Black and Blue Review
Panthers TE Greg Olsen on Bengals LB Vontaze Burfict’s ankle twisting:
“It’s pretty obvious that’s not what this league is all about. You understand that sometimes there’s penalties and guys kind of go above and beyond the lines with some hits, and helmet-to-helmet. That’s all in the flow of the game, and it’s hard to avoid at times. But I think instances like that, that are so clearly premeditated that he had in his mind if those opportunities, that he was going to try to attack not only guys’ legs, but guys who were coming off ankle problems specifically, there’s no room for it. I think the punishment needs to go beyond a fine. Guys like that don’t learn from that stuff. He’s been fined 100 times for head hunting, and he did it to Kelvin again. You watch the film, that’s just what he is. At some point, if the NFL wants to really say they care about guys’ safety, they have to start putting guys out for weeks cause me and Cam are lucky we weren’t out for weeks. Or Kelvin’s out for weeks. If you’re going to start putting guys on other teams out, then the ramifications need to equal that.”
Is he a dirty player?
“He’s a hard-nosed player. His style of game is what he is. It’s why he knocks himself out half the time.”
Did he target your specific ankle?
“Nah, he didn’t know which leg he had.”
Did he get the right one?
“No, he didn’t. He got the other one, thankfully. If he got the other one, it would’ve been tough because he was cranking on them. The videos are pretty tough. We’ve all seen them.”
A lot of times guys do stuff at the bottom of the pile, and stuff like that. So this was different?
“I think it is different. Listen, I get it. There’s things that people want to say are dirty, and it’s not. Football is a high-speed game and things happen. Helmet-to-helmet collisions, late hits, tackled out of bounds. In the heat of the moment, stuff like that happens. But I think, when the play’s over, two players are laying in the end zone, and you happen to have their legs, and you start cranking. I just think that’s a whole different animal.
Did you say anything to him?
“I’m not going to let what he does affect me. I don’t lose any sleep over guys like that,” … “We scored 37 points,” … “I’m not a big trash, get back guy. He got penalized for the hit on Kelvin. I’m not the punishment handout guy. The league says they care about player safety. We’ll find out what they really think.”
Panthers WR Jerricho Cotchery on Burfict:
“Guys over there say that’s part of his game —talking trash and saying a bunch of things — so good for him, I guess.”
Panthers head coach Ron Rivera:
“Like I do every week, I’ll watch the tape. Things that I think are questionable, or need to be scrutinized by the league, I’ll list them and send them in,” … “Once I do that, it becomes a league issue,” … “I’m going to send in the plays that I think need to be sent in and looked at.”
Do you think there’s a place for what he did in the game?
“There’s no place in the game for players doing extra stuff. If that’s what the league sees when I send in the tapes, then so be it.”