Vontaze Burfict is facing yet another suspension for an illegal hit, and the Cincinnati Bengals linebacker is furious with the NFL over it.
Burfict, who is on the verge of being banned for the first five games of the season for a hit on Kansas City Chiefs running back Anthony Sherman, ripped the league and NFL vice president of football operations Jon Runyan in a text to ESPN’s Josina Anderson.
Texts this morning on Vontaze Burfict facing 5-game suspension: "The NFL and Runyan are ridiculous." #Bengals
— Josina Anderson (@JosinaAnderson) August 28, 2017
Texts this am on V. Burfict facing 5G susp: "Anytime u have to slow down play to see if (it's illegal) maybe not how game should be judged."
— Josina Anderson (@JosinaAnderson) August 28, 2017
Sherman wasn’t the intended receiver on the play where Burfict hit him, but Chiefs quarterback Alex Smith pump-faked and drew Burfict in. As Ben Volin of the Boston Globe notes, the NFL passed a rule in March that further defined how “defenseless” receivers will be protected. A hit no longer has to involve contact to the head and shoulders area to be considered illegal, though Burfict insists Sherman had no issue with it.
“We feel like this was a legal hit. I hit him in the shoulder,” Burfict said, via the Bengals’ official website. “I hit hard, so it may have looked like I hit him in the head, but it was the shoulder. I helped him up and he said he was good and I asked if he was good on the next series and he said, ‘Yeah, that was a legal hit.’”
Here’s a video of the play:
Burfict pic.twitter.com/kGr0zh6llw
— Josh Cohen (@jco3215) August 20, 2017
Of course, Burfict has not earned the benefit of the doubt. The 26-year-old has been fined roughly $800,000 and flagged 16 times for unnecessary roughness and roughing the passer during his five-year NFL career. Because of his history of delivering cheap shots at opponents, Burfict is treated as a repeat offender.
