OK well its not a chop block ... that is an illegal play where you cut someone below the waste when they are engaged with another one of your teammates. TJ was not engaged with anyone. It was a block below the waist and from my interpretation for the NFL, it is still illegal because it was essentially in the open field. If its like most levels of football, the block below the waist is only legal in the free blocking zone (which is between the tackles and 3 yards both sides of the line of scrimmage), and the ball still must be in the zone ... hence, it definitely should have been called a block below the waist and was a very dangerous play for TJ (and obviously didn't work out to well for Trent Green either). That said, TJ is still an idiot for the taunt of a man that was laying there pretty much motionless.
Ditto. "... At 12:01 I had a lot of respect for Trent Green, you know what I'm saying, but at about 12:20 I said f**k Trent Green." What the hell...
Green was trying to break TJs knee...wouldn't you be angry? Fat TJ was not going to get to Ginn but Green (who is known to push things to the edge) made an unnecessary blindsided block aimed at TJs knees. It sucks that it resulted in a concussion but hes gotten them before because he tried to go too far...and this time he stepped too far...sorry not much sympathy. Green is the type of guy who tries to portray to people that he is this all good tough guy. The way he and his agent spun the story in KC to the late slide on his last concussion to the unnecessary block on TJ. TJ probably should have just kept his mouth shut and pray to god that his career wasn't cut short because of a self righteous Green who made a dumb decision.
Yes, I'm sure that's what he was thinking. "Hey, here's this 300 pound dude coming at me. I know I have this problem with concussions, but let me try to ram my head into his knee to break it!". Brilliant.
Exactly. Much like I'd have trouble feeling sympathy for someone who breaks their hand by punching someone in the face, I have trouble mustering a lot of sympathy for someone who gets a concussion trying to severely injure another player on the field. Folks can justify what Green did all they want, but he was aiming for Johnson's knees, which makes him at least as much a scumbag as someone who "taunts" an injured player. Green got what he gave.
Green was going for his knees. He's a football player. He knew what he was doing. Johnson should have no remorse.
Going for the knees on blocks is a dirty tactic that pretty much all linemen go nuts over. TJ overreacted obviously, but the NFL is a tough biz. Plus a lot of these guys are batsh*t insane already, when they perceive a guy as doing something that might end their career, it's not surprise that they go off.
It was an incredibly dangerous play by Trent Green. When I saw it, the first thing I said was "Oh crap, is Travis Johnson okay?" because going at a 300 pound lineman's knee is a career-ending injury waiting to happen. I've been on the receiving end of blocks like that in high school, and every single time I had to limp away and walk it off, sometimes going through days of pain. It's the reason I stopped playing football. Green was trying to make a block, right, okay, but the play was broken, Ginn was going nowhere, and his block was stupid, ill-advised, probably illegal, and most of all dangerous. Green suffered the consequences of a poor decision on his part. Travis Johnson had every right to be angry, I would be too. Now, Travis Johnson was in the wrong for the taunting, but in the heat of the moment, I can forgive that. Now, what he said after the game is a different story. I can definitely understand his feelings. Any man does that to me and I'd say "F*** him" too, but not on TV. Not on camera right after the man was carried off on a stretcher. You HAVE to have more sense than that. You simply cannot do things like that. I fully expect a fine from the NFL. But as far the play and emotions go, I agree with Travis Johnson. His post-game words? No. Never.
Before this weekend, I would never have guessed we could have a thread on Travis Johnson that wasn't about what a bust he's been.
Interesting perspective (with historical reference) from McClane: What if you were Trent Green or Travis Johnson; what would you have done? YOU'RE CHIEFS (WTH?) QUARTERBACK TRENT GREEN. Your team is 0-4. You're trailing 7-3 in the first quarter against the Texans at Reliant Stadium. Your defense intercepts a pass and gives you possession at the Texans' 25. On first down, your coach, Cam Cameron, calls for a reverse to rookie receiver Ted Ginn Jr., who has been terrible through the first quarter of the season. You think, "Well, if this catches the defense off guard, the kid's quick and fast enough to get around the corner, so let's see what he can do." As the play unfolds and Ginn is running to his left, he fumbles the ball near the sideline. You think the ball might go out of bounds, so you're already looking ahead to second down. But then you see the kid pick up the ball, and the Texans are closing in. Then he reverses his field and actually retreats, and you're thinking this is going to be second-and-real long. But Ginn picks up a block and then another, and you think he's got a chance. You're standing in the middle of the field, and your teammates are trying to make blocks to free up the rookie going the other way. You look around, you see defensive players closing in. Here comes one close enough for you to take on, so you better hit him low or you're going to get flattened. But Green is a quarterback, a 37-year-old quarterback who's not used to blocking. He has a split second to make a decision. He goes low at a 305-pound defensive tackle going full speed. The tackle's watching Ginn, not the quarterback. Green goes for the tackle's knees and foolishly leads with his head and - boom - his head hits the tackle's right knee, and everything fades to black for the quarterback. He's out cold. YOU'RE TEXANS DEFENSIVE TACKLE TRAVIS JOHNSON. You've watched Ginn reverse his field. You turn to chase him. You see teammates getting blocked. You've got an angle on Ginn. You know he's superfast, but you also think you've got a shot. You have a split second to make a decision. You suffered two injuries last season, and the head coach told you that you were down to your last chance to stay healthy. You worked so hard in the offseason to get into peak physical condition. You worked your way into the starting lineup. You've been healthy. And now you're chasing a first-round pick who's one of the fastest players in the NFL. You think you might have a chance to chase him into another defensive player or two who can bring him down or force him out of bounds. Just when you get up a full