The most notable came from NBC studio analyst Rodney Harrison during Sunday Night Football’s telecast.
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Fisher and Joyner were adamant it was not an intentionally dirty play.
“I think a good a lesson to be learned from this is control your emotions immediately after the game and go back and look at the tape before you jump to conclusions”, Fisher said. “Now, clearly it’s been said”. “Clearly, Mike’s and my handshake was very short, he didn’t say a word”.
“I know that guy”, Joyner said after the game. I was gonna ask him how his quarterback was, and was gonna congratulate him on the win, and he was gone. I’ve been there, and regardless of who your coach is, your mindset is clear: That’s fresh meat in the open field.
“If I could take it back, personally, I would take it back because I’m not a dirty player”, Joyner said. And that’s becoming an effective unifying tool, with Zimmer referring to the Vikings as the guys in “the low-rent district”.
How the National Football League reacts to the hit – and how severe any punishment the Rams or Joyner receives – could be a reflection of Williams’ past. In his opinion, had this been a street game, the participants would have brawled. He pointed the finger at Rams defensive coordinator Gregg Williams, formerly one of the architects of Bounty Gate in New Orleans. So Zimmer pointed out the 800-pound albatross in the room. After giving himself up on a slide, a vulnerable Bridgewater was hit with an elbow by Rams cornerback Lamarcus Joyner.
It’s certainly fair for Fisher to wonder how much credibility we should give to a player widely known for being dirty, but Harrison makes a pretty good point: If anybody knows what dirty looks like, it’s him. “We knew the hit was kind of questionable”.
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Oh is that so, Jeff Fisher? The former New England Patriots safety stated that the incident was something that was typically seen from teams coached by Fisher. To that Fisher responded Monday. I played in those winds during my years in Minnesota, and even more when we played on the road in Chicago. “This is where these comments are coming from”. Since 2000, it’s been a privilege and honor for me to be on the competition committee. Our main focus, as you guys have followed this league for a long time know, our main focus is player safety. And the amusing thing about it, when you play against those type teams, afterward coaches come up to you, “Man, I wish I had you on my team”. “It was a no-brainer going into this week that they were going to (use hard counts)”, Fisher said. Rams’ kicker made four of five field goals including a 61 yard field goal and a tying field goal with 17 seconds left in regulation that tied the game, sending the game into overtime. It was penalized on the field. Shoot, there’s a chance that he would not only have been ejected, but he would have been arrested right there on the sideline.
