No suspension for Light
FOXBOROUGH -- The NFL has confirmed, through Patriots spokesman Stacey James, that LT Matt Light has not been suspended for his role in an on-field fight with Dolphins LB Channing Crowder on Sunday.
Light and Crowder were fined $15,000 apiece by the NFL on Wednesday for what the league called "a verbal and physical altercation" last Sunday.
Gene Washington, the NFL's director of football operations, assessed the fines after reviewing the tussle between the players.
Light answered questions from media members this morning, as it was the first time he spoke with reporters since his on-field fight on Sunday.
The highlight came when he was asked if he was worried about other opponents trying to get under his skin.
"I've been here eight years boss, and this isn't my first rodeo," he said. "I think we're all good."
Light ended his interview on that note, telling the assembled reporters that it was a "good talk" and that "you guys rock."
The rest of the Q&A:
You must feel the weight of the world is off your shoulders a bit...
"Just really, right now, it's a matter of getting ready for these guys [the Steelers]. This is about as big a game as you can get, although we've been saying that for the last two or three weeks."
Were you worried at all, after Sunday, that you might get suspended?
"You know what, honestly, I think that matter is kind of a closed deal now. It was what it was. Obviously, I'm not happy with what my actions were and I don't think that was the way to go. In my mind, it's a closed deal now. They've made a decision on it and we're going to move forward and get ready to play a good Steelers team. I think that's where everybody's concentration should be right now, and that's definitely where mine is at this point."
In that regard, how do you prepare for a team that you know is going to bring pressure every which way?
"Yeah, they're about as good as doing it as anybody. Over the years, it's always been a certain style down in Pittsburgh. They've always been a very physical team. I think back to my rookie year [in 2001], going back and playing those guys, it was always about playing a physical team that can move around a lot and they'd hit you at every angle. I think for us up front, it's just a matter of recognizing what they do, trying to get a hat on a hat, and it really comes down to the physical side of it -- who can outlast the other guy. I think this is going to be a really big challenge for us offensively."
Bill said he keeps notes, and he went all the way back to his days in Cleveland to read some on Pittsburgh. Do you, as an offensive lineman, keep mental notes on how best to prepare for them?
"I think you have to look at the way in which they play. Their style, their 3-4, is a little different than other people's 3-4. Not that any two teams are alike, but they're very unique in how they play defenses. I think with the personnel they have -- with the guys they have coming in and out of there -- those guys provide a lot for them and create a lot of issues for us. Like I said, it's recognize what they do to you up front and how they do it, the style in which they play, and really it's a one-on-one battle with each one of those guys. They're all pretty good at what they do."
Said Patriots QB Matt Cassel this morning: "It will be great to have Light out there, and I'm happy they came up with that ruling. As a quarterback, you love your left tackle, especially Matt Light. He's such a great player."
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Score another one for Kraft's buddy Goodell. No doubt Bob'll be buying the gin fizzes in the luxury box this Sunday.
You are either a Steelers fan or a jealous Patriot hater! Get over it.
umm.... Matt Light acts barbaric by throwing punches and gets the equivalent fine to Lance Moore celebrating a touchdown??? C-mon there is something unjustified in all this!
As a Pats fan, considering that this guys are models for our sons and daughters, the NFL showed a poor example here. Matt Light should have been suspended. While millions of fans were watching he punched this guy big time. I do not care what triggered this but as a pro Matt should have showed good judgment. ..
I bet you're a fan of one of those horrible football teams (dolphins) and you blame their misfortune on a phantom NFL conspiracy. funny
Hey Corruption Free Guy... How did you get so smart? You KNOW exactly what happened in that investigation. What did the Miami linebacker say? What videos did the NFL have in its possession? Fans around here have had enough of folks like you talking badly about the team OUR team! GO back to the hills and route for whatever team you do that is so perfect and never breaks any rules. Give me a break. In the meantime, I am going to get me a cocktail!! Go Pats!
The comments made recently by "Committee for a Corruption-Free NFL" represent slander of the worst kind and are most unhelpful to the continued success of the league. Mr. Kraft is strongly supported in this by the office of the Commissioner as an outstanding citizen, philanthropist and technology advocate. The actions and comments of CCFNFL will not be tolerated. CCFNFL will be fined $3.2 million and suspended from participating in the activities of the league or commenting on those activities and has forfeited all players currently held in all fantasy leagues for a period of not less than 70 weeks. Further statements pertaining to the Patriots, the league and Tanqueray will be dealt with severely.
