Texans hope Antonio Smith's suspension will be reduced The Houston Texans are bracing for the absence of defensive tackle Antonio Smith in the regular-season opener while holding out hope his suspension could be reduced on appeal, a person with knowledge of the situation told USA TODAY Sports on Tuesday. ... A person with knowledge of the review process told USA TODAY Sports earlier Tuesday the NFL was weighing a fine coming in lieu of a suspension for Smith, who would forfeit 1/17th of his $6 million base salary – a hefty sum of $352,941 – if forced to miss a regular-season game.
Smith's appeal should include the following. The ref 5 yards away did not deem the act malicious enough for a penalty. That's it!
No, it's not just the intent. Imagine two scenarios, either in the NFL/NBA or in a court of law -- whichever you wish. In one, a person wildly swings a punch in the general direction of someone else and misses. In another, a guy lands the punch square on another person's face and inflicts damage. Do you really think the discipline would be the same for those two scenarios? Sorry, the fact that the "swing" missed is a pretty important distinction.
Actually while the ref was 5 yards away, the ref was not looking at those two and he was not supposed to be looking at them. As soon as smith was double teamed and the pass play went away from his side, the ref's eyes were supposed to follow the play away from his side. This is why it appears that the ref ignored it, when actually the ref had just looked away from smith and followed the actual play. The ref did exactly what he was supposed to.
I think it's pretty clear from the NFL's disciplinary past that intent plays nothing into their punishments. They look at the action itself, the result of the action, the history of the players involved, and also the precedent (if there is one).
Isn't there a ref that starts at the sideline that should have been looking that direction, or am I mistaken?
This is not a court of law. And to answer your question, yes those should be punished equally if the goal is to protect those the action would hurt.
Not saying that the league is right here but something tells me that had he connected with Smith's head the suspension would have been a lot more than 1 regular season game.
Not sure where all this arguing is coming from...the matter is very simple. You hit the guy and you miss the guy result in two very different punishments. It's as easy as that.
No but attempted murder is worse than assault. Regardless, it doesn't apply here. A replay I saw last night on local news made it seem (IMO) Smith wasn't actually trying to hit him in the head. It isn't even worth arguing Smith is lucky he didn't hit Incognito.
Sorry, it does. Are you saying that a player who wildly swings a punch and misses should face the same discipline as, say, Kermit Washington after the Rudy T incident? You and I both know that would never happen. It's ridiculous to even suggest.
forget intent, i heard antonio had dreams about smashing incognito. for those thoughts alone he should be suspended.
Yes, if your goal is to protect the players from injury. The rest of your comment isn't differentiating between what will be done and what should be done.
