That's correct, he won't be fined. Per NFL, "Helmet-to-helmet contact is legal in that situation as it is for any ball carrier (running back, quarterback, or receiver). "
So even the NFL officials said it was a helmet-to-helmet hit. Nothing left to argue there.
I wouldn't say the better team won. I'd say the better team didn't come ready to play. They didn't play at the level that got them there, Flacco played like the rookie he is, and they rightfully lost. 2/3rd the NFL could have beat them that night.
As for the helmet-to-helmet hit, That isn't football and that was a dirty hit, intended to injure. It maybe has a place in dog-fighting, but its not football in any civilized sense of the word.
It may have been ruled "legal", but it's long past time for the NFL to ban helmet-to-helmet hits by players. At a minimum, a player who uses his helmet to tackle a player, and thus as a weapon, should get a fifteen-yard roughing penalty. Ejection would be even better. You shouldn't be allowed to launch yourself head, or shoulders first with the intent to injure a player. How is that not dirty??
Only really foolish fans love to watch a game in which the sound of helmets crashing against one another signals yet another chance for a concussion or spinal injury. I wonder if those who chastise and ridicule people who abhor the unnecessary attempts to injure, would feel differently if it was their relative lying on the field. These comments about football players needing to be tough is a load of crap. Tough guys don't tee up on players that are basically defenseless or looking the other way.
It's just a matter of time before a catastrophic injury or death results from allowing helmet to helmet hits. But then again, this the new NFL.
Wes Welker gets fined for making a snow angel. Clark doesn't get fined for obvious intentions to cripple players. Of course the fine given to Wes was justifiable given the dangerous nature of a snow angel. :
Instead of the NFL getting Clark under control before he kills or paralyzes somebody they enable him by condoning his cheap-shot head-hunting. So much for the NFL's concern for player safety.
When the tragedy happens I hope Goodell will be able to look the player's family in the eyes and explain his despicable non-action.
I wonder how the NFL jives the following: When a punt returner catches the ball, he gets a yard or two, a "halo," if you will.
Yet, McGahee is NOT defenseless after he takes one or two steps, after catching a pass in which he had to be facing 180 degrees away from where the danger was coming from, and gets hit in his head by someone else who used their head as a weapon. That's NOT illegal?????
Clark launched himself, head first, right at another guy's head who couldn't get out of the way, in the fourth quarter of a game with less than 4:00 left when they had a double-digit lead.
Just get the guy to the ground and let the clock run. But he goes for the home run, and gets it, and everyone thinks it's okay? No penalty, no fine?
There was a play late in that same game that Troy Polamalu, an amazingly talented player, had a receiver lined up who he could have really hurt, but instead he hit him hard and legal with no head but a regular arm and body tackle. While Polamalu is a credit to football, Ryan Clark is a disgrace.
I guess Daryl Stingley wasn't enough. Someone's going to die on National TV, and then we'll have Congressional hearings, and the game won't be the same.
All because these geniuses can't police themselves.