Light is lucky he didn't come down with a staff infection after grabbing Chowder by that filthy rats nest on top of his head. I almost gagged when I saw that!
Jealous of what? Not being a fan of the franchise that now has the honor of being the biggest chokers in the history of professional sports.
There was no precedent for fining Matt Light. Goodell looked back in history and noted that Moe Howard never received a single suspension for pulling Larry Fine’s hair or slapping him for being a cabbage head.
Could be a good sign that Goodell is coming down from his power trip
give it a break all of you....if you did this at work you'd be fired in short order...
in a physical game, stuff happens, but it looked to me like both players were laughing afterwards, and the hits sustainer were probably less than on any given series.
Get over it. they got fined and publically embarrassed, end of story.
That and the patriots haters are everywhere...whats a fight got to do with any kind of team misconduct? I am sure there are plenty of teams that would run the score up on the patriots given the chance...just like they did before the pats were good - look at the old scores...you people have seriously short memories. I hope we beat the steelers this week just to prove a point!
I'm also a pats fan, but out of respect for the game, I think Light should have been suspended for at least one game. Fighting and throwing punches is poor sportsmanship and there should be no place for it in the NFL. This aint hockey, this aint the NBA. It's the NFL and I expect more out of my team.
It seems Patriot fans are too defensive, but I guess they have reason to be. They are allowed to cheat and now beat on people whenever they like, so why would anyone think at this time they they would accept any critisism concerning the actions of anyone connected with the worst organization in the NFL. If this doesn't show how Goodell favors Kraft, nothing will.
O.K. For YEARS I have been hearing the "this guy is supposed to be a role model" line. Baloney! YOU, Mr. Parent, are the role model. Matt Light, he is a football player. Stop politness policing every single silly thing on the field with the stupid STUPID "role model" line. Because if you let your kids listen to music AT ALL, they will likely fall alot more under the influence of that artists opinions/actions than they will a football player. You are killing the sport with the role model crap. Everyone knows, Porter talks all day, Crowder probably did too, he got sick of it, and just looking at Crowder laughing as he ran away, whatever he said must have been pretty bad. But that's football. Lets leave the players to play the game, and enjoy it, or dont watch. I find the endless beer and viagra commercials WAY more annoying than that fight was.
All you people crying about me getting off easy, get over it! Why, just the other day Commissioner Goodell was telling me and Mr. Kraft over dinner that the league adheres to the highest standards of behavior. Besides, if there's anything I should be nailed for, it's the blatant holding I get away with every play, not some scrap. Really, you people have no sense of priority.
To the poster calling themself "Light": (INSERT BUZZER SOUND HERE) "No, I'm sorry, that's the wrong answer. The "biggest chokers in the history of professional sports" title belongs to the 2004 NY Yankees. It was the 2004 Yankees. Shall we try again?" Actually, I look at you're using the posting name "Light" either as a lame attempt at irony, or it really refers the level of brain cell activity that you have. You have a GREAT T-Day watching your favorite team - which must be the Lions! ;^)
Anyone who allows athletes to be the "models for our sons and daughters" is a joke of a parent. What is there to respect and emulate? Their size is just lucky genetics (unless you look up to Shawn Merriman) , many left college early, and they play a sport for a living. Granted they train and work hard, but who doesn't at their chosen 'craft'? The NFL should not worry about what children will think when they do or do not take disciplinary action. And as Charles Barkley implored, do not look up to athletes!
Don't forget one thing: the NFL considers the hair hanging from the helmet as part of the uniform. So yanking on the hair is like grabbing his jersey. As for the punching, it shouldn't be condoned. Unless the incident was extremely severe, I would have been surprised at any suspension(s) given the players' history. Since they were both laughing about it and no blood letting, the fines were appropriate. You have to judge each case on its own merits and the context of the incident.
Goodell is more of a politician than a comissioner. If the tapes the Pats took of other teams had no damning content, then why were they destroyed so quickly without review by the media? If they had no useful content, then they could have been released to the public at least partially, if not entirely?
