NFL warns teams against faking injuries

The St. Louis Rams filed a complaint with the NFL about the conduct of the New York Giants during their game this past Monday night. St. Louis took issue with what has been described as two New York players "faking" injuries. The Giants were ahead 7-3 in the first quarter when St. Louis switched to a no-huddle offense. The strategy was working. Giants defensive players were out of position, confused , and tired. St. Louis drove to the New York 7-yard line when this happened (email subscribers click here).



No. 57 Jacquian Williams of the Giants went down first. Then, Deon Grant collapsed. Williams sees Grant go down and is miraculously healed by the power of...OK, I'll stop. You get the picture. By the way, this worked. The Giants were able to re-group on defense and hold the Rams to a field goal. As a result of the Giants' actions, the NFL sent a memo to all 32 teams warning them against faking injuries. The league cited its rule against "conduct detrimental to the game" and will use said rule to discipline teams if the behavior continues.

We all know injuries happen in football and no one wants to look the other way if a player is truly hurt. I realize some of you may laugh this off and call it gamesmanship. How's this for gamesmanship? As many of you know, youth sports often run on a continous clock. When the time is up, that's it. There are three minutes left in the game and if the other team scores, your child's team loses. Your kid suddenly collapses on the field grabbing his knee. You, your spouse and the entire coaching staff run out on the field. Your heart is in your throat and you're screaming for someone to get help. After about two minutes, your child hops to his feet and jogs to the sideline as if nothing had happened. What would you do?  Until next time...

Be a Good Sport!

-Sol