16
Oct
2011
Jim Harbaugh celebration sparks confrontation with Jim Schwartz (VIDEO)
Jim vs Jim (Photo via Imgur.com)
Today’s marquee matchup (that nobody saw coming) saw the 49ers edge out Detroit 29-24 and hand the Lions their first loss of the season, moving both teams to 5-1. Following the game, 49ers head coach Jim Harbaugh was understandably excited, but his enthusiasm rubbed Jim Schwartz the wrong way, leading to a confrontation between the two coaches and both teams as they headed toward the tunnel.
As the clock hit zero, Harbaugh jumped and celebrated across the field en route to the traditional post-game coaches handshake. The first-year Niners coach bounded toward Schwartz, grabbing his hand and delivering a hearty smack to the back of the Lions coach before continuing his celebration and running toward the locker room. Schwartz took exception to Harbaugh’s over-exuberance and chased him down, delivering a shoulder blow and saying something in Harbaugh’s ear before 49ers players and personell got between the two (Harbaugh can be seen simply saying “Get out of my face”). More players then rushed to their coaches’ defense, nearly igniting a much-larger brawl between both teams that never really escalated.
WATCH THE VIDEO OF THE SKIRMISH AFTER THE JUMP
1
Dec
2010
VIDEO: Andre Johnson mic’d up for Finnegan brawl
(AP Photo via USA Today)
The NFL Network’s Sound FX program comes through in the clutch once again, having mic’d up Texans’ WR Andre Johnson for Sunday’s now-infamous clash with the Titans. In the piece, we get to hear the build up to Johnson’s brawl with Cortland Finnegan from AJ’s perspective.
Among the more juicy bites, we hear Johnson telling the refs to watch Finnegan hitting under his facemask, which brought us this exchange:
Johnson: “Hey ref, No. 31, when he gets frustrated …”
Referee: “Oh believe me, I watch him every play, everywhere.”
Later, we hear Kevin Walter telling Johnson, “you got 31 following you”, which he clearly is aware of by that point. And perhaps most interestingly, what appears to be right before the play where Johnson erupted, Matt Schaub warns his team not to get baited into anything by the notoriously chippy Titans:
“Listen up, keep your poise now. They’re gonna try and get us to do some dumb s#!t. Let’s keep mashing ‘em and keep your poise.”
Moments later, Johnson unleashed three haymakers to Finnegan’s head.
WATCH THE ANDRE JOHNSON SOUND FX VIDEO AFTER THE JUMP
29
Nov
2010
Andre Johnson avoids suspension for beating Finnegan; fans everywhere applaud
Andre Johnson dishes out some street justice to Cortland Finnegan (Photo: Karen Warren/Chronicle)
Let’s face it: Andre Johnson did the league a favor. When the all-pro WR beat Cortland Finnegan like he stole something during yesterdays Texans/Titans game, it somehow felt as though justice had been served.
Finnegan takes pride in being a dirty player. His entire game is getting inside his opponents’ heads until they finally snap and draw a penalty. The guy is a punk, plain and simple, who has openly boasted about wanting to be labeled the dirtiest player in the league. And so far this season, he’s done a fine job of building his reputation along those lines. But yesterday, Finnegan picked a fight with a much bigger dog, and he finally got what was coming to him. And as it happened, football fans around the world cheered.
Which is why it’s nice to hear that Johnson will not be suspended for his part in the brawl for it all, according to a report from Fox26. And the Houston Chronicle reports that both players have been fined $25k, but neither will face suspension for their actions. It actually seems like a particularly light slap on the wrist for both players from Roger Goodell, who up until now recently has handed out fines like Halloween candy. Richard Seymour was just fined the same amount last week for smacking down Ben Roethlisberger … and that was just one open-handed shot, while both were wearing helmets. So it seemed that a heavier punishment was in line for both players after their full-on brawl at the 40-yard line.
Johnson has been extremely contrite in apologizing for his actions yesterday, saying he simply lost his cool and would accept whatever punishment came his way. But Goodell apparently agreed with Mike Ditka, who went on the Mike and Mike radio show this morning and suggested that Johnson should be commended for his actions:
I wouldn’t suspend him. I would applaud him if I was the National Football League. Where does it say that if I snake bites you, you can’t step on the snake? And that’s exactly what happened to this kid.
That seems to be the general consensus.
WATCH THE FULL VIDEO OF THE BRAWL AFTER THE JUMP
28
Nov
2010
FIGHT! Andre Johnson-Cortland Finnegan throw punches, ejected (VIDEO)
A pedestrian tilt between the Houston Texans and Tennessee Titans devolved into ugliness on Sunday.
With the Texans leading 17-0 in the fourth quarter, Houston wide receiver Andre Johnson was escorted from the field after throwing punches at Titans cornerback Cortland Finnegan, in what became an all-out brawl.
The two got at each other at the end of a play, with Finnegan throwing a jab at Johnson, only to have his helmet ripped off by the wideout.
With the two entangled, circling around on the field, Finnegan ripped off Johnson’s helmet, launching it skyward, while being whipped to the ground by the wideout. Johnson then unleased a series of punches at Finnegan before the two were separated.
Both players were hit with 15-yard unsportsmanlike conduct penalties and ejected. Johnson was pulled away by team personnel while Finnegan jogged off to the Titans’ locker room.
