced the calls are consistent. I swear a lot of times a DL lines up with his hand across the line and it's not consistently called. To me it's like offsides on kickoffs that is rarely enforced except on onsides kicks.

[Kiwon]

So Belichick reads minds as well? He knows that Welker's intent was to injure Talib?

Well, if Belichick doesn't read minds, Heath Evans of the NFL Network and a former teammate of Welker does. He KNOWS that Welker's intent was to take out Talib and change the whole course of the game. Evans must be a graduate of the Warren Sapp School of Journalism.

Belichick is a sore loser. He's still pissed about Welker's critical comments about him during the summer and the grief he took from the fans and press for not resigning Welker. That's my guess, at least, because I can't read minds like he can.

[pbmax]

So Belichick reads minds as well? He knows that Welker's intent was to injure Talib?

Well, if Belichick doesn't read minds, Heath Evans of the NFL Network and a former teammate of Welker does. He KNOWS that Welker's intent was to take out Talib and change the whole course of the game. Evans must be a graduate of the Warren Sapp School of Journalism.

Belichick is a sore loser. He's still pissed about Welker's critical comments about him during the summer and the grief he took from the fans and press for not resigning Welker. That's my guess, at least, because I can't read minds like he can.

Its also given him a week (plus Super Bowl week) that the dominant story won't be another playoff flameout.

But I think he is genuinely ticked that Talib was knocked out. He's always pushing the envelope of the rules and I wouldn't be surprised if he was mad it came back to bite him. Come to think of it, the reason Evans and Bill know he was trying to hurt Talib might be because that's how the taught it in NE. :lol:

[mraynrand]

I think it's obvious Welker was trying to light Talib up. Hey, that's football. It's not like Talib was jogging 30 yards behind a Brett Favre interception. That was in the middle of the action.

[woodbuck27]

Are you ready... to play

Some football?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rC29YXnK3KI

[Guiness]

Are you ready... to play

Some football?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rC29YXnK3KI

lol, ok Woody, that is funny!

Back to my original question - seems the consensus is that the NFL doesn't care about a statement like that one, even if it is pretty slanderous and if believed puts Welker in a pretty bad light. I know coaches/players can get fined for publicly criticizing refs, so I thought they might take a dim view of this as well, especially in the post-Saints bounty era. *shrug** seems like we're the only ones still talking about it.

[mraynrand]

*shrug** seems like we're the only ones still talking about it.

You'd think we'd have something more interesting to do, like flossing our teeth.

[Guiness]

You'd think we'd have something more interesting to do, like flossing our teeth.

Or paying attention to the Brown's coaching search.

[Guiness]

Well well well. Turns out we were barking up the wrong tree. The hit was not only not intended to injure, it was apparently legal - we all thought it was not.

http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2014/01/22/nfl-confirms-wes-welkers-hit-on-aqib-talib-was-legal/

[mraynrand]

Well well well. Turns out we were barking up the wrong tree. The hit was not only not intended to injure, it was apparently legal - we all thought it was not.

http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2014/01/22/nfl-confirms-wes-welkers-hit-on-aqib-talib-was-legal/

I didn't expect the NFL to say otherwise, because the rule allows for judgement by the ref:

"It is also pass interference by the offense to block a defender beyond the line while the pass is in the air, if the block occurs in the vicinity of the player to whom the pass is thrown."

The pass is clearly in the air when the block is initiated, but that's split-second, so even if the ref got it wrong, it's totally understandable. But the pass itself was beyond the block - a ref could easily judge that the block wasn't in the VICINITY of the intended receiver. Case closed - except maybe for a fine, which seems highly unlikely at this point. After all, Bill probably has some compromising video of NFL officials and/or administrators.

[smuggler]

No, it's not legal. They're just saying that to make the problem disappear. It's definitively NOT a legal play.

[MJZiggy]

Weird that it looks to me like just a crossing route that Talib got in the way of.

[smuggler]

Based on how Welker got flattened, I suspect he didn't really realize what was going on. It' still a penalty though.