Freeman Flopping Part Of Big-Man Emphasis
September 21st, 2010
Bucs fans rejoiced and cringed when Panthers rookie Greg Hardy put a late, low hit on Josh Freeman in the third quarter Sunday.
Freeman showed a little exaggerated agony and got the call – a 15-yard penalty against Hardy.
Now it was clear that Hardy hit Freeman, but it was an obvious acting job by the young QB to sell the call.
Speaking on The Raheem Morris Show on WDAE-AM Monday, the Bucs’ head coach praised the gamesmanship of his QB and said it’s especially important given the strength and size of Freeman.
“It was emphasis. I stress to the refs all the time. ‘You know, Josh is a big guy. And sometimes you have a tendency to treat this guy like he’s not a quarterback.’ You know, a lot of these quarterbacks in this league, man, they’re protected, and I expect my quarterback and our quarterback, to be protected the same way,” Morris said. “I don’t care that he’s 6-6 and 250 or whatever he is; That’s irrelevant. He’s a quarterback. Protect him. If you’re going to protect some of them, protect them all.”
Joe’s all in favor of players doing what they have to do to sell a call to a referee. It’s part of every sport. Though Joe does think the NFL would be wise to adopt a policy — similar to soccer — that could give a player a personal foul for an outrageous, phony acting job that officials sniff out during the game.
September 21st, 2010 at 3:37 pm
Must’ve learned it from Jeter…lol
September 21st, 2010 at 4:29 pm
I hate this. I hope Freeman doesn’t start doing this routinely. It’s bad enough that we have to see WRs complain after every incompletion. It’s getting to be ridiculous. Freeman is a tough guy. He doesn’t need to resort to this crap. I am fine if a WR or DB wants to sell a catch or INT even if it hit the ground or they didn’t catch it. But to act like a hit is worse than it is or to fake an injury is just too much. Football is and will always be a rough sport. Let’s not wimpify it even more.
September 21st, 2010 at 4:37 pm
Eric, he did a little acting, but the call should and would have been called anyway. maybe the refs were paying us back for the two Panthers that jumped Freeman during a slide that did not get called. He did not fake it like Jeter, he actually was hit and knocked over…he just holywooded it up a bit.
September 21st, 2010 at 5:14 pm
I just don’t know why this was even brought up publicly, why mess with the refs, don’t need to go back to those days. Just be f’n quiet, and know you poked them in the eye so to speak.
September 21st, 2010 at 7:23 pm
It WAS clearly a late hit that Freeman wasn’t prepared for… It happens it’s football. I was actually excited about how Donald Penn completely went crazy on hardy after the play. I’ve never seen Penn so pissed off before. In my eyes that’s good to see the LT get personal about messing with his QB. Good job Penn
September 21st, 2010 at 7:46 pm
Hit was incidental
Bad call for the Panthers
NFL’s getting as bad as the PGA
September 21st, 2010 at 8:53 pm
Yep, it was a bad call. But we aren’t rooting for the Panthers so we shouldn’t be upset by this. Be happy!
September 22nd, 2010 at 2:03 am
@ Eric,
I respect your opinion far more than any of the other “haters” (because I don’t think you want the Bucs to be bad), but you are dead wrong on this one. All he did was sell the call. It’s part of sports, always has been, always will be. If you think it is cheating, it’s no more cheating than trying to sell a catch that really wasn’t. That is a complete double standard. This isn’t pick up basketball where you call your own fouls. I played basketball in high school and college, and I used to do it all the time. It wasn’t that I wasn’t getting fouled, but I just had to exaggerate the result a little more, otherwise it may not get called. He got hit, but without the reaction, it probably wasn’t going to get called. He did what he had to do, and I would expect him to do it every time. What I was most impressed with was Penn coming to his defense, followed by Freeman and the rest of the offensive lineman keeping Penn from getting a penalty. It showed Penn is looking out for Freeman, but it also showed great maturity and leadership by the other players. And I know you may hate to hear this, but that’s a result of good coaching.
September 22nd, 2010 at 3:59 am
whoops, I think I might have the wrong Eric!