Players putting a bounty on an opposing player is nothing new in the NFL. It isn’t “supposed” to happen, but plenty of former players over the years have admitted that it is done. So it is very little surprise that a team would target a player with a history of concussions for a repeat injury.
But I was surprised to see in a post by Mike Florio of PFT.com that Giants players admitted that his team did just that only a couple of days after it may have worked on 49ers returner Kyle Williams. Such openness with the media about targeting to concuss is begging the league to take some kind of action.
For the Bengals, who play 25% of their games against division opponents who pride themselves on having a hard-hitting, head-hunting style of play (including the poster child of illegal hits, James Harrison), the prospect of opponents targeting to concuss is a dangerous reality. Especially as the league is beginning to take action to prevent concussed players from reentering the game.
I wrote last month about my concerns that concussion will permanently alter the NFL. This is one more small step in that direction.
