Cheap Shots Shouldn’t be Tolerated
Adam Markowitz
Thursday March 20, 2008
“...well after the ball had been released, the Player lunged forward and intentionally hit the quarterback at or near his left knee...Hitting a defenseless player and/or a quarterback late and/or at the knees is illegal and can be extremely dangerous to the opposing player.The result of the actions of Nix earned him a one-game suspension and a $1000 fine, which are being appealed by the Players Association.
“Additionally...well after the ball was dead and the play was over, the Player shoved an opposing player and, according to the AFL Game Officials’ report, spit at an opposing player. The Player was flagged for Unsportsmanlike Conduct and ejected from the game.”
I am shocked and appalled. I don’t think there’s a better way for me to describe the way I felt when I read this AFL press release.
Anyone watching the game on AFLNet clearly saw that Nix took an incredibly late dive towards QB Tony Graziani’s legs. What we didn’t see was Nix spit at a member of the Soul, which was reported by the officials of the game (according to the press release above).
The feelings of Soul head coach Bret Munsey were heard loud and clear after the game. “Unacceptable. It’s one of those things you hope the league office, your team, the players association say we’re not gonna tolerate stuff like that.”
He continued, “[Nix] has had a reputation for dirty play.”
In both of the Dragons scrimmages this year, Nix was thrown out of the game. Players like this should be dealt with swiftly and harshly.
I have a number of issues with the way that this was handled both on the field and off of it.
For starters, Tim McCabe and his crew should be ashamed for not kicking Nix out of the game after he took the cheap shot at Graziani, especially considering his history. Graz will be out for the next 3-4 weeks with a knee injury, but after taking a shot like that, his entire career could’ve been ruined. With the appeal process set to take place, Nix will probably be in uniform again this week, while Graziani will be sidelined.
In my eyes, the general rule of thumb with cheap shots should be that the guy making the cheap shot should be suspended for at least one game longer than the injured player. Since Graz is going to miss 3-4 weeks, Nix should be on the shelf for at least 4-5.
Then add in the fact that Nix spit at a player. I’m sorry. Low blows are a part of football. They happen. But to spit in the face of anyone else is simply disrespectful and shouldn’t be tolerated at all.
Congrats for ejecting Nix from the game after that incident, McCabe. If you had tossed him the first time, you wouldn’t have had to deal with this.
There has been a small history of spitting in professional sports, all of which have been incredibly controversial.
The most recent case was in 2006, when Dallas Cowboys WR Terrell Owens spit in the face of Atlanta Falcons DB DeAngelo Hall. TO wasn’t ejected from that game because the officials didn’t see the play when it happened, but the league fined him $35,000.
This was a highly controversial decision that brought criticism from many analysts. Joe Theismann was amongst the leaders of the charge for the suspension of Owens, calling for at least a two game suspension. Considering that game was a Week 15 showdown, if the then 9-5 Cowboys had lost Owens for the last two games of the regular season, they may not have made the postseason.
Then there was the Roberto Alomar incident of 1996. A well-documented event, Alomar spit in the face of home plate umpire John Hirschbeck after having a called strike three on him. Alomar was suspended for five games by Major League Baseball, also a move that perhaps warranted more of a suspension.
The difference between the MLB, the NFL, and the AFL is that one of these leagues promotes itself as the fan-friendliest league in the world…
I think you all know where I’m going with this. I’m sorry, if we continue to believe that this “Fan Bill of Rights” that the AFL continually promotes is worth more than the piece of paper it is written on, something more should be done. For starters, perhaps it should make an example of a guy with a history of not fitting this mold.
On his weekly show ArenaZone host Fran Stuchbury summed this up by saying, “There’s simply no place for that in this league.”
Maybe we’ll be lucky and the New York Dragons organization will step up and fix the mess the league created by booting John Nix off of their team and out of this league for good.
Unfortunately, we probably won’t be so lucky.
Adam Markowitz is an accountant living in Orlando. Adam is an old school AFLer, having followed the AFL since 1991. He attended or covered well over 200 games, including 17 ArenaBowls. Adam worked for the Arena Football League for two years as a columnist and historian before retiring in 2017 when the 50-yard indoor war left the Sunshine State. Adam still muses about the AFL on ArenaFan from time to time, and you can follow him on Twitter @adammarkowitzea.
