Last Saturday night, as it was 20 degrees below freeze my nuts off, I decided to turn on the television and I stumbled across the NFL Wild Card Playoff Game between the Cincinnati Bengals and Pittsburgh Steelers. It was about the beginning of the fourth quarter when I tuned in and I was multitasking with the television on. I had no idea what I was about to see.
I am a fan of the NFL, and further more, my team is the Minnesota Vikings. I know that the Minnesota Vikings have not yet won a Super Bowl. They have been there four times (before I was born) and quite frankly should have won it all in 1998, when Gary Anderson missed a routine field goal instead sending the Atlanta Falcons to the big game. That was heartbreak that was similar to what I felt after the Vikings 10-9 loss to the Seattle Seahawks last Sunday. So anyways...
I am not writing about my team the Vikings this time. I felt passionate about writing about what I witnessed in the fourth quarter of that Wild Card Game from last Saturday night. What I didn't know to the fullest effect was the rivalry and bad blood between the Cincinnati and Pittsburgh franchises. Apparently before the game, the referees had to stand on the 50 yard line during warm ups so the teams would leave each other alone and not get into a scuffle. Really?
When I turned on the game, I believe the Steelers had a 15-0 lead. It looked grim for the Bengals. However, the Bengals did make a comeback. There was a play early in the fourth quarter where there was a pretty solid legal hit that caused the ball to come loose and have Pittsburgh challenge the ruling on the field that the ball was fumbled after leaving the Cincinnati Running Back unconscious.
When that hard hit was put on the Cincinnati Running Back, Giovani Bernard, Cincinnati players and fans alike were angry that a penalty was not assessed. The insult to injury was when the dust settled, Pittsburgh's Head Coach Mike Tomlin threw the red flag on the field challenging the refs ruling of down by contact. So after Cincinnati's Running Back is knocked out of the game by a hard legal hit, and having Pittsburgh when their challenge contesting that the ball was fumbled, Cincinnati now had a new mission.... getting even for knocking out their player.
I have no problem with accountability. If you have read my stuff before, I love accountability as I feel it is healthy. So, when Pittsburgh got the ball back later in the quarter, Cincinnati player #55, Vontaze Burfict, had an opportunity to sack Ben Roethlisberger, and he did it hard. See, Burfict decided to put all his weight on the shoulder of Ben Roethlisberger and it ended up putting the Pittsburgh Quarterback and the medical cart heading back to the locker room for further examination.
The already sad situation took a turn for the worse when a fan decided to throw debris and trash at Ben Roethlisberger when the cart was heading off the field. I mean, really? Do we really need to try to injury someone by throwing things at them because you are mad at ref's call.
I get it that it is the playoffs and everything this on the line. I also understand that the intensity level is also heightened during the playoffs with all the teams trying to accomplish the same thing. I can't understand the mentality of breaking the law because a person is so pissed off over a football game. Remember, this is coming from a die hard NFL fan who is writing this. I would NEVER go to such a level. There were multiple fans that continued to litter the end zones after the refs made the ruling of the fumble. It was crazy and absolutely unacceptable.
To continue on with the fourth quarter, Cincinnati did continue its comeback by scoring on a touchdown caught by Wide Receiver A.J. Green. Remember #55, Vontaze Burfict? He celebrated more than Green on the touchdown. Burfict decided to lead a few players off the field and up the tunnel to the locker room after the touchdown, even though there was still a long time left to play in the fourth quarter. At this point, the game was completely out of control.
So, now the score is 16-15 in favor of the Cincinnati Bengals after the comeback was completed, but there was still time on the clock and Pittsburgh gets the ball back. While Roethisberger was getting examined, the Pittsburgh Back Up Quarterback came into play. Anyways, Roethisberger came back out on to the field and returned to play. During the final drive by the Steelers, Roethisberger made a pass attempt to Star Receiver Antonio Brown. The Cincinnati Bengals again were obviously not happy that Big Ben Rothelisberger came back to play, because on that pass attempt to Antonio Brown, #55 Vontaze Burfict, took a cheap shot after the ball had gone by and drilled the Pittsburgh Wide Receiver in the head. As a result, Antonio Brown was experiencing concussion like symptoms and now was in the protocol due to a cheap shot. After the referees flagged the personal foul for the hit, Burfict argued and fellow Cincinnati defensive player, Adam Jones, came to back up his teammate in discussion with the referees. The problem with this was that Adam Jones became so determined to have his voice and side heard, that he put his hands on a ref, which drew an unsportsmanlike conduct flag. After the personal foul penalty and the unsportsmanlike conduct penalty, the Steelers were suddenly on the 35 yard line and ready to kick the winning field goal. This is exactly what happened.
When this kind of activity takes place during a professional sporting event, I feel bad for the fans who paid a lot of money to see a good game go sour. In this case, with the Cincinnati fans choosing to act the way they did, I am okay with them losing the money by helping cause a loss when a win was in the bag. The players that choose to take matters in their own hands and make the Cincinnati Bengal uniform look foolish, they should be released. How many times have you been told that you are a representative of your employer when in public and you are expected to be professional. Apparently, the players of Cincinnati, who were on national television, didn't get that memo. I also blame the coaching staff of Cincinnati. There was no leadership on the field during the time the unprofessional activities. It is just flat out disrespectful to the leadership of the Cincinnati Bengals when a player's personal agenda took center stage. I get that adrenaline gets going and players get caught up in the heat of the moment, but when a head coach has to tell his team to wear helmets off the field for safety, that is when players need to have the harsh part of the lesson of accountability. If these guys are not released, it is telling our young people that acting this way to get your message across or get your need met is acceptable, when instead it is not.
The good thing is that Cincinnati defensive player #55, Vontaze Burfict, was suspended by the NFL for the first three games of next season. Which is good. Of course this guy is wanting a meeting to see if the suspension can be reduced. Please! You chose to hurt people and play dirty. Take your millions that you will get paid while sitting at home and please just shut the hell up and apologize for your actions.
I had respect for the Cincinnati Bengals NFL franchise, but that has taken a massive hit and it will take me quite a while to cheer for the Bengals again in the future.
#playhardplayclean
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