There Is No Way In Hell Shilo Sanders Should've Been Ejected For This Hit

I don’t have any dog in this fight. I don’t care about Colorado; I didn’t bet on the game. And I’m more often than not somebody that defends targeting stuff. Football is an insanely violent game. Many people say we're making the game softer; I would argue that we’re just making the game safer. But this is one of those instances where I just have to put my hands on my head and look in disbelief.

Here's the biggest problem with targeting: nobody really understands what it is. I've always been under the assumption it means leading with the head or forcefully hitting someone in the head or neck area. If that is, in fact, what targeting is, then this ain't targeting. Sanders led with a shoulder and made contact with the player on his shoulder. Not targeting. How the hell can you review this and still say that it was targeting? 

I’m not the first person to suggest this, but why can’t we just have varying degrees of targeting like we do with flagrant fouls in basketball? If it’s malicious or intentional, throw the guy out of the game. Still, if it’s an instance like this, in which you clearly have a player who didn’t mean to injure anybody and, I would argue, didn’t do anything illegal, there’s no reason to punish both the player and the team. College football is such an awesome sport, but I swear to God, it gets in its own way sometimes. Let the kids play.