Boomer Esiason: ‘Vontaze Burfict should be suspended for at least two games’
December 18, 2015
Boomer Esiason played over 10 seasons in one of the most heated rivalries in the NFL, the Cincinnati Bengals and Pittsburgh Steelers. He joined The Jim Rome Show on Friday and shared his reaction to the two teams brawling on the field and on social media this season. The 1988 NFL MVP didn’t show favoritism towards his Bengals allegiance either.
“First and foremost, its starts with Vontaze Burfict and it starts with the tackle that he hit Le’Veon Bell on the first time they went around,” Esiason told The Jim Rome Show, of the hit that ended the running back’s season. “And then of course, [Vince] Williams from the Pittsburgh Steelers tweeting death threats and things of that nature. The NFL needed to step in right then and there and do something about it. So then it leads to the intensity and pregame festivities, if you will, between the two teams last week.”
Esiason also said the NFL didn’t come down hard enough with their fine on Burfict for his hit on Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger during the Steelers’ 33-20 win last week.
“I think Vontaze Burfict was fined $70,000 for three different infractions. I didn’t see the other two, but I did see the one in which he dove to the back of Ben Roethlisberger’s legs. My own personal opinion is that Vontaze Burfict should be suspended for at least two games,” Esiason said. “This guy has a history, there are issues with him. One of the reasons why he fell in the draft was because teams knew there was going to be issues with him, and when you do that on the field of play, where you legitimately try to hurt an opposing teams quarterback, and you know I’m a former Cincinnati Bengal, but that doesn’t mean I’m asking for guys to do stupid things on the field to hurt another player. That, in my estimation, is crossing the line, and that’s why I do believe he should be suspended for at least two games. The only way you’re going to make these people understand that the rules are being in place for the safety of the players that are playing. The only way you’re going to make a difference is if you take the game away from them as opposed to the money.”
Esiason did not buy Burfict’s excuse of being pushed into Roethlisberger’s legs. “No way. No way. No,” Esiason said.
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