Remember those NFL days where hard-hitting no-nonsense athletes were considered to be legends because of their bruising unapologetic mentality.
You’d have to go back to last century to find those specific players. Nowadays, overzealous referees and NFL rule makers protect it the game from being in its natural violent environment.
And here’s the proof that those rules apply to almost every organization except the New England Patriots.
The NFL has favoritism towards several teams and it’s largely due to the power – sometimes expressly about their wealth – of the owners.
For instance, Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones gets pretty much whatever he wants. His Cowboys get the most beneficial primetime games and has been anointed “America’s Team” even though that’s not necessarily true anymore.
Jones is the leader of the owners pack and when he speaks, all of the other owners listen to him.
The NFL’s favorites are without a doubt the Cowboys, Chicago Bears, Green Bay Packers, New York Giants San Francisco 49ers and especially the New England Patriots. You know that because the Patriots only get a slap on the wrist through hits on the golden child, Tom Brady; and the absurd lack of punishment through their cheating scandals.
But to show you how the NFL favors the Patriots, you have to see a comparable thing that happened with the Oakland Raiders and New England Patriots.
The Oakland Raiders visited the Indianapolis Colts on Sunday afternoon and embattled linebacker Vontaze Burfict put a hit on Colts tight end Jack Doyle that was pretty extreme.
Burfict lead with his helmet while Doyle was defenseless. Usually that play results in the minimum of a fifteen-yard unnecessary roughness penalty, but Burfict was also ejected from the game.
Here was the hit.
Vontaze Burfict was ejected from the game for this late hit.
(via @SharpFootball)pic.twitter.com/Lj8kv5hyxx
— CBS Sports HQ (@CBSSportsHQ) September 29, 2019
Even if you’re a Raiders fan, you’d still probably understand the call to eject him from the game. The league has gone away from that and players have to adapt. That’s a fact.
And then on Monday morning, the NFL announced they suspended Burfict for the entire season, which is the biggest suspension for a violent hit in NFL history. One could argue that Burfict is a habitual offender and that’s the reason why they made the decision. He was suspended for 4 games in 2017 for a hit on Anthony Sherman and 4 games for a hit on Antonio Brown in 2016.
Raiders’ LB Vontaze Burfict’s year-long suspension now official, as @mortreport said. pic.twitter.com/ENNsIe5Vj1
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) September 30, 2019
Or is it because the NFL despises the Oakland Raiders?
Less than a thousand miles away at approximately the same time Buffalo Bills took on the New England Patriots at home. Patriots safety Jonathan Jones laid an almost identical hit on Bill quarterback Josh Allen, which knocked him out – and out of the game; and is currently in concussion protocol.
Here is that hit:
The Jonathan Jones hit on Josh Allen in the 4th quarter that knocked Allen out of the game. Ugh. #GoBills @WGRZ pic.twitter.com/TKpqb7zrlf
— J.T. Messinger (@JTMessinger) September 29, 2019
And do you know what happened to Jones for that hit? Nothing. There was no penalty. There was no ejection. And there certainly wasn’t a suspension.
Can the NFL wear its bias anymore than these two examples right here?