Clifton - the NFL's elder statesman LT

[MJZiggy]

Cliffy played 9 years after a career ending injury.

That's damned impressive, and yes, I too still hate Sapp for it. There was no good reason to take that shot. Just because you can is not a good reason and celebrating it just makes it that much worse.

[Pugger]

What I found disturbing is Sapp didn't seem to give a shit that he might have shortened another player's career for a legal but entirely unnecessary hit well away from the play. He never even bothered to inquire about Cliffy after the fact either. To me Sapp is nothing but a thug and I turn off the NFL Network when that creep is polluting the air waves.

[smuggler]

It was a legal hit, but it was very very dirty, and tarnished Sapp's career. He shouldn't have done it.

[RashanGary]

It was a legal hit, but it was very very dirty, and tarnished Sapp's career. He shouldn't have done it.

Nah. He had no idea Clifton would have his hip destroyed. Sherman was emotional about it. He cared about his guys, especially the OL guys he worked with. Sapp made a legal, big time block. Football is about being physical. Sapp saw they had the ball and started sniffing out the first block he could lay. Clifton was running to the ball. Sapp knocked him to the ground. Good play. Sapp loved football. He played it the right way, whistle to whistle. And the OL guys are taught to play to the end, seek and destroy until the whistle blows. I've seen many OL just clock a guy standing at the end of a pile. I'm sure Clifton himself has done it. I wish we had more guys like that.

[sharpe1027]

First, pushing a guy off the pile is not the same situation. To begin with, the guy at the end of the pile is at least near the ball and part of the play. Also, two wrongs don't make a right. If a play you are talking about is close to what Sapp did, then it was wrong.

Second, he was celebrating while Clifton was lying motionless on the ground.

Third, I have never seen Clifton "just clock a guy standing at the end of a pile."

[Guiness]

The celebrating was definitely part of it.

He made a legal hit away from the play. Yes, it was a nasty hit, but if Clifton hadn't been hurt so badly we wouldn't still be talking about it.

The problem was that he danced around like an idiot celebrating after he cold cocked a guy - showing what kind of a person he really was.

We've all seen guys laid out that badly other times, why is it that this one sticks in our minds? The hit on Robert Ferguson comes to mind, and in the eyes of the NFL was much more onerous.

[Pugger]

I don't recall Cliffy standing at the end of the pile. If I remember correctly Chad was jogging towards the ball carrier on the opposite side of the field where the action was and Sapp saw an opportunity to blast Clifton - probably because he had been beaten by Chad all game long. There was no way in hell Cliffy was going to be involved in the play. I haven't seen a cheap shot like that since Charles Martin back in the day...

[Patler]

A play does not have to be illegal or warrant a penalty to be dirty (or "cheap" if you prefer that term). As a long time NFL defenseman once told me, he was faced many times each season with situations in which he could have taken out an unsuspecting or unprotected opponent. While it often happens in the heat of a play, he said that far more often players hold up and protect each other, because careers are on the line and they rely on each other. We see and remember the bad ones, because they are infrequent due to discretion of the players, not lack of opportunity.

With that in mind, I have no problem calling Sapp's play dirty and cheap.

[smuggler]

Ferguson was a ball-carrier when Darius laid him out. The reason why the penalty was so steep to Darius, was because of the area of Ferguson's body that he struck was his neck.

I'm not sure that what Darius did was necessarily sinister, but more sloppy. He was out of position, and he did what he had to do to keep Ferguson from exposing him and making a big play. The penalty was (probably) worth it. It affected what was happening on the field.

I don't know if Sapp wanted to hurt Clifton, but a blindside block like that sure is a good way to injure someone. It's undeniably dirty. No matter which way you look at it, it's dirty. It's dirty. Yep, still dirty. Dirty. Unecessary; It availed the Buccaneers nothing, other than the fact that it put our starting left tackle on the sideline for the rest of the season. There was no football reason to do it.

That's what a lot of people remember about Sapp, he made a dirty block one time. Too bad, so sad. At least he isn't as stupid as Jaime Dukes.

I wish we had more guys like that.

Thankfully, your wish will go unanswered.

[HarveyWallbangers]

It was a dirty hit, plain and simple. It was halfway across the field and there's no way Clifton was going to be involved in the play. Imagine a long kickoff return where a return man is about to cross the goal line, and 30-40 yards behind the play a blocker on the return team blindsides a player on the coverage team. Same difference? Would it technically be a penalty? No, but it's dirty. Plenty of guys have had the opportunity to make one of those hits, and Sapp was one of the few who actually went over the line and did it--threatening another player's career.

[Yoop]

A play does not have to be illegal or warrant a penalty to be dirty (or "cheap" if you prefer that term). As a long time NFL defenseman once told me, he was faced many times each season with situations in which he could have taken out an unsuspecting or unprotected opponent. While it often happens in the heat of a play, he said that far more often players hold up and protect each other, because careers are on the line and they rely on each other. We see and remember the bad ones, because they are infrequent due to discretion of the players, not lack of opportunity.

With that in mind, I have no problem calling Sapp's play dirty and cheap.

I agree, Sapp was out to make a name for himself, Clifton had held him in check all day and he had a score to settle, he went head hunting for for Cliffy had a head of steam and blind sided him, really a cheap shot, and his attitude afterward spoke volumes about the charecter of Warren Sapp, the bad part now is he didn't disapear, we now get to listen to the clown at NFL net. the graveyard for wanna b sports announcers.

Pugger, I thought that hit by Martin was less vicious, Charles was on our side

[Pugger]

Yoop, that hit was just as dirty. Even tho I have no love for McMahon he never was the same QB after that. To me Martin was as big a thug as Sapp. Whatever happened to that clown anyway?

[Patler]

Yoop, that hit was just as dirty. Even tho I have no love for McMahon he never was the same QB after that. To me Martin was as big a thug as Sapp. Whatever happened to that clown anyway?

He died a few years ago. (Martin that is)

[Cheesehead Craig]

For me, he's probably the Packer I've underappreciated the most. I knew he was a damn good LT, always knew it, but what he's done has been right up there with the best OL in Packer history. In the new pass first NFL, Clifton was one of the best pass protector for over a decade.

Clifton has been quiet on the field with his steady play and quiet off the field with his introverted demeanor. Outside of his couple probowls, the Sapp injury and the recent, "OMG our LT is old and we don't have a new one" dillema, he's been a distant thought. Really, he's been one of the best Packer OL ever.

When an OL comes in with a big name and has a big career, everyone honks and hollers about it. A guy like Clifton, he pretty much went under the radar. Oh well, we know what he did and so do his teammates and coaches.

Same thinking here. He's underappreciated and hopefully after he retires he'll be in the Packer HOF, he's earned it.

[HarveyWallbangers]

Same thinking here. He's underappreciated and hopefully after he retires he'll be in the Packer HOF, he's earned it.

Hopefully? There's a 100% chance he will. I'd bet that nobody that has made multiple Pro Bowls is not in the Packer HofF. Of those that haven't retired in recent years, of course.