You come across as someone who has never played football or tackled someone before. When you have to stop a 6'6 220 lb man right at the first down mark, you don't have time to sit back and wait to see if he eventually gives himself up, you have to commit to the hit. Lawrence decided to slide after that happened, putting his head exactly where the ONLY place defenders are allowed to hit a fraction of a second before that. Azeez couldn't do much at that point other than make sure he hit him with his arms instead of his helmet and still people cry about it. If he had decided to slide earlier, the defender would have jumped over him... but he waited because he wanted to pick up the first down. It's 100% on Lawrence.
Have Terry Bradshaw, Mike Strahan, Demeco Ryans, Clint Stoerner, Ryan Clark, Howie Long never played football before ? Have you seen their comments ? Would love to see you cite one NFL player not on the Texans who says it was an unavoidable hit ? Would appreciate that if you can find it. And I did play football in high school. Never had a single coach who advised anyone on the team at any level to lead with their forearm to tackle a QB sliding. All coaches teach to wrap up and tackle - that isn't something Azeez came remotely close to trying. Had he tried, the reaction would be far different and so would the brain health of Trevor Lawrence. Getting wrapped up with 2 arms would have reduced the impact on TL's brain far more than getting drilled by a metal brace that Azeez lifted into the air as Lawrence slid and drilling into his chest/neck. He's looking at a multi-game suspension most likely. Tough to deny intent the way he used his forearm. He had many choices on what to do there other than using his forearm as a weapon. “It’s reckless, it’s disrespectful,” Johnston said. “There’s an honor that you give to your opponent on the football field and you respect him. There’s opportunities to be physical and give big hits and play this game in that manner. And there’s other times when there’s a respect that you grant to your opponent.” On Fox’s halftime show, Rob Gronkowski, Terry Bradshaw, Michael Strahan and Howie Long all agreed the hit crossed the line with Long calling it “a cheap shot” and “indefensible.” “I think he threw himself out of the game,” Strahan said of Al-Shaair's ejection. “I personally think he did that because he realized if he had stayed in that game, he was not going to be protected. What he did, everybody knows as a defensive player you don’t do that.” Strahan went further on the postgame show. "It's inexcusable," Strahan said. "As a defensive player, I always wanted to hit the guy hard, always wanted to make him feel it, always wanted to make him get up, or sometimes if he didn't get up, my job was to do what I did, but it was never in a way to really injure a player, never there intent. That right there seemed to have a little bit intent towards him." Rob Gronkowski, former NFL tight end and analyst, condemned the hit, noting: "It's clear and obvious that Trevor Lawrence is going to slide, but Azeez Al-Shaair, he did something that he shouldn't have done." He suggested that Al-Shaair would regret his actions upon reflection. Ryan Clark, former NFL safety and current ESPN analyst, condemned the hit, stating: "That's bull by Azeez Al-Shaair!! You just dive over the QB's head when they slide. You make sure they go down but you don't go to the player's helmet like that. I 100% agree with an ejection." He also supported the Jaguars' response, adding: "And 100% there's supposed to be a fight! Jaguars did the right thing Robert Griffin III, former NFL quarterback and Heisman Trophy winner, criticized the play, saying: "Prayers up for Trevor Lawrence. There is no place in the game of football for dirty hits like this one." DeMeco Ryans, head coach of the Texans, also criticized the play, remarking: "It's not what we coach."
So you're response is that hypocrites in the media many who have done FAR worse or had fat worse done to them said dumb things.... I don't believe you played football at all for a second... if you did, you'd know that if he wanted to light up the QB, had have done it with his helmet and body, not his arms. He had already committed to the hit before Lawrence slid, so putting his arms out was the only way of attempting to avoid much harder contract. At this point we just need to officially make it flag football for people like you.
If this is your take, then why not coach back up and PS LB's to hit like this verus Mahomes @ KC and versus Lamar vs. Balt in a few weeks? Both guys scramble and run, so it would be a split second decision Neither really slide until after the marker. Both will fake going out of bounds or leap out bounds to get the extra yards. I mean unless there is a obvious document pay-for-hit system like Bounty-gate, the team won't get penalized and it helps the team get to the overall goal of getting to a Super Bowl if either or both of them get knocked out.