head of steam, someone shoots into your peripheral vision, but before you can turn your head to try to avoid them, you feel this terrible pain in your right knee, and the next thing you know you're in the air looking at the video screen at the end of the stadium upside down. When you come down on your head you wonder if your neck is broken. You don't have time to react to the pain in your knee or your neck. You jump up and chase the play, and when you see Ginn has been taken down, you lose it. You think about your career could have been over with a neck injury. Your season could have been over with a knee injury. You turn and look around at who hit your knee, and you see quarterback Trent Green on the ground. You run over and scream at him two times and walk away. You don't know he's out cold. You don't care, either. All you know is that he went after your knee and could have ended your career. You think about your daughter and your family, and anger pours out at Green. Then you see a yellow flag. You've been penalized 15 yards for taunting, giving the opponent a first down at the Texans' 25-yard line, negating a 15-yard loss by Ginn. You see the quarterback lying prone, out cold. You see the cart coming out to get him. You see him being immobilized. You see his teammates praying. But one tells you Green is talking and moving his arms and legs, but you're still so angry you think the quarterback got what he deserved after the cheap shot he put on you. You're Travis Johnson and you hope Trent Green is okay, but there's this searing pain in your right knee. And your neck is starting to get stiff. You tell the doctors and trainers you can keep playing, and you do. • • • Trent Green had a split second to react, and he went low at Travis Johnson. His career could be over because he led with his head, and it hit Johnson's right knee. Considering the severe concussion Green suffered in Kansas City's opener last season, you wonder how many more he can withstand. Travis Johnson had a split second to react, and he went ballistic at Green. Johnson was scared because of what could have happened. When Johnson went over to Green and yelled at him, it looked terrible because Green was out cold. Johnson walked away, but it was too late to avoid the penalty. The block and the taunt will be shown hundreds of times this week around the country. Johnson will be the bad guy. He knows it. He doesn't care. He just wishes fans would try to see his side of it. He believes he was blocked illegally - a shot that could have ended his career. Anyone who watches the play sees Johnson flip into the air and come down on his head. Johnson isn't looking for sympathy, just understanding. Try to put yourself in my shoes, he said. Johnson will undergo an MRI on Tuesday because there's a clicking in his sore knee. He apologized after the game. The first time he met with reporters, he ripped Green. Later, he settle down and tried to explain himself. • • • The Johnson-Green incident reminded me of an Oilers-Steelers prime-time game in the Astrodome. Do you remember linebacker Mike Barrow pounding Pittsburgh quarterback Mike Tomczak? When the telecast returned from a commercial, it showed Barrow having Tomczak in a headlock. Barrow was throwing punches at the quarterback's face. Naturally, Barrow was the bad guy. What would have incited him to be so vicious, the announcers asked? Later that week, the Oilers leaked a team shot from the end zone that showed exactly what set off Barrow. The defense forced a turnover. One of the Oilers was returning it down the sideline. Barrow was trotting along behind the play, as if minding his own business. Tomczak was running next to him. Obviously frustrated from throwing the interception, Tomczak just decided to cut Barrow at his left knee. When Barrow got off the ground, he went ballistic. He went after the quarterback and got him in the headlock. Even Barrow's mother, who saw the game on television, was critical of her son for picking on poor old Tomczak. But the fans were more understanding a few days later when they saw what Tomczak did to precipitate the fight. If you're an offensive player and you go for a defensive player's knees, you have to be ready for the consequences. But you don't have to be ready to be taunted when you're out cold. Johnson's reaction was understandable. He was angry. He didn't know Green was out cold. If he had to do it over again, he would have walked away. Johnson also knows he could have handled it better in the dressing room when he initially ripped Green before regaining his composure.
I understand, and I think it may come down to people who have played football, at least at a high school level, and have been injured by someone doing. I understand his reaction on the field. He turned around, looked for Green, and yelled angrily at him. It wasn't like he had just knocked him out himself and got up and danced around his lifeless body... I don't understand the post game comments. That was dumb. I think he realized that, later...
Actually the anatomical chocie with reguards to a chop block would be to use the shoulders. It's not using your head dip s*it. BTW, QB are supposed to be smarter than that. You can say what you want at the end of the day Green threw an illegal block. ILLEGAL...not semi-Illegal. Kids? Why is it illegal? ALL TOGETHER NOW...cause it injures people.
uh.... not really. Most QBs do NOT try to clip a 300 pounder.... The sad part is this: someone that I am currently tutoring is in the football team for a local High School. I was mentioning how people are diving for tackles a lot and I was told this: "The Coach taught us to dive at the knee..." The tutoring session went off topic for the next two hours....
"God Don't like ugly" Translation - "Trent Green got what he deserved." Terrible comments considering the situation. I can understand that he's upset because Trent Green tried to undercut him, but when Green was taken off the field in a stretcher, immobilized and you're sitting there saying "**** him thats what you get" you're probably a thug of a human being and most likely played football for Bobby Bowden. And that is probably more of Florida State Football's fault than anything, Johnson is just a typical product of his environment. I'm not saying he's nothing more than a street thug and isn't a decent guy (Andre Ware is going to bat for him as we speak) But you have to use your ****ing head in a situation like that. Keep your opinions to yourself because even if you have a reason to be upset you can't honestly think the media is going to side with you when you weren't the one out cold on the field. You've got to see how standing over Trent Green's career and saying anything at that moment is going to paint you as the bad guy.
