Fights in 3 games show how senseless fisticuffs can be
Most every NFL player knows that a quick way to get ushered to the sidelines — or beyond — is participating in a fight.
Yet in three games Sunday, punches were thrown. No, not the variety that Deontay Wilder used to score a first-round knockout the previous night. Enough flying fists and other misdeeds, however, to lead to five ejections.
NFL fights pretty much make no sense. Armored up, players aren’t particularly vulnerable to punches. Indeed, the usual damage that comes from such bouts are bruised or broken hands and fingers from slugging helmets or shoulder pads.
That said, nearly all of the men involved in the near-brawls reasoned that the fighting was a necessary evil. At least on this day.
Which led to short days for such standouts as Bengals receiver A.J. Green and Jaguars cornerback Jalen Ramsey in Jacksonville; Cardinals first-round pick LB Haason Reddick and veteran DL Frostee Rucker and 49ers running back Carlos Hyde in San Francisco.
No one was thrown out in New Orleans, where Buccaneers receiver Mike Evans laid out Saints rookie CB Marshon Lattimore from behind in a skirmish.
That doesn’t mean further discipline from the NFL isn’t possible. Everyone involved certainly will be fined, and suspensions could be in the offing for anyone who threw a punch. Starting with Green. With the Bengals trying to run out the clock late in the first half, Green jogged through his route. Ramsey, bona fide trash talker, knocked him down. Up jumped Green, grabbing Ramsey around the neck, then slamming him to the ground before punching away at Ramsey’s helmet.
“As a player, as a man, and a father, that’s a reflection of me,” Green said. “I should have walked off in that whole situation. I definitely learned from this experience. It’s never going to happen again. I regret my actions. Whatever the punishment, I accept it. I put myself in that situation.”
Ramsey didn’t stick around to talk.
“That’s not football,” Green said of how Ramsey handled himself. “I’m not going to tolerate disrespect like that. I know we can’t fight on the field. He got under my skin and I can’t let that happen. I’ve been the ultimate pro this long and I can’t let little things like that get to me. I shouldn’t have reacted that way, and I apologized to my teammates. That’s not who I am. It just got the best of me today.”