Whitner fined $21K for hit on Chris Givens, will appeal fine

[threelittleturds]

Whitner says he?s changing his name | ProFootballTalk

$28 a shirt? Ha ha, is he trying to get the 49ers fans to foot the bill for his fine? He'd only need 750 fans to buy one to reach $21,000. I guess I should subtract the cost of making the shirts though huh.. say $10 per shirt? So, I guess he would need 1,167 fans to pay for his fine.

 

[David_son]

i can see the leagues point, he made contact with the head, but whitner looks like he was trying to hold back from actually hitting him. if whitner ran through givens i don't think givens would know what planet he's on.

but he wasnt called for Helmet to Helmet it was hitting a defenseless receiver. How are you suppose to hit him. are you just suppose to allow the receiver to catch the ball are they that hard pressed for offense in the NFL>

 

[Flyingiguana]

but he wasnt called for Helmet to Helmet it was hitting a defenseless receiver. How are you suppose to hit him. are you just suppose to allow the receiver to catch the ball are they that hard pressed for offense in the NFL>

ya i think the league should take info consideration that whitner hit him just hard enough to dislodge the ball and not givens mellon.

 

[ChrisPozz]

Mike Sando:

49ers' Donte Whitner dropped the W from his last name. Expecting Seahawks to claim it off waivers.

Not hilarious, but not bad.

 

[Flyingiguana]

Mike Sando:

49ers' Donte Whitner dropped the W from his last name. Expecting Seahawks to claim it off waivers.

Not hilarious, but not bad.

lol

 

[RoboticDreams]

That's exactly what he's doing. When you get sued for $765 million dollars (with other lawsuits pending), you get a little paranoid about things that could give people a reason to sue you.

100% the fault of the assholes who sued the NFL.

 

[BINGO]

49ers' Vic Fangio: Quarterbacks should share blame in illegal-hit fines - San Jose Mercury News

 

[Kinzu]

Mike Sando:

49ers' Donte Whitner dropped the W from his last name. Expecting Seahawks to claim it off waivers.

Not hilarious, but not bad.

 

[darken65]

but he wasnt called for Helmet to Helmet it was hitting a defenseless receiver. How are you suppose to hit him. are you just suppose to allow the receiver to catch the ball are they that hard pressed for offense in the NFL>

Welcome to the new NFL. It only gets worse from here. This situation IMO is not about the safety of the players (they are going down like flies this season). It is about money. Fine the players (mostly defense) boost ratings by higher scoring games. Ten years ago this would be a non call for any ref. Anybody who ever played this game....even in back yard...knows it happens fast. I give Whitner credit for attempting to move away as not hit him in the head ,I wouldn't have been able to.

 

[Kinzu]

Ronnie Lott would have shown Givens a brief flash of his life before putting him on the IR and it would have been a top 10 Sportscenter play. The league has certainly changed.

 

[darken65]

Ronnie Lott would have shown Givens a brief flash of his life before putting him on the IR and it would have been a top 10 Sportscenter play. The league has certainly changed.

If Lott ( my favorite 9er of all time) had been there...for sure Givens would be have been unconscious and carried off of the field...and no penalty back when he played.

 

[HighTopFade]

Review all 15 yard penalties. It couldn't take too much time. Some roughing the passer penalties are ridiculous. And the guy who usually starts the fight doesn't get caught.

 

[darken65]

Review all 15 yard penalties. It couldn't take too much time. Some roughing the passer penalties are ridiculous. And the guy who usually starts the fight doesn't get caught.

I'm not sure how reviewing this play would have mattered since he is being fined. Fines happen well after the game is played. One of the worst penalties that should be changed is the pass interference. It should only be a ten yard penalty...not a spot on the where it happened. It wont happen because points make ratings.

 

[Xponentialchaos]

ya i think the league should take info consideration that whitner hit him just hard enough to dislodge the ball and not givens mellon.

Hitting too hard shouldn't be a penalty.

 

[Xponentialchaos]

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vlv6BrrxD_4]South Park - Sarcastaball - YouTube[/ame]

 

[fastforward]

So hitting someone in the head with your shoulder is illegal?? That is stupid.

I was at the game on the other side of the field so I didn't get a good look at the hit but it looked bad from where I was sitting. But Whitner turned his head to avoid the head to head contact and still gets a penalty and fined. Bullshit. Was he suppose to just let him get a TD???

Here are the 3 stories from NFL.com in 2011:

Illegal hits draw more scrutiny; replays, kickoffs under review - NFL.com

Owners unanimous in passing changes to three rules - NFL.com

Teams that commit multiple flagrant hits will face sanctions - NFL.com

I'm not saying I like all these rules or that they're good. I'm re-posting the stories so people can comment without saying that rules they haven't seen, or heard of, are bullshit. I'll answer this question for you: 'Was he suppose to just let him get a TD?' - Yes! He was...and so is every opponent that the 49ers WRs face as well. The objective is to prevent head injuries even if the balance between offense and defense is sacrificed. Again i'm not agreeing with it. Whitner didn't intend to hit Givens in the head, but he did hit him in the head and he's ultimately responsible for that. That doesn't make him a bad or dirty player. I can empathise with Whitner because he's aiming low. However, the guidance is wrap/tackle and he didn't do that.

 

[darken65]

Here are the 3 stories from NFL.com in 2011:

Illegal hits draw more scrutiny; replays, kickoffs under review - NFL.com

Owners unanimous in passing changes to three rules - NFL.com

Teams that commit multiple flagrant hits will face sanctions - NFL.com

I'm not saying I like all these rules or that they're good. I'm re-posting the stories so people can comment without saying that rules they haven't seen, or heard of, are bullshit. I'll answer this question for you: 'Was he suppose to just let him get a TD?' - Yes! He was...and so is every opponent that the 49ers WRs face as well. The objective is to prevent head injuries even if the balance between offense and defense is sacrificed. Again i'm not agreeing with it. Whitner didn't intend to hit Givens in the head, but he did hit him in the head and he's ultimately responsible for that. That doesn't make him a bad or dirty player. I can empathise with Whitner because he's aiming low. However, the guidance is wrap/tackle and he didn't do that.

Nobody wraps or tackles in the endzone. They try to ruin the play.Nobody on this planet can change where they are at in a second's' notice.Those threads you posted are recent and I get that.Goodell and the recent era. How have they helped players getting injured? Name a few.

 

[HighTopFade]

Blame the quarterback. That ball shouldn't have been thrown. Quarterbacks get credit when they thread a needle into a great completion between three defenders. But can't take blame for a play gone wrong.

 

[fastforward]

Nobody wraps or tackles in the endzone. They try to ruin the play.Nobody on this planet can change where they are at in a second's' notice.Those threads you posted are recent and I get that.Goodell and the recent era. How have they helped players getting injured? Name a few.

Not disagreeing with you at all. I like what the NFL is trying to do but I don't like some of the language in the rules and I don't agree with the judgements in every case. If a WR falls to the left a defender could hit his head, get a penalty, and receive a fine. If the WR falls to the right the defender hits him legally and everyone says 'Wow!'. The defender hasn't done anything different and the results shouldn't be poles apart. I didn't write the rules and i'm not determining if someone gets fined. I think Whitner is unlucky here and the fine is harsh. I don't want to look through his history as that could cloud my judgement of this incident. I can't name anyone that has been helped by this rule and I never will be able to. It's impossible to determine which hit caused a brain injury since the injury might not become apparent for decades. If the rules end up with a few more TDs and a few less brain injuries i'll happily live with that result.
I can understand people hating the rules and hating the reduction of legal violence. Everyone loves a great hit. I can understand people disagreeing with the NFL's decisions regarding fines. People saying a fine is bullshit because the hit was with the shoulder not the helmet is what annoys me because the rules have been clear for some time.
If a defender on my team made that play in the endzone I wouldn't be upset and i'd accept the penalty. If the same defender made the same play on a 3 yard reception on 3rd & 20 at midfield i'd be extremely pissed at him. The NFL can't, (or shouldn't), make different rules for the same play which is why we end up with cases like this. The bottom line is Whitner makes a play that breaks the rules and is subject to league discipline. Wince and move on.

 

[threelittleturds]

The NFL wants to completely eliminate hits to the head. Fine. So the officials are encouraged to err on the side of caution and just flag any hit to the head. Fine.

My stance on officiating is always the same. Call it both ways. I get that they don't want hits to the head, but if they are quick to flag Whitner and the 49ers for a hit to the head, that motherfucking flag better drop the second an opponent hits a 49er in the head.