Football is America's game, but it is increasingly a business and a reason to get intoxicated and behave badly.
The players and fans of the Patriots should have been given a full investigation with answers instead of it being "swept under the rug." It is not their fault that this was mishandled. Goodell should step down and a more ethical leader needs to be installed.
I agree that it is a physical game and stuff happens.
That being said, I hope that Hines Ward doesn't get a fine when he knocks the stoke out of Bruschi.
Obviously NFL Comm. Goodell delegated it to his subordinate, Eugene Washington, to meter out the 2 fines to both players involved in fighting......he made a ruling.....next!!........all in a days work.
Blaise,
The tapes that Matt Walsh had stolen from the Pats were released to the media prior to or just after the draft this past spring. I don't understand why people have such selective memories or blatently ignore facts so they try to rail on the Pats. People like you really come off as ignorant to anyone who reads up on and follows sports.
I also think its funny how many people consistently complain that Kraft has goodell in his pocket or recieves some special treatment by the league. That is bull. I think its equally as annoying when obsessed fanatics claim that the league is anti-Pats and Goodell is on a mission to punish them.
The Pats get treated like every other team in the league. There was a precedent set a month ago when two other players got in trouble for fighting and neither one was suspended. A precedent for those who have 5th grade educations is a legal term which simply means an example from which future decisions are based off of or referenced to.
No, nitwit, this isn't the NBA. It's football, where the purpose is to hit the other guy hard and hope he doesn't get up. It's more like boxing than basketball where, may I remind you, they call a penalty if you bump the other players too haarrrrd. With that as your milieu, a fight on the football field is nothing to get your (likely pink) panties in a knot over.
Get over it, and also you fools and your 'role model' comments. Enough already with you freaking pansies.
Perhaps this unfortunate incident will act as a catalyst a la Mchale's take down of Rambis..Let's bring the intensity to Pittsburgh!!!!
Amazing to see the video tapes coming back into these arguements. Why keep the tapes? They were exactly the same as the legal footage that teams can take from what, 30 feet further away from the sideline? It wasn't the content of the tapes that caused the issue, it was the rule-breaking that filming is NOT allowed from the SIDELINES.
I don't condone Light's behavior, nor Crowder, but this type of flair-up happens in sports. The 15,000 fine isn't exactly a light punishment, but with both players equally involved, and and no real injury to either guy... it doesn't seem like a suspension is due. The suspensions usually fall when one player does something that could cause serious injury to another player, not an everyday scuffle between players who are competing at the highest level. Look at every play on the line and you'll see worse behavior on almost every down of the game.
I'll worry about how to educate my own kids, and that might involve pointing to how athletes handle themselves in the public eye - but the uniform alone doesn't make anyone a role model.
Blaise must be blazed out. Whatever you are smoking must really be spectacular. Yeah Question 2.
Can't the Globe spin this into some sort of racial issue?
Its' funny - or - depressing; whichever side of the table one sits on. That when a 'fairer' skinned athlete in Beantown - does wrong the Sports fans (outside the inner-city of the state's metropolis' (i.e. 'main street Brockton, Blue Hill ave Boston, Broadway - Lawrence, Springfield, Worcester) quickly forgive or chalk it up to 'boys being boys' or offer up excuse in defense of the athlete, but when that athlete is 'darker-toned' those same fans use the circumstance as an opportunity to voice their moral opinion; where as other wise they would remain silent. And I as a bi-racial child; now fully understand why Beantown' s detrimental racial perception has been earned!
The Yankees are the biggest choke artist in all of sports you idiot. Go give your friend a blumpkin now you loser.
matt lights behavior was inexcusable, he was clearly the aggressor we never saw the other guy throw a punch! the officials threw out both players to make it look fair on the field. there is not a doubt in my mind that had this been any other player or team this would have been a larger fine and a suspension. roger goodell is so bought and paid for it is laughable. why is it the patriots get a pass on everything from cheating to dirty play on the field??? they are never penalized with the same frequency of any other team, and even after their super bowls they are rewarded with a cinch schedule. i have seen players fined more for merely criticizing the officials. i am a white woman, but i feel as though if crowder had been the aggressor, he would have been fined and suspended along with alot of other black players in the league. where is the media outrage? enough of the media love affair with the patriots and the cowboys!!!!!!!!!!
peggy casale;
"i am a white woman, but i feel as though if crowder had been the aggressor, he would have been fined and suspended along with alot of other black players in the league. where is the media outrage? enough of the media love affair with the patriots and the cowboys!!!!!!!!!!"
