Denver Broncos LB Joe Mays Receives Excessive Punishment

By Mark Stringer
Ron Chenoy – US Presswire

Denver Broncos LB Joe Mays was suspended for one game on top of a $50,000 fine for a hit on Houston Texans QB Matt Schaub in which he led with his helmet.

Since Mays had been fined for a hit the week before against the Atlanta Falcons I agree that his fine should have increased, but to throw a one-game suspension in there seems excessive to me.

I watched the game and yes, the hit was helmet to helmet and deserves a fine, but Schaub was just releasing a pass and in a game that could be decided on any given play it is hard not to go full speed and try to disrupt the pass. It looks as if another Bronco along with Mays were all about to collide with Schaub and nearly seemed that Mays ducked his head slightly to dodge the collision with his own teammate, but since he was going full speed he was unable to stop from hitting Schaub head to head.

I just think that the one-game suspension is a little much on top of the $50,000 fine.

When asked after the game if he expected to be fined, Mays said:

“Oh yeah. I’m expecting that. But it was not my intention to do that.”

Broncos coach John Fox said Mays was not trying to intentionally hurt Schaub:

“That’s not Joe Mays; that’s not what we teach. It’s accidental, playing football. You see it around the league every week.”

I truly believe that this particular hit wasn’t meant to hurt the opponent, but yes, a fine should have been handed down, especially since it was his 2nd in as many weeks.
This is football and injury is part of the game. There are people getting paid a lot less to fight for our county and the risk of injury is a lot more severe. The NFL should keep that perspective when dishing out these punishments.
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