Unnecessary Roughness

Onyx Contributor:  Johnny Silvercloud (@JohnnySilverclo)

St. Louis Rams

Unnecessary Roughness: An illegal action in football where a player uses methods beyond what is necessary to block or tackle another player.  Grabbing a player by his facemask, collar or head butting are all forms of unnecessary roughness.  These are considered personal fouls because they cause a higher than average number of injuries.  These penalties automatically result in the offended team getting fifteen yards in their favor or half the distance to the goal line if it is less than fifteen yards away.

Most experts and coaches say that unnecessary roughness is a sign of lack of discipline.  ~  Sporting Charts.com

I never been a huge sports fan.  I always had favorite teams, and favorite players…but I never was one to ever-so follow sports.  While I had favorites here and there, I never was a guy who can ask about all types of stats and facts on the player.  I always knew where my favorite players come from, where they went to college and all.  But I never was one to sit in on every single game, every waking minute like how some people do.  I’d often wait for highlights in the morning, or I’ll check things out in the fourth quarter or so.  My favorite teams tend to be based on localization loyalty; from there I love everything D.C.

One reason why sports never really pulled me in like most things I adore (e.g. boxing, MMA) because I just never really grasped what the players stood for.  How much are they like me?  I know they all went to college, but what were their favorite classes?  I’m not a football player, so I can’t relate to them…but can they relate to me?  Do they share my same fears?  Does their social standing, wealth and influence shield them from the socio-political strife that the common man must swim through?

Apparently their influence and social capital does not.  They are completely aware of what’s going on in Ferguson, just north-west of Edward Jones Dome, the stadium at which they play.

I became a fan of the St. Louis Rams tonight.  Forever.  And even after that.

I love the St. Louis Rams. In fact, I ordered a custom Jersey of their colors before this article was cut.  I really do LOVE this team.  This team allowed me to understand what they stand up for; the people of the city and the state they represent in the National Football League.  If I were a Missourian, I would be so proud of my team.  This is a team that understands that America’s Afrophobia is indeed a problem.  Perhaps so being that Johnathan Ferrell, was a Florida A&M football player who was murdered by police after only knocking on someone’s door after a car crash, mirroring the murder of Renisha McBride.

So maybe our players understand that out of all of these Afrophobia-induced modern day lynchings, it simply could have been them.  Travel a certain distance south or so and these players might come up missing or suffer racial strife with local law enforcement in more rural towns.  Maybe they already have their experiences with racism — before or after professional football.  With how indiscriminate (within black people, of course) these unjust murders are, maybe they figure they very well can be next.

 St. Louis Police Department

Directly after members of the Rams did the “hands up/don’t shoot” pose, the police issued a statement condemning the action on the field.  In fact, the St. Louis police department — after going through the painstaking effort to NOT punish Darren Wilson, an actual rage killing murdering cop — demands that the St. Louis Rams receive punishment.  When this showed up on my twitter I thought that maybe someone got tricked by a satirical website pretending to be news, but as the links provide you can see this for yourself.  They were serious.

Unnecessary roughness is an illegal action in football where a player uses methods beyond what is necessary to block or tackle another player.  The St. Louis police have been pulling facemasks all game in regards to Ferguson protesters, to include attacking the media present; roughing the passer.  When it comes to their own football team, I begin wondering when politicians and those in power will begin throwing the flag on the field, calling the police departments penalties, for real.