Roethlisberger to Union Exec Smith: 'Stand Up And Do Something For Our Players'

…I thought the H2H was for defensless receivers (and Brady). Rice was a runner.

But I haven’t heard how much

…lets you take a key player out of the game entirely, with no flag to impact the game at hand. Lewis probably considers it money well spent; his playoff bonuses will be much more than this small fine.

It’s complete BS.

Fines are not being doled out consistently, and there is no manner of objectivity when they occur. How do you fine Either Clark or Lewis and not Fine McClain? I am really sick of this and this week the no calls contributed to a loss – which is the outcome we have been anticipating, and further you insult the team by fining the only player on the field to get flagged for it.

Props to Big Ben for saying something, but lets not be Twitter p*ssies, send a letter to the man if you want to be heard.

Why dont they decrease the fines, and make them more reasonable as opposed to twenty grand for picking your nose vs ten grand for gouging someones eye out. Also, I think any player who hits H2H and benches a player or carts them off should be ejected. Just my opinion.

the excessive fines and penalties the Steelers have acquired this season has anything to do with the NFL trying to keep the Steelers out of the Superbowl because “it’s time to give someone else a chance?”

Goodell is the worst thing to happen to football. He has ruined the game. They should just put on the flags and go balls out flag football and stop chipping away all that IS football.

in way, who better than a QB that gets hit late and in the head quite often with hardly a flag being thrown his way. Broken nose, getting legs twisted. Suggs last year trying to sack BB and hitting him in the head unintentionally, but Brady gets that call.

Having a committee made up if at least 3-5 people is a far better option than what King of the Asses Goodell has set up. He has THE final word.

A friend of mine who is a lawyer says he often tells his clients that he will be the sole defender present in court for them, if it’s not mandatory that his clients be present. Why? Because, as he put it, “What if you remind the judge of the guy his wife cheated on him with? Or the jerk boyfriend who used to date his daughter? Or the bully who used to pick on him in high school? He’s only human, and whether he wears a robe and takes an oath doesn’t change that one bit.”

I think it’s easy to see where I am going with that example. Goodell’s just human. He may hate the Steelers based in his old favorite team getting their teeth kicked in by the Steelers when he was a kid. Or the guy that kicked sand in his face at the beach or swooped away the girl he was diggin’ on in high school was a huge Steeler fan. Who’s to know? But without checks and balances, REAL checks and balances, this system is a complete farce, and everyone knows it, especially the players themselves.

Check this out:

“Clark told the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette that coach Mike Tomlin informed him of the fine and told him the hit was used by Tomlin on Monday as an example of a good hit in the team’s film review.”

I love our coach.

I love that Ben stood up. Now do it in a letter or phone call to Goodell.

I do not like Goodell. He’s ruining this sport and this league. Downright 100% ruining it. He needs to step down.

As for the play that Clark was penalized for, nobody can convince me that it was a blatant foul.

is reported to be livid over this and has commented that if Clark wants to appeal the fine, he has his complete support.

Kudos, Ben. Stand up, be heard and call ’em out when they need it!

Can’t fine him for that.

Let the chips fall where they may. There is plenty enough money surrounding pro football that funds may be found to support this idea. Best would be a (very) small slice of the league’s revenue pie, both from the owners and players slices, that would fund an independent group.

Comprising this group would be people who are fair and honest, objective, and who know the game and rules. Ex players, reporters, ex refs, knowledgable fans, etc. They review each play of each game, each week. They identify an objective set of criteria to identify H2H, unnecessary roughness, etc. hits which may have been illegal. They then review each of these, in this case against a different set of criteria which try to reflect the current rules, to determine if the potentially illegal hits previously identified were indeed illegal, and if so, what rule(s) were violated. They then assess the severity of the illegal hits. May be hard to develop an objective scale for hit/illegalness severity, but it can be done, even if there is some element of subjectivity. More important than it having any element of subjectivity is that the set of a priori criteria are consistently and objectively applied.

Then there is an analysis which compares, among the hits of possible illegality, which hits the group of reviewers determined were illegal, and statistically compares them with whether the game refs determined they were illegal. Proportion not illegal which were nevertheless called illegal on the field? Proportion illegal which were not called illegal on the field? Aside from showing the consistency of the rules being enforced, the analysis would identify patterns of both the above proportions. Happen more or less with certain officiating crews or individual officials? Happen more or less with certain players? Certain teams?

And the analysis would use the severity scores to compare severity with fine amounts. Same kind of detailed review, to see if mismatches between severity and fines are associated with certain refs, players, teams, etc.

I know this all can be done (except for the availability of game film the league/networks have access to which an independent group may not have, unless provided it by the league). I do this kind of work for a living, and get published in medical journal literature. I don’t know the rules as well as a bunch of us here, but I khow how this could and should be done. Full time job. Anyone want to step up to the $ plate?

Upset with the way these cookies have been crumbling with the Black and Gold is one thing. Egg in Goodell’s face some here wish for is another. My motivation is fairness and the big banana of the slippery slope the game is already on, in terms of these things changing the way it is played, and affecting game outcomes in unfair ways. Hell, it even has helpful application to player safety issues, which is after all, where this ostensibly started.