New York Giants quarterback Eli Manning is clearly unhappy about what’s gone down in his home town of New Orleans with the bountygate scandal that’s rattled the Saints organization.
“Obviously it is a big deal, what’s going on,’’ Eli Manning said last night before the premiere of the official championship video, “Super Bowl XLVI Champions: New York Giants,” at a theater in Times Square per the New York Daily News. “It’s not good for football and can’t be a part of football. I know [commissioner] Roger Goodell will do a good job figuring all this out and making sure this doesn’t happen again.’’
Manning is aware of how defenses are instructed to go after NFL quarterbacks from hearing Giants head coach Tom Coughlin instruct the Giants defense week in and week out.
“I’m kind of sitting there and I say ‘I know the opposing teams are saying the same thing about me,’ ” said Manning. “But when you start talking about injuring a guy and carting him off and trying to end his season or career, that’s not what this game is about. I think we should have more respect for the game than that. It can’t be a part of football.’’
I completely agree with Eli, we all know that hitting is a part of the game–but when a guy is [aid to injure someone–it’s clearly crossing a line that shouldn’t be crossed.
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The “Bounty” program is clearly a crutch for the coaches and teams who are unable to compete based on their abilities alone. For some time now I have believed that the penalty for a foul that injures another player should not be just 15 yards, but should be the suspension of the offending player for the duration that the injured palyer is unable to return to play–whether it is minutes or days! That suspension (perhaps without pay) will more effectively stop Harrison and the other “bounty hunters” from headhunting QBs than do the current fines that are trivial to them.