Derrick Brooks Disappointed In Rule; Worried About Kwon?
December 10th, 2015
Derrick Brooks weighs in
Buccaneers godfather Derrick Brooks is no fan of how rookie linebacker Kwon Alexander’s four-game suspension is being handled.
It’s nothing against the Bucs. Brooks, who serves as an NFL appeals officer for on-field discipline, doesn’t approve of how certain players are disciplined off the field.
Alexander being required, by rule, to have no contact with the Bucs during his four-game suspension is something Brooks would like to the see the NFL and its players association change next year.
“I really, really hope that this offseason, with everything that’s happened, that the union and the league discuss this again,” Brooks told Steve Duemig on WDAE-AM 620 yesterday.
“You know that consistency, I understand taking something away is a form of discipline. But what is the other side of redemption and discipline? It is what players are used to with that discipline. Instead of pulling it all away, just come up and discuss other methods than just breaking off ties completely. I really hope they discuss that.”
Brooks went on to agree with Duemig’s assertion that it’s especially counterproductive discipline for the NFL to cut a off a rookie from his team.
Joe will remind readers that 21-year-old Alexander’s brother died just five weeks ago, as well. Joe sure hopes Alexander makes good decisions during his time off, which started earlier this week.
December 10th, 2015 at 9:47 am
What does Mr. Brooks want!!! that the rule breaker has to do kitchen duty at One Buc??????
December 10th, 2015 at 9:50 am
might be a good time for 55 to take the young linebacker under his wing. Just saying.
December 10th, 2015 at 9:56 am
You can almost guarantee that there is a link between the bucs and kwon. Remember JABOO said ,”The rookiie class is very close ” So they all hang at JABOO house so he will see his teammates and video etc…
On top of the fact so many of the players on defense are young so theybwill stick together amd find a way .
December 10th, 2015 at 10:11 am
Take away the games and the game checks, fine. I see no point in taking the team contact and practices away. Seems completely unnecessarily punitive to the entire team and organization.
December 10th, 2015 at 10:16 am
What bothers me more than anything, is that piece of trash Greg Hardy got suspended the same amount of games for beating his gf to a pulp. That is just ludicrous.
December 10th, 2015 at 10:19 am
The hit is Financial to the player. Unpaid for every game missed. Cutting the player off from a safe haven and support system is punitive to bothe the player and the Team.
December 10th, 2015 at 10:24 am
@supersam
not quite right, He had to sit out the year before, except for 1 game on the special commish’s list. So he got his contract pay, but in reality he sat out for 19 games!!!
which is far more than 4 games!!!
December 10th, 2015 at 10:40 am
The buc realist is a clown.. this guy really waits for all bad news to come out to bash any player he can. This guy acts like he didnt make any mistakes as a 21 year old. This guy is the troll of all trolls, douche bag of all douche bags, king A$$hole. What Mr. Brooks wants is for the league to allow these suspended players to be able to stick around so they minimize the chances of messing up again and can still be apart of the team functions. I don’t see what is so hard to understand
December 10th, 2015 at 10:54 am
Have to disagree with most here. It should be punitive to the team as well – they got the benefit of having someone who cheated play for them, now they must pay the price of having that benefit. I don’t think anyone would bitch IF Tom Brady had to serve his suspension and was cut off from the Patriots that it was unfair.
The whole point of saying they should stick around so as not to mess up is laughable. They are grown men who should be able to stay out of trouble whether they are at team functions or not. Not that difficult to stay out of trouble.
December 10th, 2015 at 11:13 am
cutting off their nose to spite their face…
to take away the suppport system when it is needed most is just a poor decision by the nfl.
December 10th, 2015 at 11:58 am
I tend to lean toward Lightningbuc on this one. It’s one of our own so naturally we circle the wagons. However, it is difficult to comprehend how a player “accidentally” ingests anything on the NFLs banned list. The negligence is on the player. Can you really hold the NFL accountable in this particular case? No! Is it the most egregious act? Certainly not, but it’s against the rules period.
And no, I was NOT a perfect 21 year-old but as the saying goes, “Do the crime, do the time.” He made a mistake, move on.
Go Bucs!
December 10th, 2015 at 12:09 pm
Derrick Brooks is right, and he was alluding to Stedman Bailey being suspended then going home and being with his friends and then getting shot in the head. Will that happen to Kwon hopefully not by why allow him to have 31 days away from his job, why can’t he still be involved with the organization and stay mentally involved in Tampa. He is an adult and doesnt need to have Dbrooks babysit him but there should be a change in the rules as far as the no contact with the team. Fine him, don’t let him travel and stay away on game days, but banning him entirely is not a good rule
December 10th, 2015 at 12:11 pm
It’s easy simply buy something at a grocery store and sometimes the ingredients from different things can come together abd form a banned substance. Simple science
December 10th, 2015 at 12:15 pm
Cant agree here.
The rule has some teeth as it should be.
December 10th, 2015 at 12:26 pm
The mystery substance Kwon ingested is top secret. Big pharma, er big football has spoken.
