There is a long-standing attitude throughout the Big Ten Conference. Nobody likes Ohio State University.
Even in the days when the Big Ten was the Big Two (Michigan & OSU) and the rest of the conference when it comes to football, nobody liked Ohio State. When OSU got the nod to represent the Big Ten in the Rose Bowl, it was never sacriligious to root for the Pac Ten contender. Nobody likes Ohio State University. And in all these years I could not put my finger on it as to why nobody likes Ohio State University.
Until tonight.
Ohio State play dirty football.
Wisconsin’s quarterback ran for yardage until tackled by Ohio State. While the quarterback was down, the play dead, Ohio State player #44 proceeded to choke the Wisconsin quarterback! ESPN cameras caught all of it. The Wisconsin quarterback was forced to leave the game. He couldn’t call plays. He couldn’t talk. He had difficulty breathing, all because Ohio State player #44 deliberately played a dirty game and choked him. There was no penalty called.
ESPN commentators replayed the play over and over. One can clearly see Ohio State player #44 choking the Wisconsin quarterback. The ESPN commentators called it playing dirty.
Ohio State plays dirty football. That’s why nobody in the Big Ten Conference likes Ohio State. I remember Woody Hayes and his dirty football. It’s never gone away.
The Big Ten needs to look at the tape and kick him off the team. That was about the dirtiest thing I’ve seen in a football game. If Ohio State has to wait for the conference to do something about it, then OSU is a dirty team.
I saw the replay however many times they showed it and then again on highlight shows. The OSU player choked the QB and then kneed him in the head as he got up. An FSU DLman (Darnell Dockett) intentionally twisted Earnest Graham’s (UF at the time) knee in a pile up.
It’s “football,” but anyone that does something like that after the play should be suspended the entire season. The DA should consider pressing charges, as it’s between plays.
It’s time to see how far the license to injure in sports actually goes.
The test of whether OSU is a dirty team will come in their reaction to the incident. If they try to explain it away as a product of excess emotion they are dirty. If he is suspended for the rest of the season I hope the player never plays again, but the program will maintain some integrity.
I couldn’t belive that play when I saw it on Sportscenter. After the Sox-Yankees imbroglio that little gem was thrown in as an afterthought.
In today’s Columbus Dispatch I could not find a single condemnation in any article regarding this game. The local sports coverage seems to be largely ignoring it.
As an OSU fan, I found it reprehensible conduct. Needless to say, I am disappointed in the behavoir. Based upon Tressel’s handling of the Mo issue, I doubt he’ll take the forefront in this one either. Rather, they’ll wait to see what the conference says, if anything. Tressel has spoken of bringing excellence on and off the field in the quality of character of his players - time to stand up (after ducking over Clarett) and live it Coach.
That being said, the OP is a friggin’ idiot. The player in question did not play a dirty ‘game’, he had a dirty play. The Ohio State Buckeyes are not a dirty team and outside this single incident you have nothing to support your opinion except volumes of hot air.
This is pretty misleading. Unlike the incident this weekend, there is no conclusive video evidence that Dockett did any such thing. It’s Graham’s word against his.
So an apology makes up for choking the opposing QB out? And this is just one play, but it’s a cheap and dirty play, which makes Reynolds a cheap and dirty player. Issuing an apology does not somehow reinstate your honor.
I played football in college. I lost my poise a number of times. But I never sank to the depths to which this jackass sank. Not only did he try to hurt an opposing player, he chose the opposing team’s most valuable player, and their smallest one. Do you think it’s just by chance that he didn’t try to do this to an offensive lineman?
I don’t think there’s any excuse for what he did. If the NCAA suspends players for accepting free meals and getting discounts on t-shirts, then choking a QB while he’s down should be cause to suspend this guy for the rest of the season.
Darnell Dockett Earnest Graham runs with a good knee, is tackled by Dockett. Some “movement” is apparent in the pileup on video. Graham comes out of the unassisted tackle by Dockett with a twisted knee, that obviously was not twisted on the tackle.
Whatever, Bowden would only suspend someone for “shooting the President” as he has made clear.
Woody has been gone for a loooong time now, you know. I don’t think any of the current players were even alive when Woody coached his last game. (1978) Whatever problems OSU have, they are not related to Woody.
I’m a big Buckeye fan and I think the 1 game suspension is too lenient. However, as others have pointed out, one dirty guy…one dirty play…does not a dirty team make.
Although I’ve never played college or pro ball, I have friends that have. I’ve heard that the things that go on beneath a pile-up are pretty brutal. I’m not saying its right…but its not isolated to OSU either. Reynolds got caught and ought to pay the piper.
One dirty play and one dirty player do not a dirty team make. However, Tressel’s lenient response to this tend to make me think of OSU as a dirty team.
There’s a difference between losing your shit, and assaulting a person when he’s down. This was more of the latter. He should be gone for the season.