Get in the kitchen and make your husband a samwich!
Jeez, you all have got to calm down. I don't know the facts in this case and neither do any of you. They were both fined. Leave it at that. Who knows what was said? Who knows what Crowder did to Light during the game? The league took care of it. We're not talking about GM going bankrupt here and thousands of people losing their jobs--chill out. It was a second-rate hockey fight. I agree with the writer that the beer commercials and the viagra ads are more offensive than anything I've seen in this league. Complain about that rubbish your kids have to see.
muststashhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!keep goin'mllt
Well, I'm glad he's not suspended. But really, Matt, you're a big, tough guy. You punched or slapped a guy repeatedly when his helmet was off. As you both were walking to the tunnel after your ejections, you foresaw a possible second confrontation--and you quickly put your helmet back on, while the other guy didn't. That's a bit wimpy, eh? You outweight the guy by at least 50 pounds...
Peggy C
You are truly retarded. The Pats get a pass? You do recall the loss of a first round pick for filming from the wrong place on the field, right? They received a much more severe a penalty than the Broncos and 49ers got for cheating on the salary cap, i.e. having illegal players on their Super bowl teams. Those teams lost lower round picks and had smaller fines and barely got a mention from ESPN
You also may have noted that when a player blatantly dove at Brady's knees in the first game this year, there was no penalty. When Vince Wilfork did the same thing last year, there was a penalty and a fine.
Every team's schedule is made by the league years in advance on a rotational basis - the AFC East plays the AFC West and the NFC West this year. Last year, they played the NFC EAST and AFC South. Every team in the league has the same rotational schedule. It accounts for 8 of the 16 games, 6 other games are against div opponents, JUST LIKE EVERY OTHER TEAM. The only difference W-L creates is for the final two games played against other conference teams. The Pats, by virtue of their record, play the the two first place teams from those divisions. In this year's case, that means Indy and Pittsburgh. The Dolphins play the last place teams from those divisions. As it turns out, the Pats are scheduled to play 10 of 16 games against teams with winning records.
Media love affair with the Pats? ESPN turned a minor incident into their own mini-series last year.
People like you are simply too stupid to have an opinion!
Discipline is what wins games and the Pats have none. Look at the Giants. They have it in spades. Caughlin is all about discipline and once he rid his team of the bad actors and under control a funny thing has happened.... They started to win games. No Plax got disciplined and suspended for a lot less than this guy and the Giants are none the worse for wear because of it. No they are actually a much stronger team for it. If the Pats want to start winning they need to learn some real discipline.
Most of the better, more experienced analysts have been saying that Light would NOT get suspended for what happened Sunday. This was based upon the history of the NFL's actions regarding similar incidents . . . whether anyone likes it or not, the NFL has typically limited the punishment to fines for this. Trying to paint this as a conspiracy is stupid. If people don't like the NFL's policy, directing it at the Patriots is useless. The NFL would have to change the policy in the off-season and promulgate it in order to start handing down suspensions for short duration 2-player exchanges.
The Committee for a Corruption-Free NFL is more than likely confusing this with the NBA, where Light and Crowder would DEFINITELY have been suspended.
I'm a Pats fan and think that Matt Light should have been suspended .. blah blah blah ... BS, you're no Pats fan! ... I'm a Cowboys fan and think that TO should be suspended ...
Why do moronic DB's come on a Pats sight to give biased opinions? Get a drink and sit down with Kraft and learn how to run a league and team! The Giant's were the joke of the NFL for longer than I can remember. The NFL wants a level playing field and if this did not happen, all the beer in Quincey could not keep the Pats from tearing every team apart each week and being the hated team in the NFL....or Light out a game. I am glad you are not the owner or maybe you own the Lions?
The League is bringing it down to the lowest common denominator. Why not have the Bruins play in Kraftboro, same moron fans, same moron players. Keep lowering the bar folks...........the MA Teachers Assn will be proud of their accomplishments.
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