With Week 7 of the 2018 NFL regular season now underway it appears the league has decided against taking any action against Cincinnati Bengals linebacker Vontaze Burfict for any of his seemingly illegal or quite questionable actions in his team’s week 6 Sunday home loss to the Pittsburgh Steelers.
Below is what Burfict said on Friday when asked by Bengals beat writer Jay Morrison if the league fined had him this past week for any of his actions in Sunday’s game against the Steelers.
On the heels of Burfict seemingly delivering an illegal hit to the head and neck area of Steelers wide receiver Antonio Brown in the third quarter of Sunday’s game in Cincinnati, several members of the media called for the linebacker to be suspended once again. Even former Cleveland Browns tackle Joe Thomas said during a radio interview this past week that he believed Burfict should be suspended for his hit on Brown last Sunday that temporarily forced the wide receiver from the game to be checked for a concussion. On that same radio program, ‘Golic and Wingo’, Louis Riddick, a former NFL player, pro scout and director of pro personnel, spoke out negatively about Burfict this past week. Also, and as you would probably expect them to do, several Steelers players have since spoken out against Burfict’s play on Sunday.
Burfict, in case you haven’t been scoring at home since he entered the NFL in 2012 as an undrafted free agent, has already been fined or suspended a total of 11 times during his professional career with several of those being a result of some illegal actions of his in games against the Steelers. Below is a recap of the punishment he’s received from the NFL to date.
September 22, 2013 – Fines totaling $31,000 for hitting Green Bay Packers tight end Ryan Taylor in the groin and hitting wide receiver James Jones as a defenseless receiver.
October 13, 2013 – Fined $7,875 for facemask penalty on Buffalo Bills running back Fred Jackson.
October 27, 2013 – Fined $21,00 for an illegal hit on New York Jets wide receiver Stephen Hill.
October 12, 2014 – Fined $25,000 for twisting the ankles of numerous Carolina Panthers players during a game.
December 13, 2015 – Fines totaling $69,450 for illegal actions against the Steelers.
January 9, 2016 – Suspended the first three games of the 2016 season for consistent violations of player safety after illegal hit on Steelers wide receiver Antonio Brown during the 2015 AFC Wildcard game.
October 16, 2016 – Fined $75,000 for stomping on leg of New England Patriots running back LeGarrette Blount.
November 20, 2016 – Fined $12,154 after flipping the bird to the crowd in Buffalo.
August 28, 2017 – Suspended three games for an illegal hit on Kansas City Chiefs fullback Anthony Sherman.
Oct 27, 2017 – Fined $12,154 for kicking Steelers fullback Roosevelt Nix.
April 12, 2018 – Suspended the first four games of the 2018 season for a PED violation.
This past week, former Sports Illustrated writer Robert Klemko posted a Burfict compilation video that illustrates just how dirty of a player the Bengals linebacker has been since he entered the NFL.
Time to start talking about a long-term ban for Vontaze Burfict. pic.twitter.com/qH7WuAo3TI
— Robert Klemko (@RobertKlemko) October 16, 2018
The Bengals will play the Kansas City Chiefs on Sunday and you can count on Burfict playing in that game. You can probably also count on him pushing the proverbial envelop even more the remainder of the season as he’s sure to be involved in more plays that include either illegal hits or very questionable actions. Here’s to hoping that the NFL not taking actions this week against Burfict doesn’t eventuality lead to him seriously injuring another player.
The writing on the proverbial wall when it comes to Burfict’s intentions to injure players on other teams has been around well before he entered the NFL. In summation, I believe the league missed the boat this past week when it comes to Burfict as there’s enough on tape from this past Sunday against the Steelers to have warranted him being suspended when you consider his best unsavory history.
Maybe the NFL doesn’t really care as much about player safety as they claim to do when they fine players such as Steelers outside linebacker T.J. Watt over $20,000 for barely touching the shin of an opposing quarterback.