I guess the part that you're still failing to comprehend is that it wasn't intentional the way it all happened.... which is part of the reason I doubt you ever played football. The defender goes for a tackle and at the very last fraction of a second the QB slides causing a bit of weirdness. Now instead of a hit to the body, the head is in that space so the defender attempts to avoid the helmet to helmet contract that would be an automatic penalty but there's very little that can be done to avoid all contract because they were already committed to the tackle before the QB decided to slide. Your assumption that it was malicious kind of prevents you from discussing this in good faith.
Hypocrites in the media? Dude, are you saying that those ex-players are hypocrites? I normally like your takes but let's be real, it was a cheap shot and not his first, he has done this before, so I am not shocked, and I love the dude's motor......but he has to tone that **** down.
Thank you for sharing... I don't agree about the quality of his apology. I thought it was sincere and shed light on what happened pre-game especially.
Yes, they are hypocrites and liars....i mean, you cited Ryan Clark, one of the dirtiest hitters of the 00's. If Ryan Clark had made the same hit, it would have been one of the LEAST dirty hits of his career. It's like Frank Tinney crying about micro aggressions. They are doing a shtick for clout because they know the Karens and the bed wetters have taken over and that's who they need to pander to.
Your logic here is insane - it's like blaming the victim of a gunshot because they were in the path of the bullet. Don't die on this hill. Azeez was clearly aiming down at Lawrence when he could have simply touched him down. If this was the first incident with Al-Shaair I'd be giving him the benefit of the doubt but he's done numerous things this season that has left me scratching my head. Just heard his "apology" on 610 and it was so scripted that it's going to make things much worse.
I do not agree with all of this, but ... Lawrence did slide late. Lawrence slide sitting up, versus "sliding into second" with his head on/near the ground. If he had not slide upright, Azeez likely does not hit him at all. Not only did Lawrence slide upright, he "locked" his upright position ... Lawrence was not in the process of lowering his head to the ground ... guaranteeing that he would get hit. Not a smart move by Lawrence, Still, the league officials call this type of hit as flagrant penalty all of the time. Azeez knew better and deserves what he gets. I have a similar issue with QBs seeing they are about to sacked lowering their head ... which likely guarantees a shoulder pad/helmet hit to their helmet ... which league officials will call a flagrant hit.
no apology was needed. QB thought he could just slide and give up and not get hit like every other position does. Football is a contact sport. Stop being a b****.
Well, the ex-Defensive Lineman, who I'm pretty sure played football, and is on the Texans flagship radio, which I'm pretty sure is not a forum for anti-Texan hypocrisy, said this morning that Aziz absolutely knew what he was doing and could have avoided the forearm shiver if he wanted. So we could listen to him, or we can trust the guy who posts 15x per day to a fan forum, is always incredibly certain about his opinions despite them being demonstrably wrong all the time, and cannot ever admit any other point of view that could dent his shroud of undeserved arrogance. Tough call.
Lol and this is why those who make their money in the media pander to the Karen's and the bed wetters... and why football has no future. Comparing a player being tackled to a gunshot victim is about as ridiculous as I'd expect in current year discourse. We might as well make it flag football now because that's definitely the near future. The general public is too soft for an actual contact sport to exist outside of video games.
Watching live I felt like Trevor started his slide pretty damn late, which is on him and is a bonehead decision as far as doing your best to protect yourself coming off an injury. Nevertheless, late slide or not, there is no scenario where a LB should be pursuing a QB by launching and leading with a forearm.
This clown would be screaming bloody murder if that had been CJ and not Trevor. Fact. Go sit down already. You are embarrassing knowledgeable Texans fans once again.
No, random mindless Packers troll, I'd be saying he was an idiot for not sliding sooner and protecting himself. QB's deserve to get lit up like a ball carrier if they run the ball like a ball carrier. Honestly I don't know how some of you survived the 80's and 90's... and you damn sure couldn't have survived before that.