Johnson had few words after the game, and called the fight “just a buildup of things over plays,” according to ESPN.
“I would like to apologize to the organization, our owner, my teammates,” Johnson said. “What happened out there wasn’t me. I just lost my cool and I wish I could take back what happened, but I can’t. I’m pretty sure I’ll be disciplined for it, I’ll have to deal with it from there.”
ESPN reported that Texans owner Bob McNair called the fight in Johnson’s favor.
“I awarded it to Andre on points,” McNair said, shrugging off the notion of a suspension for Johnson: “I don’t know why there would be. The DB was all over him and he’s the one who initiated it and he’d been doing it the play before and the whole game. He just went a little too far and Andre’s the one who was on camera when the action heated up. That’s not Andre.”
21
Nov
2010
VIDEO: Richard Seymour puts the smack down on Ben Roethlisberger
Seymour leaves the field after being ejected (Image via KansasCity.com)
Raiders DT Richard Seymour was ejected from today’s game against the Pittsburgh Steelers, after delivering an open-handed punch to the face of QB Ben Roethlisberger.
The incident happened in the 2nd quarter as Roethlisberger celebrated a 22-yard touchdown pass. The QB got in between Seymour and a Steelers O-lineman (who were already engaged in some friendly chatter), and apparently said something that Seymour took exception to.
Roethlisberger probably took a dive to make sure the penalty was called, but you can’t help but wonder what Big Ben could have said to Seymour to elicit that kind of response. Maybe he was back to his old tricks and made some unwanted advances. Perhaps he though Seymour was “DTF”?
UPDATE: After the game, Seymour apologized for his actions … but not to Roethlisberger or anything:
“I apologize to my teammates,” Seymour said afterward. “I never want to do anything to hurt the team. You always want to protect yourself, but there’s no excuse. … I’m not sure why he [Roethlisberger] ran up on me. I just turned around and it was a natural reaction.”
Note to self: don’t run up on Richard Seymour. Ever. Good to know. Watch the smack down below (looped 3x in slo-mo for good measure):
VIDEO AFTER THE JUMP
19
Aug
2010
VIDEO: LeGarrette Blount still punchy in the NFL
Falcon Punch!!! (Image: ESPN.com)
You probably remember Titants rookie RB LeGarrette Blount from the above image, when Blount punched a helmet-less Idaho State player after a game last season, resulting in his suspension from the team. Most NFL teams remembered it too, as Blount went undrafted out of Oregon due to attitude concerns. But Blount was signed as a FA by Tennessee, hoping that he would be able to put his troubled past behind him.
Well, it looks like you can take the kid out of Oregon, but you can’t take the fight out of the kid. At least, when the kid in question is LeGarrette Blount. On Wendesday, Blount took a swing at Titans defensive end Eric Bakhtiari at the end of practice, after having his own helmet ripped off by the defense and both units getting chippy with each other throughout the session.
Watch as Blount – who is ironically not wearing his own helmet this time around – unleashes his now patented Falcon Punch on Bahktiari, who was wearing a helmet (around the :20 mark):
Blount immediately apologized to head coach Jeff Fisher after the incident, saying he promised to “put it behind him”. He also claimed that the defense had been consistently egging him during practice on by pulling off his helmet before he snapped. Fisher not only accepted Blount’s apology, but went further in defending his rookie RB:
“I am not disappointed whatsoever,’’ Fisher said of Blount, who’d miss practices on Monday and Tuesday following the death of his grandmother. “His past is his past. Is that the first punch you’ve seen at camp this year? No. OK. I am not disappointed whatsoever. I have great confidence in the young man that he has learned from his mistake and is very competitive.’’
All I know is if Blount ever squares off against me, I’m covering up. This guy has a vicious right hand, and if Blount doesn’t make it in the NFL, I’m sure the MMA will have a home for him.
22
Dec
2009
VIDEO: Brandon Jacobs vs Albert Haynesworth
Last night’s Giants/Redskins game was pretty much over before it started, with the Giants dominating from the opening kickoff to remain in contention for the final NFC wild card spot.
One of the more contentious moments of the evening came at the start of the 4th quarter, when most people had probably already stopped watching. The teams got into a bit of a fracas, ultimately ending with punches being thrown by both Giants RB Brandon Jacobs and Redksins DT Albert Haynesworth. Predictably, the fight starts when DeAngelo Hall goes at Jacobs after the whistle (hmmm … where have I seen that before?). After Hall gets dumped to the ground, Haynesworth runs in to defend his teammate, swinging wildly at anyone who gets in his way. Meanwhile, Jacobs takes a boxers stance and squares off with both Hall and Haynesworth.
Enjoy the MMA action:
Now, clearly both players should have been penalized (not just Haynesworth), and there’s no doubt that Jacobs will receive a fine from the NFL. But these are two of the biggest, baddest men in the game today, and there was definitely something thrilling about watching them go toe-to-toe with one another.
It’s too bad that was the most fight the Redskins showed all night.
8
Nov
2009
VIDEO: DeAngelo Hall vs Mike Smith
From today’s Falcons/Redskins game – here’s former Falcon, current Redskin DB and noted jackass DeAngelo Hall squaring off against the entire Atlanta bench, including Head Coach Mike Smith. Watch for the shock of white hair in the middle of the scrum … it almost looks like Smith might have thrown a right cross in there!:
