Washington Redskins safety Brandon Meriweather is easily one of the most hated players in the National Football League. He plays recklessly and and is a notorious head-hunter. Most recently, Meriweather was suspended by the league after being flagged for two illegal hits on Brandon Marshall and Alshon Jeffery during a game against the Bears.
After that game, Marshall had strong words for Meriweather.
“Guys like that really don’t understand that there is life after football,” he told reporters, per the Chicago Tribune. “I respect the league trying to better our game and guys like that, maybe he needs to get suspended or taken out of the game completely.”
Meriweather, who returned from suspension on Monday, fired back at Marshall. Chicago’s star wideout has had a number of off-field issues since college, including multiple arrests related to domestic abuse. Meriweather was quick to point that out.
“Listen, everybody’s got their opinion of things, you know,” Meriweather said, via the Richmond Times-Dispatch. “Everybody’s got their opinion. He feels like, you know, I need to be kicked out of the league. I feel like, people who beat their girlfriends should be kicked out of the league too.
“You tell me who you’d rather have: Somebody who plays aggressive on the field, or somebody who beats up their girlfriend. Everybody’s got their opinion. That’s mine. He’s got his.”
While we in no way condone some of the things Marshall has allegedly done, that seems like a fairly irrelevant argument. As for how he is going to play on the field, Meriweather said the NFL has given him no choice but to start ending careers.
“To be honest, man, you’ve just got to go low now,” he said. “You’ve got to end people’s careers, you know? You’ve got to tear people’s ACLs and mess up people’s knees now. You can’t hit them high no more. You’ve just got to go low.”
We know the issue of low hits is one that has picked up steam lately, with at least one future Hall of Famer saying he would rather be hit in the head than the knee. The difference with Meriweather is he launches himself and aims for the head. Most of his hits would have been penalties five years ago, too. There’s a reason players think he’s a scumbag.
H/T Deadspin
