To some people, late hits are considered dirty plays that don’t belong in football. To others, committing late hits are sometimes necessary parts of the game because they “send a message” or something.
ESPN’s Danny Kanell falls into that second category. While discussing this Sunday’s AFC Championship Game between the New England Patriots and the Denver Broncos on his radio show, Kanell called for the Broncos to take one or two cheap shots on Patriots quarterback Tom Brady early on in the game. You can listen to the full audio over at Deadspin, but here’s the money quote:
I think they have to have two personal foul calls, like 15-yarders against Brady. Like, they’ve been talking about him crying, I almost feel like this is the type of game where you have to send a message like in the first and second quarter, the first half, hit him a couple of times where it’s a little past the whistle. Like, let him know you’re around.
Kanell goes on to say that he doesn’t want these hits to be dirty, but “questionable.” It is pretty silly that Kanell thinks that a late hit or two on a quarterback who is known for being composed under pressure and has been sacked more than 400 times in his NFL career would really get to him, but if he thinks it’d help Denver win, then that’s his opinion.
This is a really bad look both for Kanell and ESPN – Kanell because he is condoning a football team going out and doing things that are illegal within the confines of a game to another player, ESPN because it is giving Kanell a platform to bust out this scorching hot take. The irony is that Kanell is also the ESPN personality who is vocal about there being a war on football by the liberal media, which he believes is trying to ruin football by reporting facts about concussions (or something along those lines).
One thing that could lead to people questioning the future of the game would be a late hit that injures one of the league’s premier quarterbacks in a playoff game. Should that happen, it’s safe to assume that Kanell would criticize everyone who reprimands the hit, saying that it’s the latest example of the war on football.
(via Deadspin)
