Seahawks wide receiver Golden Tate was fined $21,000 for blindsiding the Dallas Cowboys’ linebacker Sean Lee in a Week 2 matchup, according to Tim MacMahon of ESPN.com: “I knew that I didn’t hit him in his helmet,†Tate said after the game. “I hit him somewhere down here [at chest level]. But the rules change so much that you never really know.†The crown of Tate’s helmet hit Lee in the chest and chin in Seattle’s 27-7 win over Dallas. The hit was illegal because it was a blindside block; Lee was considered a defenseless player in the eyes of the NFL because he didn’t see the block coming. After he was hit, he was seen on his back with his feet in the air and was taken off the field to be evaluated for a concussion. Cowboys owner Jerry Jones said he expected Tate to be fined. Source: Sports Illustrated
So now youre not allowed to block anyone unless they are looking directly at you? Passrushers take note.
Oh yeah... TOTALLY clean... lol. Screw, Lee is VERY lucky he walked away from that without a broken jaw.
So I take this to mean that if a RB takes the handoff and looks away from oncoming tacklers as he runs then he cant be touched, right? You tackle him when hes not looking in your direction then hes defenseless and that would be illegal, right?
Runnings backs are going to start running backwards and sideways and crap. Ahhhh damn. But for real, should've been a penalty and probably a fine but 21,000? Let's be real.
Not for nothing but I give Tate props for attempting to hit him in the chest, unfortunately his head slid up unto his chin.
They always say "get your head in front." It's in front...lol. He definitely didn't launch himself as some of the critics gave said he did.
oh well. this was the hit we got to debate this week........... i'm sure there will be yet another this weekend that we will debate whether it was clean or not. seems like there's one every week.