FanPost

'Bountygate' Is Not The Controversy It Seems To Be

I guess there’s a silver lining that Broncos’ ex-defensive coordinator Dennis Allen left the team at the end of the season. At least the Broncos won’t be involved in another one of ESPN’s frustratingly tiresome "-gate" controversies, this time it has been dubbed "Bountygate."

Excuse my while I retch at the thought of how many times ESPN is going to haughtily throw that term around in the next three months.

But I digress; having a hard-nosed defensive coordinator who promotes on-field violence is a great quality for a successful team to have.

This might be a testament to my lack of a soul, but I love big hits, regardless of the legality.

For example, when Rahim Moore rocketed into Donald Jones’ domepiece, who was clearly three yards into the Buffalo Bills’ sideline, I was howling like a Cro-Magnon ape man in front of the giant black monolith that is my sadly out-of-date television.

It wasn’t premeditated, but it was obviously a cheap shot. Of course, he got fined the obligatory $20,000 in pocket change for a full-time bench warmer, the NFL saved face, it'll never happen again, whatever...

But apparently, the hit that Bobby McCray graced Kurt Warner with is completely abhorrent. Even though it was legal since he didn’t aim for the head or the knees (just watch it, he goes high but doesn't contact the helmet). It was Kurt’s own damn fault for not keeping his head on a swivel. He’s the team’s STARTING QUARTERBACK, he should have expected a target on his back.

To tell a defender to hold back on maybe his only chance at earholing some clueless chump on the offense is completely unreasonable. With all the chop-blocking, crack-blocking and generally BULLSHIT rules allotted to make the offensive players’ job easier while taking a larger toll on the bodies’ of defenders, why is it surprising for defensive players to allow the celestial hammer of karma to work through them in the form of a full-bodied, 300 pound powerbomb?

The fact that McCray was paid an under the table bonus for that hit is not anything that shocks or disgusts me. Every defender should be aiming to do bodily damage to every player on the opposite side of the ball, especially their captains and all-around studs.

In fact, if they haven't already, EVERY team should incorporate the strategy of rattling the opponents’ best players by hitting them frequently and hard, in-between and sometimes after the whistles, and generally harassing them any way possible. I'm sure when players saw Rodney Harrison careening toward them they knew their ankles and/or brain stem were in immediate danger so they probably went down easier or sooner than normal. Chalk that up as a defensive win for successfully employed acts of terrorism.

And since quarterbacks already wear their flashing tutus that are invisible to everyone but the referees, there will be fines anyway. So coaches/executives/owners might as well make the "illegal" hits worth it for their defenders.

This specific argument seems to be about premeditation and (a mostly) legal hit by McCray vs. a blatantly cheap hit that could be considered a crime of passion by Moore.

My verdict: I couldn’t care less.

They were both awesome and got my testosterone rising. And, honestly, if you don’t love the ecstatic combination of testosterone, serotonin and mass amounts of booze pumping through your veins after somebody else’s body gets wrecked, why are you even watching this sport?

This is a Fan-Created Comment on MileHighReport.com. The opinion here is not necessarily shared by the editorial staff of MHR.