Jul
CFL deems hit on Pierce OK
Courtesy Vancouver Province:
Dazed and confused. That wasn’t Buck Pierce at practice Tuesday. It was a few of the quarterback’s B.C. Lions teammates, trying to figure out their next move upon learning the hit he absorbed in their last CFL game was considered fine and dandy.
And while the reaction from quarterbacks would be considered predictable given the renewed threat to their well-being, a cross-section of defensive players are also wondering what to do the next time they come across a hook-sliding opponent.
In a statement from the league released late Monday, it was ruled that the hit by Edmonton Eskimos safety Elliott Richardson was acceptable because he was in a committed position to make a tackle.
The league has gone out of its way to protect quarterbacks while they are in the pocket, establishing a no-hitting zone above the shoulders and below the knees.
But throwers acting as runners carry a different set of guidelines, which may have explained the small melee Tuesday when defensive end Gary Butler took a shot in one drill at backup Zac Champion, normally considered off-limits at practice.
For a brief moment at least, nobody knows when a quarterback can be hit anymore.
“If a quarterback is on his way down he’s going to slide and that’s why people thought it was a dirty hit,” said Butler, a rookie. “You don’t need to hit a quarterback low, ever. They’re going to slide to the ground or stand up straight and let you tee off on them.
“The only thing that made that play dirty, if you want to put it that way, is that [Richardson] knew [Pierce] was going to slide and he wanted to get a piece of him. He threw his whole body into the quarterback and it was not needed.”
Richardson had several yards worth of momentum as he approached Pierce, and players who spend time in the same general vicinity of the field stress it isn’t easy to slow down.
However, the ruling goes against what many players are taught as a fundamental.
“It’s awfully hard to adjust when you’re playing at full speed,” said Lions linebacker Anton McKenzie. “I was taught that if a [quarterback] was sliding you can’t touch him. You can’t lead with your head. It should have been a penalty.”
But it wasn’t. And now Lions quarterbacks who have advanced knowledge of bone-crushing plays in recent years have to determine whether the latitude conveyed in the ruling will alter their approach when taking off in search of yardage.
“I guess I’m going to have to go head-first now,” said Jarious Jackson, the Lions’ biggest quarterbacking specimen at a reported 232 pounds. “I’m going to lower my shoulder instead of sliding because if [a defender] is going to hit me anyways, why not protect myself?”
Pierce seemed ambiguous upon hearing the basis of the league ruling, but that was not a by-product of any after-effects of the play. The quarterback took almost all his allotted drills at practice Tuesday and continued to cause no reason for coach Wally Buono to hold him out of Friday’s game against the Calgary Stampeders.
“I guess there’s a grey area now,” said Pierce.
He grinned when asked what he might do differently now, perhaps realizing the irony of going back to being the style of runner that used to cause his coaches angst in the first place.
“I guess that’s the end of sliding for me,” Pierce said.
The Lions are going head-first into the unknown.
LEAGUE STATEMENT FROM CFL
A review of the hit on Lions QB Buck Pierce by Edmonton DB Elliott Richardson, as communicated by league spokesman Jamie Dykstra:
The CFL has concluded that the quarterback did not declare his intention to slide until late and the defender was in a position committed to making the tackle. The review also looked at the contact and concluded that it came from the defender’s shoulder, not his helmet. As a result, there will be no disciplinary action against the defensive player.
