Player caught gouging the eyes of opponent

[Mark McCall]

I've been a fan of the game of football my entire life.

I played Jr. High and High School as a tight end, cornerback, outside linebacker, winning the TAPPS Texas State Championship in 1980. I've been a position coach as well a the head coach of several YFL and Pop Warner teams. Even served several seasons as a back judge/referee.
I've also spent hundreds of hours scouting YFL teams for other teams.

I though I'd seen it all, but I've never seen anything like THIS.

I'll admit things go on at the bottom of a pile after a tackle, but I've never seen anything as low class as trying to injure another player by gouging him in the eyes.

You be the judge.
Worth a 1/2 game suspension?

Video Player

.

[Gna]

Worth jail time. And a total ban from the sport for life.

[swampler]

And he only got suspended for the 1st half of Florida's next game...against Vanderbilt. Should at least be a longer suspension if not more severe.

[bill8131]

That is LOW!!!

[brian.austin]

Honestly, this doesn't particularly surprise me, especially for Texas. Football has turned from a sport into a religion in some areas. Parents are adjusting their lives to get their kids in the right ELEMENTARY football programs to make sure they get into the right high schools and later colleges...for a game.

Competition is high. The stakes are high. We created the environment. This should not be a big shock.

[Mark McCall]

Ironic that Spikes is using the face shield to prevent getting gouged himself.
Attempting to injure another player calls for a personal foul, or ejection if you asked me.

That the play was over makes this even more heinous.

Originally Posted by brian.austin

Honestly, this doesn't particularly surprise me, especially for Texas. Football has turned from a sport into a religion in some areas. Parents are adjusting their lives to get their kids in the right ELEMENTARY football programs to make sure they get into the right high schools and later colleges...for a game.

Competition is high. The stakes are high. We created the environment. This should not be a big shock.

There are areas here in W. Texas that take it so seriously, Dad's of players are occasionally offered jobs to facilitate moving the family into that school district.
I know several families that moved into different school districts to give their kids more valuable exposure to help get a football scholarship.
Moving from 3A to 5A can do wonders for your career, if your athletic enough.

Friday Night Lights was written by an author who spent a season in Odessa Texas (two hours south of here).
The book was not a flattering portrayal of the aura that surrounded the mindset of Odessa Permian Football.

I wouldn't say the problem is rampant, though.

[Douglas]

cant see youtube since im at work. What school did this? Not that matters, but I thought it was florida, going by the OP.

AS Brian said, its not surprising. As long as its our team doing the stuff and not the other team, most wont care. As long as it isnt something crazy, most fans wont care. They'll even say its part of the game. Usually backed up with the phrase "Well, its a contact sport.". See that often used for hard hits in Hockey.

[swampler]

Originally Posted by brian.austin

Honestly, this doesn't particularly surprise me, especially for Texas.

Except it wsn't Texas...it was Florida that did it to a Georgia player. Supposedly, the Georgia player had earlier ripped off the the Florida player's helmet and poked him in the eye (accidental, I'd bet) and this was retaliation.

[Mark McCall]

Originally Posted by Douglas

cant see youtube since im at work. What school did this? Not that matters, but I thought it was florida, going by the OP.

As long as its our team doing the stuff and not the other team, most wont care. As long as it isnt something crazy, most fans wont care.

Yes, it was the Florida Gators.

I used to tell my players...."It's not the guy that hits first that gets caught...it's the guy that retaliates. Don't hurt the entire team by drawing a personal foul after the fact".

Refs are trained to spot jawing between players. If a guy is playing dirty, he will get flagged sooner or later.
My players were taught to let it roll off their back.
"Play YOUR game, not theirs".

[Mark McCall]

Originally Posted by swampler

Supposedly, the Georgia player had earlier ripped off the the Florida player's helmet and poked him in the eye (accidental, I'd bet) and this was retaliation.

I believe it to be unintentional.
Here's the video to the play you mentioned.
Spikes got his helmet knocked off and possibly gouged in the eyes.
The play is in progress, and I didn't see the fullback attempt to intentionally injure Spikes.

In the previous video, the play is over, Spikes is attempting to injure the fullback.

Video Player

[brian.austin]

Originally Posted by Mark McCall

There are areas here in W. Texas that take it so seriously, Dad's of players are occasionally offered jobs to facilitate moving the family into that school district.
I know several families that moved into different school districts to give their kids more valuable exposure to help get a football scholarship.
Moving from 3A to 5A can do wonders for your career, if your athletic enough.

Friday Night Lights was written by an author who spent a season in Odessa Texas (two hours south of here).
The book was not a flattering portrayal of the aura that surrounded the mindset of Odessa Permian Football.

I wouldn't say the problem is rampant, though.

I know two families here in AZ that have moved to put their kids in a better football program. I know several families in Michigan that have done the same.

It's more common than you might think.

I've been to Odessa during football season. The level of fanaticism is actually kind of scary.

[brian.austin]

Originally Posted by swampler

Except it wsn't Texas...it was Florida that did it to a Georgia player.

Whoops. Not watching much football, I didn't even bother checking (or caring).

[Mark McCall]

Originally Posted by brian.austin

It's more common than you might think.

No, it isn't.

[Douglas]

Thats why the same programs are on top year after year. Kids go to where they have the best chance of winning, and they learn that from their parents. Some are very fanatical in that regards. Thats why most of the collegic top 25 has been the same for most of the last 20 years, with the exception of the 1 or 2 year wonders. And even before that, youll see runs that last for decades of schools being near the top.

If someone has a chance to go to Florida, Oklahoma, USC, or Ohio St (and are going to play ball) are they going to go to those schools or schools like South Carolia, Kentucky, Syracuse and such. Now, academically, they are all great institutions. But if you want to play football and want a shot at the pros, where are you going to go? A place with more exposure and a chance at a ring, or a school that might make it into the top 10, once every 5 or 10 years?

[cyclohexane]

Worth a 1/2 game suspension?

How about a full game suspension? OSU's Robert Reynolds was suspended for an entire game after intentionally crushing Wisconsin QB Jim Sorgi's trachea in 2003 to knock him out of the game.

Heck, here in LA we had four players serve a full game suspension for "violation of team rules" (I think it was inappropriate conduct towards opposing fans, but it was never disclosed), and two of them haven't seen the field much since the suspension.

[swampler]

If the game had been, say, Alabama, I doubt he would have even been suspended. Not even a slap on the wrist, IMO.

[Douglas]

Originally Posted by cyclohexane

How about a full game suspension? OSU's Robert Reynolds was suspended for an entire game after intentionally crushing Wisconsin QB Jim Sorgi's trachea in 2003 to knock him out of the game.

Heck, here in LA we had four players serve a full game suspension for "violation of team rules" (I think it was inappropriate conduct towards opposing fans, but it was never disclosed), and two of them haven't seen the field much since the suspension.

1 game suspension for crushing someone's trachea? Thats attempted murder.

[swampler]

Originally Posted by Douglas

1 game suspension for crushing someone's trachea? Thats attempted murder.

Now, now, it's an aggressive game and players sometimes get caught up in the moment, and blah, blah, blah...

[cyclohexane]

Yeah, the guy choked the other guy to the point where he couldn't speak (bruised vocal chords), much less play in the game, and got a one game suspension. After all, there are much more important things like national championship runs...

[tharper]

Oklahoma State's Dez Bryant was suspended for the rest of the year for lying about a non violation. This guy gets a half game for a criminal act. It's who you play for that matters, not what you do.