The NFL did something than other sports *cough* have been lacking for a long time:
You fake an injury, the NFL comes down on you for it.
This raises a few questions.
What prompted this rule? Has faking injuries been a big problem? Usually this kind of thing is reactionary, but a few guys have torn ACLs so far. Tough to fake that. On Sunday night, Dunta Robinson headbutted Jeremy Maclin across the face and Maclin went down in a heap… and was in the next play. But that’s not diving, that’s reacting to Dunta Robinson blatantly headbutting you in the side of your face. So that’s out. Michael Vick went out with a concussion, the least visible injury in sports… but like hell they’re going to legislate something to protect Michael Vick.
Speaking of double standards, think of every player you know of in the NFL that fakes getting hurt. Let me guess, you thought of Tom Brady and that’s about it, right? Yeah, me too. I think we all know the league is not going to make a rule for the sake of going AGAINST the beck and call of the mighty Tom Brady.
Now, how do you determine what is a faked injury? Ben took a von-Oelhoffen to the side of his leg on Sunday and went down. Came back two plays later. Was that a fake? That probably hurt for real and there’s no reason to fake an injury there. What if Jeremy Maclin DID stay down on purpose? What would he have done that for? That doesn’t really help anyone, unless you can get a guy ejected from a game. And good luck with that, it happens almost never.
So what if they decided Vick was faking it on Sunday (for whatever reason) and fined him on Monday… and he gets diagnosed with a concussion on Tuesday? That’s an awkward email to write. “Hey, we heard about your, uh, problem, and we sent you a check. Sorry bro.”
Really, the only time anyone should bother faking an injury is when the defense is trying to get a breather protecting a 3-point lead with 32 seconds to go. So someone gets the wind knocked out of them and there’s an injury timeout. Is that worth a suspension or a loss of a draft pick? Yikes.
All that said, I love the message this rule sends. I get the impression Ray Anderson watched a soccer game, or any game footage of the 2011 Vancouver Canucks, and was appalled at what he saw. Right now the league just stepped up and said, “This sport is for men. If you aren’t going to play like a man, you aren’t going to play.” It’s a nice message to reassure football fans, I think.
Even in though it’s in writing, I doubt this will really be enforced. This feels like more a message-sending than an actual rule change. This won’t put a stop to Brady doing what he does, and like hell they’re going to suspend Tom Brady ever, for anything. He can just ask the league not to, and they’ll suspend James Harrison instead.
So besides Brady, this kind of rule should keep our favorite game just a little bit ahead of the other major sports in the “integrity” department. Hockey, soccer, basketball (probably), you’ve got some catching up to do.
