Sometimes a 15-yard unsportsmanlike conduct penalty just won’t cut it. As a coach, you have to make a tough decision every once in a while to bench a player who makes an undisciplined mistake during a game. In fact, there are times when benching a player isn’t even enough. When something like that happens, Tampa Bay head coach Raheem Morris isn’t afraid to kick his own players out of the game. Morris showed us that on Sunday when he sent defensive tackle Brian Price to the locker room following Price’s unnecessary roughness penalty that cost the Bucs 15 yards against the Panthers. Morris was not shying in addressing the issue following the game, either.
“Yes, I sent him to the locker room,” Morris explained according to the Tampa Bay Times. “I told him go home. F***. Yeah. Because it’s foolish, it’s selfish to your teammates, to everybody in your organization, to your fans. That’s terrible. That’s just selfish behavior to get a 15-yard penalty, in that situation, when that’s all we talk about, when that’s all we discuss. You just can’t do that to your team.
“When you give up a penalty, after a third-and-15, those are things that are not smart, not fair to anybody on the football team. Not fair to anybody that’s coaching that football team. Those things are unacceptable.”
Talk about embarrassing. I’m sure Price felt humiliated when his coach literally sent him home, but there’s no excuse for dumb penalties like that from a professional athlete. Morris wants his group of guys to embrace toughness and be as “Yungry” as they can be, but he obviously felt the need to make an example out of someone after 12 games of what has been a disappointing season. I’d be willing to bet that’s the last unsportsmanlike conduct penalty you see from Price this year.
