For his "dirty bird" play this past weekend in a matchup versus the Philadelphia eagles, Falcons Cornerback Dunta Robinson has been fined $40,000. This is Robinson’s 2nd offense, as his 1st occurred last year vs. the Eagles when he hit and injured eagle’s star wide receiver Desean Jackson.
I was watching both of these occurrences and I was just as appalled and infuriated this time as I was last time. I remember Jumping out of my seat last year after Robinson virtually teed off on Desean Jackson before Jackson even had a chance to finish catching the ball. This past week was eerily similar as Robinson (leading with his helmet) haphazardly threw himself at Maclin after a catch in the 3rd quarter.
While this time the receiver did have a small opportunity to see Robinson coming, and no one was injured on the play, the outcome could have been disastrous. Maybe Robinson can’t remember that last year when he did the same thing he also was injured. Of course the fact that it was a head injury could explain this lapse in judgment last week, when he decided to go all “Sean Taylor” on Maclin.
In a post-game interview Jackson and Maclin both expressed their disapproval of the play. Jackson voiced his concern for his comrade and said that Robinson is the kind of guy that “goes for the kill shot.” Robinson defended his play by saying that Maclin was not a defenseless recieceiver like Jackson was. According to the rules Robinson would be in the right if Maclin was a “runner”, but in order for that to happen he would have had time to make a “football move.”
Dunta Robinson also was quoted as saying "This is a physical football game. That's the way I play. If I don't play that way, I wouldn't make it in this league. I definitely didn't think it was a dirty play. I'm not a dirty player. I don't go out there and hit players illegally." My response to this… if u can’t make It in the league without taking cheap shots then we don’t need you. You can still be very physical without playing dirty.
PERFECT example of a clean hard hit from preseason: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CGStA4bhn0k&feature=related
HOF safety and one of my all-time faves Ronnie Lott responded to questions on Dunta’s hit; "The art of tackling is to use your shoulders, your hands, and you're supposed to be able to see the target,"
Many of the falcons players actually seemed to play like a bunch of thugs last week though that has nothing to do with the outcome, the eagles should have won by about a td or so anyways. This may lead to the re-definition of the term “dirty bird”.
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