I just find it hilarious how this is either a black or white issue. Either Trent Green is a p***y cheap shot artist or Travis Johnson is a thug with no soul. Here's the real truth of it - It was a ****ty block and Green paid the price for it. What Travis Johnson said after the game was classless and just as bush league as the so called "cheap shot" Green was supposedly trying to deliver. If the Texans play Miami again, I'd watch my knees if I was Travis Johnson.
Trent Green knew he was nothing more than speed bump if he actually tried to block TJ, he chose to dump him. He knew it was the only way he wouldn't end up Sportscenter getting run the hell over. I'm glad a lot of the media is telling this as it should be and giving TJ's side of things unlike the "Worst Player in the NFL" garbage last night. TJ has to better control his emotions especially in the locker room after the game. That said, here's another one for those of you b****ing about what kind of monster would say Trent Green got what he deserved? Well, I'll say it, Trent Green deserved to get knocked tha hell out he didn't get paralyzed or decapitated, he got knocked the hell out; and he deserved it. Glad he is ok, seriously but that was a cheap ass block and we should all be thankful that both guys weren't seriously hurt.
What do you mean you don't get my point.....what is there not to get? Yes, almost everytime a player gets blocked, its because they are going after someone else , but they are blocked high...especially when they don't see it coming. When you're trying to set a block for your own player it's really simple. 1. If the player you're trying to block is larger than you and he doesn't see you coming. Hit him high and knock him off course. If he doesn't see you coming, it evens the odds....it's cheap to chop him by the knees. 2. If the player you're trying to block is larger than you and he SEES you coming, take his big ass out as best as you can. Yes, if that mean going low then so be it.
Agreed. He should have maybe consulted with the officials or with the team after the game and vented his frustrations correctly. Would have been more effective and less damaging in that respect.
Good points. TJ being made the "worst player in the NFL" is a bit melodramatic and unfair. What about Alfred Haynesworth and Jack Tatum? For the longest time if ever, Tatum never apologized in person or in the media for paralyzing Darryl Stingley in 1978. I think THAT qualifies as Worst NFL player EVER!
I don't think we should say Green "got what he deserved," but that it was, obviously, his fault. He caused his own injury by making a foolish play that could have injured someone else.
Very illegal. Block below the waist well outside of the neutral zone. Go read the NFL rulebook, it's clearly stated. And if Trent Green was really so chicken that he couldn't even muster the cojones to give Johnson a honest shove or shoulder hit to at least knock him off course a little bit -- if he had to go low, then he could've swept at the guy's legs with his arms. Helmet to knees ... that was just dirty. I've said before that TJ was a douche for failing to maintain/regain his composure and rise above the situation, but it really is pretty hard to defend Green here, even though I feel somewhat badly for him since it looks like he is the one with the career-ending injury now.
The one thing all major reporters are saying is that it was a legal block but it was a cheap shot. You can block below the waist, that is not an NFL rule. Go read the rulebook. EDIT This is the closest Green's block comes to being illegal. Clearly, Green is not guilty of this.
actually, kubiak was just on 610. he said cut blocks are illegal in the open field on things such as turnovers, where the landscape is greatly and quikly changed for the exact reasons sjackson0 described. and while *technically* not a turnover, it was a fumble and the landscape did change, becoming a wide-open free-for-all. according to kubes, he felt the play should be viewed in that context, which would make green's hit most definitely ILLEGAL.
