PJ Williams Should Be Kicked Out Of The NFL For These Bush League Tactics
PJ Williams is a Safety for the New Orleans Saints and a fine player. He actually made the game sealing pick 6 vs. Tom Brady earlier this year to seal the win. I'm obviously a Bucs fan, but can respect when guys make great plays, which is what that was.
This past weekend on Sunday Night Football, PJ Williams made what I'm calling a dirty play that resulted in a torn ACL from Bucs star Wide Receiver Chris Godwin.
Now by the letter of the law, it was a legal hit. It sucks because the NFL is forcing Defensive Backs to go low instead of high with the focus on player safety and fines for helmet-to-helmet shots. But this one just seemed like he had a lot of time to adjust his target area and Godwin is a defenseless receiver at the moment of contact. From a human element, this is awful outside of the Bucs playoff push as Godwin is a free agent this off-season after being Franchised this past off-season. So this injury directly affects his earning potential which is a huge bummer as he is a great guy.
Godwin will be missed, but I persevered and continued watching the All-22 of that butt whooping from SNF. In watching the tape last night, in the 2nd half, I noticed #26 going wildly low AGAIN! It jumped off the screen to me and I couldn't believe this guy would do this just after severely injuring another player.
Williams clearly goes for Gronk's kneecap here, launching himself from the literal ground.
We're not playing a results game as this didn't injure Gronk, but I ask you - what would have happened if PJ Williams had ended Gronk's career with this hit (which it very clearly could have)? What would have been the outrage then? Chris Godwin is a young player still (he'll be 26 in February) and will recover. I believe PJ Williams tried to end Gronk's career on this and this screams dirty player to me. And even though no action will be taken by the NFL - who will PJ Williams injure next with these bush league tactics?
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I'm getting feedback from all angles. From former players like (former Falcons WR) Brian Finneran that played against the Saints backing my claim that the team is intentionally dirty:
To former Saints greats like Deuce McAllister and Football media moguls like Ross Tucker saying things move too fast to judge intent:
Do you think it was a dirty hit? Sound off in the comments below or on twitter.
I spoke about it all with Saints fan, my co-host on Fantasy Football Factory Ben Mintz on this week's podcast. Catch it here for our instant reactions to the ass whooping the Saints delivered the Bucs.