Jerks
Too much ugliness tolerated in NFL
Thursday, October 13, 2005
Bill Livingston
Plain Dealer Columnist
This is what happens when you make leaders of thugs in a league that projects intimidation as the ultimate virtue.
The Baltimore Ravens happen. Twenty-one penalties happen. Two ejections happen. The ugliest scenes happen since Pittsburgh coach Chuck Noll said the Oakland Raiders had a "criminal element."
This is what happens when a football coach like Brian Billick abdicates his responsibility as a disciplinarian, when he talks sociological gobbledygook rather than indicating clearly behavior that won't be tolerated.
In a loss to Detroit Sunday, the Ravens were the most out-of-control team most of us ever saw. Crotch-grabbing, ref-shoving, six personal fouls, three unsportsmanlike conduct penalties, two of those for taunting, and a cuckoo in a pear tree - they were a disgrace.
It recalled the University of Miami's penalty-filled, goon tactics in a Cotton Bowl rout of Texas in 1991. The Hurricanes have always supplied their share and more of the NFL's motorcycle gangs. Two of the Ravens' habitual offenders, Ray Lewis and Ed Reed, are from that program.
In Cleveland, we had a small taste of such posturing during the Butch Davis era. Unlike the Ravens, a contending team for years, and the old Raiders, it was mostly bluster here. The Davis Browns came up even shorter than Jerry Glanville's Houston Oilers of the 1980s, who talked the talk to filibuster lengths, but seldom walked the walk.
The NBA always gets the reputation among fans as a showcase for poor behavior. The players aren't armored and helmeted, can be seen at close range, and are given to making ditzy statements while sitting for their latest tattoo.
The NFL just puts a better front on things, though.
There are plenty of coaches who say one thing and do another. Somebody give Kansas City's Dick Vermeil a hanky, so he can wipe his teary eyes. Big character guy, Vermeil - when he's not drafting a woman beater like Lawrence Phillips or welcoming back with open arms a drunk driver who killed someone like Leonard Little.
In Baltimore, Ray Lewis, who pleaded guilty to obstruction of justice in a double murder case, and Jamal Lewis, who did jail time on drug conspiracy charges, are the team leaders. Ray Lewis thrives on his "gangsta" image.
It is a destructive method of projecting toughness. It is given glamour by people who should be role models.
The Ravens take their cues from Ray Lewis, who was the NFL's best defensive player for years, although Reed was last season. Ray Lewis is always in someone's face on the field, whipping himself into a froth.
Billick hides behind psychobabble, invoking the magic concept of "diversity" in excusing the inexcusable.
There has been nothing but silence from Ozzie Newsome, the former Brown who is the general manager.
The NFL, which made an icon of Ray Lewis, fined Terrell Suggs and Reed $15,000 each Wednesday for making contact with an official. B.J. Ward, ejected along with Suggs, avoided Paul Tagliabue's wrath entirely. The laughable commissioner hit New Orleans harder when he slapped the devastated city in the face and made the Saints play a "home" game on the road.
At 1-3 and in the apparent throes of a conniption, the Ravens next play the team from the city they deserted. The Browns better watch their backs.
To reach this Plain Dealer columnist:
blivingston@plaind.com, 216-999-5754
Thursday, October 13, 2005
Bill Livingston
Plain Dealer Columnist
This is what happens when you make leaders of thugs in a league that projects intimidation as the ultimate virtue.
The Baltimore Ravens happen. Twenty-one penalties happen. Two ejections happen. The ugliest scenes happen since Pittsburgh coach Chuck Noll said the Oakland Raiders had a "criminal element."
This is what happens when a football coach like Brian Billick abdicates his responsibility as a disciplinarian, when he talks sociological gobbledygook rather than indicating clearly behavior that won't be tolerated.
In a loss to Detroit Sunday, the Ravens were the most out-of-control team most of us ever saw. Crotch-grabbing, ref-shoving, six personal fouls, three unsportsmanlike conduct penalties, two of those for taunting, and a cuckoo in a pear tree - they were a disgrace.
It recalled the University of Miami's penalty-filled, goon tactics in a Cotton Bowl rout of Texas in 1991. The Hurricanes have always supplied their share and more of the NFL's motorcycle gangs. Two of the Ravens' habitual offenders, Ray Lewis and Ed Reed, are from that program.
In Cleveland, we had a small taste of such posturing during the Butch Davis era. Unlike the Ravens, a contending team for years, and the old Raiders, it was mostly bluster here. The Davis Browns came up even shorter than Jerry Glanville's Houston Oilers of the 1980s, who talked the talk to filibuster lengths, but seldom walked the walk.
The NBA always gets the reputation among fans as a showcase for poor behavior. The players aren't armored and helmeted, can be seen at close range, and are given to making ditzy statements while sitting for their latest tattoo.
The NFL just puts a better front on things, though.
There are plenty of coaches who say one thing and do another. Somebody give Kansas City's Dick Vermeil a hanky, so he can wipe his teary eyes. Big character guy, Vermeil - when he's not drafting a woman beater like Lawrence Phillips or welcoming back with open arms a drunk driver who killed someone like Leonard Little.
In Baltimore, Ray Lewis, who pleaded guilty to obstruction of justice in a double murder case, and Jamal Lewis, who did jail time on drug conspiracy charges, are the team leaders. Ray Lewis thrives on his "gangsta" image.
It is a destructive method of projecting toughness. It is given glamour by people who should be role models.
The Ravens take their cues from Ray Lewis, who was the NFL's best defensive player for years, although Reed was last season. Ray Lewis is always in someone's face on the field, whipping himself into a froth.
Billick hides behind psychobabble, invoking the magic concept of "diversity" in excusing the inexcusable.
There has been nothing but silence from Ozzie Newsome, the former Brown who is the general manager.
The NFL, which made an icon of Ray Lewis, fined Terrell Suggs and Reed $15,000 each Wednesday for making contact with an official. B.J. Ward, ejected along with Suggs, avoided Paul Tagliabue's wrath entirely. The laughable commissioner hit New Orleans harder when he slapped the devastated city in the face and made the Saints play a "home" game on the road.
At 1-3 and in the apparent throes of a conniption, the Ravens next play the team from the city they deserted. The Browns better watch their backs.
To reach this Plain Dealer columnist:
blivingston@plaind.com, 216-999-5754
posted by Mos at 3:36 PM
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