When I was in playing in college, I was on the punt return team. I was a 230 pound defensive lineman and would be part of the wall that would try to open up a lane down either sideline. When that happened, I would frequently be responsible for peeling back and picking off guys who had made it through the wall. I would often be able to flatten guys with perfectly legal blocks ABOVE THE WAIST on guys who routinely outweighed me by 40-50 lbs. simply because they were "looking somewhere else". Personally, I think cutting someone is cheap and should be illegal (yes I know it isn't). Cut blocks are the quickest way to debilitating knee and leg injuries for players getting blocked, can (as we see in Green's case) backfire and lead to injuries for the blocker as well, and shows a flagrant disregard for the safety of everyone on the field. Johnson was not going to catch Ginn, and Green could have easily bumped TJ off the pursuit or simply "ole" blocked him and slowed him down. Instead he went straight at the knees of someone who he knew didn't see him and couldn't protect himself. Looking at the replay TJ could have gotten hurt much worse on the landing (directly on his head/neck/shoulder) then on the block itself. It was stupid and Green should have known better. Let's say the situation was reversed. What if there was a fumble and Dunta picked it up and was running it back, during which Johnson cut blocked Green at the knees and Green landed on his head (disregard the fact that for some reason cutting is illegal during turnovers but not regular plays). What would happen? Johnson most likely would have been fined for making a dangerous play against a helpless player, and everyone would be saying what a crippling @$$hole TJ was. But, since it's a "helpless" QB who made the block, it's excused because "he didn't know how to block properly". You're telling me that Green, who has probably been playing football for the better part of 25 years, never picked up how to properly block someone? When you get to the NFL level, ignorance is not an excuse.
BTW, it didn't look like TJ was "taunting" Green. It looked like he was more pissed about Green's block and was letting him know about it. He had no way of knowing Green was out and had a concussion. If someone had gone after your legs I'm sure you would want to let them know how displeased you were about the block. That being said, TJ shouldn't have said what he said in the locker room. That was stupid.
It looked to me like Trent Green instinctively went to throw a block and then suddenly he had a "What am I DOING here???" moment and he tried to slide out of the way and then BAM! he collides with Johnson's knee. Travis then flips completely over and it was a miracle from God that he managed to land on his shoulder pads and not his head because had he done so, he would snapped his neck or worse. In that situation I could have understood why he went ballistic because there had to be visions of Kevin Everett in his head as he was flying through the air. He was scared. Anyone would have been scared in that situation. But that said, Johnson has played enough football to know that on kickoffs and reverses and such, players get blindsided all of the time because they get blocked from the side by a guy they never see coming who literally comes out of nowhere and blocks them while their attention is on the ball carrier. When he saw that he was OK, he should have been thanking God for seeing him through adversity. When he saw Green lying motionless on the turf his anger should have turned to concern because the guy was lying there deathly still. He looked dead and you could see the terror in the eyes of the other players as they knelt in prayer. Instead Johnson showed exactly what he's made of - first on the field where his actions helped the other team score 7 points and then in the locker room when he should have been composed by that time. You take this incident along with his act at last year's Cowboys game and that just about finishes it for me with him. Next year he should be gone - he's had enough chances to justify being a number 1 pick. He should be known for making plays on the field and not sound bytes for the Football Follies. I am also surprised and extremely disappointed at the folks here who would condone any behavior from their team as long as it's winning games - folks who want to celebrate Johnson for being a public ass. Do any of you actually believe that his actions yesterday will give the national media anything more than another excuse to disrespect this franchise? Things like this happen in football all the time - it's inherent to the nature of the game. This time it happened to Trent Green. Next time, that could easily be Matt Schaub lying motionless on the turf with his career, if not his life, in jeopardy.
He would probably be able to block someone his own size...blocking someone as big as TJ is difficult to do when you are the size of a QB. Add to it that TJ was running full steam while Green was basically stationary, and youve got a situation where Green was gonna get hurt regardless of how he would try to block TJ. I think Green's used poor judgment. But, given how quickly things were happening on that play, I dont think you can really fault Green for going low, instead of high.
Here it is: http://blogmedia.thenewstribune.com/media/2006 NFL RULEBOOK.pdf Where is it clearly stated? Nowhere is the neutral zone referenced in regards to cut blocks.
F-k trent green. At least the Texans players are finally interesting now. I have been waiting for this for YEARS
