The worst display of sportsmanship I have ever seen
This is from yesterday’s Dallas-Tennessee game. You can’t see what happens until they show the replay about 3/4s of the way in. But it clearly shows Albert Hayneworth reach down and loosen Andre Gurode’s chinstrap, kick off his helmet, and then stomp on his face. Defensive linemen wear huge cleats when they play on grass. It took 30 stitches to heal wounds all around his eye. As of the last I heard his vision is still blurry. Haynesworth had this to say after the game:
“What I’d like to say is that I’m very sorry. I apologize to Andre. What I did was disgusting. It’s something that should never happen. I mean, I’m not a dirty player. I don’t play dirty. I have respect for the game. What I feel like is I disgraced the game, disgraced my team and disgraced my last name. … When I was sitting here in the locker room when the game was going on, I was looking at my phone, which has my kids on it. I don’t want them to have my last name and to think their dad is a dirty player, because I don’t play that way. … What I did was disgusting. It doesn’t matter what the league does to me.”
Given the benefit of the doubt that he is sorry, he is still a dirty player. You don’t stomp on someone’s face and then claim after the game that you are not a dirty player. To me, this is a criminal act. You accept a certain level of violence when you step onto a football field. But this goes over and beyond and risk that anyone could have reasonably expected. And according to Sports Illustrated’s Peter King, Haynesworth is probably only going to get a $25,000 fine and no suspension from the league. Talk about hypocritical. You automatically get a four game suspension if they catch you with pot in your system twice (it’s a year if they catch you again).
UPDATE Sports Illustrated is now reporting this:
In what likely will be an unprecedented punishment in terms of size and scope, a league source told SI.com Monday that the NFL is preparing to swiftly hand down both a multigame suspension and a hefty fine against Tennessee defensive tackle Albert Haynesworth, who stomped on the head of Dallas offensive lineman Andre Gurode in the second quarter of the Cowboys’ 45-14 win Sunday. Gurode required 30 stitches to close a gash above his left eye and suffered partially blurred vision.
2nd Update Haynesworth received a 5 game suspension per ESPN. I still think he is getting off easy.
