I was talking with a few posters about this yesterday regarding what they should have done to Gronk after the cheap shot he put on White.
A few posters said cheap shot him back next game, and I disagreed with that as I said they should have clocked Gronk one and even tussled with him right after the hit.
Now a poster brought up that fighting is illegal in the NFL and results in an ejection, which is true. Which leads me to my next point. Why doesn't the NFL loosen up on that rule a bit and let the players police themselves a bit more?
I am not saying take off the helmets like hockey and throw haymakers, but let them tussle for a little bit and let them defend themselves or their teammates.
I made the example yesterday that Hockey has the best policing system in any sports. You hit someone dirty? You are going to have to fight the person like a man and own up to it.
If Hockey didn't have fighting, I really think people would be going around slashing people's hands, or taking head shots, or just doing anything dirty to try to get that payback. They don't need to do that though because fighting allows them to police the game outside of the officials.
A prime example was last nights game. Smith Schuster smoked Burfict in the head, and then Cinci comes back and drills Antonio Brown in the head when he scores the TD. Almost like an eye for an eye type of deal.
The players are not allowed to police themselves in the NFL and this is where head shots come in, and pretty much anything else dirty will come in.
Like I said, I am not saying go full out hockey and take the helmets off and scrap. But maybe give them a little more freedom to defend themselves and their teammates. And if they do initiate the tussle, give them a 10 yard penalty or something, just like you would get an instigator penalty in Hockey.
Thoughts about this?