December 10th, 2015 at 1:18 pm
What Dusthty Rhothdes said.
December 10th, 2015 at 1:18 pm
Sorry, I think many of you are rather delusional. There is a very basic fact that all of you chose to ignore. That is, the NFL doesn’t really give a crap about the players as a whole, their ONLY interests are making shiploads of money and not looking bad in any way that might interrupt that stream of shiploads of money.
Those are the reasons the NFL has the rules that it does. Everything is black & white with no grey areas. The NFL doesn’t give a crap what happens to Alexander, in there eyes there is always another rookie coming in or another player waiting in the wings. They do get concerned when something happens with ‘star’ player because they bring in crowds which makes them money. The NFL has only recently realized that they can’t completely control the narrative any longer. What happened with those big name players last year proved that. They had always covered bad incidents in the past but having been found out, they now go hard in the opposite direction.
It’s the teams who care about their players, who know their backgrounds and issues. Yes, teams have covered for their players as well but most times as much as it is about the money, there’s an element of care for the player as well. Teams know the dangers of having players out on their own without the discipline of schedule and training. This is especially true of young players/rookies. Many are experiencing life with lots of money for the first time and for kids who grew up with little or nothing, going back to those home environs can make them targets or make them reckless in their behavior. They are ‘grown men’ in the eyes of the law but any parent can tell you that simple ‘age’ does not make you wise or a ‘grown up’.
The NFL is wrong! Yes, punishment must happen but cutting ties between a player and his team isn’t the way to do it. If anything, that only prolongs the punishment to the team itself since even if the player works to keep himself in top condition during his banishment, top condition is not even practice condition and certainly IS NOT playing condition. Teams not only lose the player for however many games the suspension is but lose the player’s effectiveness as he works to get back to game condition.
In Alexander’s case, the Bucs are being punished for something they couldn’t have controlled no matter what they did because it happened (if the reports are correct) before the season to an incoming rookie. I guarantee you there are loads of players ‘enhancing’ their performance but at the pro level there is money to know how to do it without getting caught. No doubt teams (and the NFL) know it’s happening but turn a blind eye unless it goes too far.
This rule, for a first time offense, has a punishment that far exceeds the benefits of the offense itself.
FYI to Realist – how much punishment is really involved when you beat your girlfriend to an unrecognizable mound of flesh, don’t go to jail, get to sit on your butt for a year and STILL get paid millions for doing it? THAT IS NOT PUNISHMENT!
December 10th, 2015 at 2:03 pm
@ Jena W. Great Post! Just speaking in general about drug suspensions in the NFL (not Kwon’s specific case, so don’t freak out!), I get the suspension and loss of some cash. That said if you want them to steer clear of drugs or trouble, you don’t cut them loose from their support systems. Most of these players are young kids (yeah, at age 22 I was in the Navy, I guarded nukes and drove a submarine, and still did stupid kid things!) that are a long way from home and family. Jena is right, the NFL don’t care whether a player gets treatment or not, they just care that they did “something”. Their “substance program” is just a way for them to randomly drug test them, NOT a support system. Maybe they shouldn’t practice or be allowed to be on the sidelines, but I see no harm, exactly the opposite, in letting them work out, eat at the facilities, and study film. less time to get into trouble and teammates around to steer them right, etc. It would also be telling for the team if the guy really is sorry and shows them that he is still working out etc OR if he went home to party with his pals instead, IF they were given the option.
December 10th, 2015 at 2:44 pm
@Jena W.
There have been people that did the same thing Hardy did and did not go to jail and went right back to work!!! The fact that the NFL is more in the spotlight in general nowadays, Is the reason that this story was made public at all. Sadly Its the justice system that failed!!!!
Just because someone is a Football player or just someone with money, They should not be exempt from Justice for Beating women!!!!!
December 10th, 2015 at 2:52 pm
Great points by Jena and dhusthy
December 10th, 2015 at 3:34 pm
Kwon is banned from “team contact”. He can still have contact with teammates away from One Buc. At 21, he’s young but the dude is an adult.
While I empathize, it’s not as though he can’t get support outside the confines of One Buc.
December 10th, 2015 at 3:43 pm
Players go through the whole off season with out their “support system”. It is a players job to be mature and responsible during his time away from the team. If is supposed to be a wake up call to the player. A time for the player to reflect on his bad decisions and grow as a person. If you can’t expect a grown to behave for a month then he probably isnt worth the hassle anyways. He doesnt need to go back home and hang out with bad people. He can stay in tampa and work with some trainers to get better. Or he can take it as his season is over and shut it down, get a head start into the off season. It his responsibility to do the right thing.
December 10th, 2015 at 5:26 pm
Let the dude go home play Video games for 4 weeks and get back to work.
December 10th, 2015 at 7:33 pm
I wanna throw my own fecal matter at Rodger Goodell. Like the dirty ape that he is. Nothing to do with Corns suspension, just a fact. (I like to call Kwon, Corn like Jameis does unintentionally)