Vontaze Burfict deserves suspension for dirty plays against Panthers on Sunday

Vontaze Burfict is not your ideal football player. From a skills standpoint, Burfict has always been on top of his class of linebackers. But his issues staying level-headed both on and off the field have kept Burfict from being respected as an elite player that he is on the gridiron.

The 6'1" Centennial High School (Ca.) standout was a five-star recruit and ranked as the top middle linebacker by both ESPN and Rivals during his senior season. He originally committed to play for USC, but switched to Arizona State on signing day, something that is often frowned upon in the world of recruiting. He hardly qualified to meet NCAA eligibility standards before joining the Sun Devils in 2009. Nonetheless, by the end of the year he was named the Pac-10 Conference Defensive Freshman of the Year, and was named as a Freshman All-American. His talent won out in that season.

But during his sophomore season, Burfict was benched for his "unusually high number of personal foul penalties." He later finished the season as an All-American and with a team lead in tackles. In his final 26 college games, he was tabbed with 16 personal fouls, and when he entered the NFL Draft, teams were concerned of his anger issues and controlling his emotions on the field. 

That, mixed with an ultimately underwhelming NFL Combine where he told many teams that he had smoked marijuana, failed the drug test, didn't help his draft prowess. He ran a 5.09 second 40-yard dash (the lowest of any linebacker in the combine), came in heavier than expected, and benched 225 pounds only 16 times. His broad jump and vertical jump were among the worst in comparison to the other linebackers. 

There were plenty of red flags for NFL teams, and it caused him to plummet in March's draft. He fell from an elite prospect that was expected to go in the first round to completely undrafted. He's been a star for the Bengals on the field since being signed after the draft, but in his third season in the NFL, he's still leaving people baffled by his pure stupidity on the field.

On Sunday, in a 37-37 tie with the Carolina Panthers, Burfict first was flagged for roughing the passer on Cam Newton in the first quarter. Then, after Newton's third quarter rushing touchdown, Burfict was caught on film blatantly twisting Newton's ankle, using the force of his body to try to injure him. The GIF of that is below.

Newton clearly felt the twist, and wasn't happy about it, as he turned around immediately after and attempted to get Burfict's attention by kicking his helmet. But Burfict's aggression wasn't done. Later, in the fourth quarter after Greg Olsen's go-ahead touchdown with 4:51 to go, Burfict grabbed the tight end's left leg and used his body to attempt what looks like a wrestling move. His intent, again, was clearly malicious. 

Obviously emotions were high in a game like this, which went back-and-forth, especially late in regulation, where it ended up at 34-34.

It is clear that Burfict has become better with his temper and blatant personal fouls during his tenure with the Bengals. In fact, he was the first to rush to Panthers linebacker and friend Luke Kuechly's side when he went down with a mild injury in the third quarter, beating teammates and trainers to the spot Kuechly was down at. But in a sport that is already being toned down during actual play, there's no excuse for Burfict's actions after the whistle.

Talking a storm after the play, or even physical aggression that goes both ways, is one thing. That's football, and it's passion. But attempting to injure a fellow player with malicious intent has, unconditionally, no place in the NFL.

The NFL hasn't announced the review of either of these plays, but it should. Simply, Burfict has to be punished, financially, and maybe even suspended for his actions. It wasn't just a dirty hit to the head in the heat of the moment; it was a blatant attempt to injure another player. As for the Bengals, who have crowned Burfict as a captain for the defensive side of the ball, have to rethink tabbing him as the voice and face of their defense after make boneheaded mistakes such as this.

Something has to be done, and hopefully the NFL or the Bengals won't leave it in the dark, and take action before the Bengals take on the Colts next Sunday.

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Edit: After the posting of this article, it was brought to my attention that the ankle which Burfict attempted to injure was the same one that Newton had surgery on this offseason. Any other developments on this situation will be posted here.

Panthers kicker Graham Gano tweeted about Burfict's actions after the game. He didn't have nice things to say.

Unbelievable that a player would intentionally try to hurt my teammates twice. I hope the NFL lays down the law hard. #Unacceptable
— Graham Gano (@GrahamGano) October 13, 2014

Week 13 NFL Power Rankings

By Anh Vo

1)      Green Bay Packers (12-0)[Last Week: 1] – The Packers’ defense again gave up some big plays which led to big points, but their offense came through in the clutch. The perfect season is now one game closer.

2)      New England Patriots (9-3) [Last Week: 2]  – The Patriots offense showed up as usual and did their thing, but surprisingly the defense gave up a lot of points to the Colts. The Patriots are still experimenting with their backup players on defense, but time is running out as the playoffs are only a couple of weeks away. It’s concerning when Dan Orlovsky was able to burn the defensive backs the way he did.

3)      Baltimore Ravens (9-3) [Last Week: 3] – Just another game for the Ravens. They were successful with the running game as Ray Rice went off on the Browns, but their passing game was unimpressive yet again as Joe Flacco was only 10/23 for 158 yards.

4)      New Orleans Saints (9-3) [Last Week: 4] – Another week, another high scoring game for the Saints as they carved up the Lions’ defense both in the air and on the ground.

5)      Pittsburgh Steelers (9-3) [Last Week: 5] – The Steelers’ offense showed up the last game after a disappointing performance two weeks ago against the Chiefs. Balanced offensive attack as their top players all scored this game (Ben Roethlisberger, Rashard Mendenhall, and Mike Wallace). They should put up similar numbers this week against the Browns.

6)      Dallas Cowboys (7-5) [Last Week: 6] – Good defensively against the Cardinals throughout the game…except for the last drive in overtime. Where was the offense in this game against a poor Cardinals defense?! The Cardinals are just playing spoilers at this point and they did just that to a Cowboys team vying for the top spot in the division. The good news is that Miles Austin is ready to suit up in the showdown with the Giants.

7)      Houston Texans (9-3) [Last Week: 7] – The Falcons’ defense was able to slow down the Texans, but the Texans’ defense did a better job of shutting down the Falcons’ offense for the win. Bad news for the Texans as Andre Johnson strained his other hamstring and will miss some time, so now they will have to rely on their running game even more. The Bengals’ stout run defense is a good test this week.

8)      San Francisco 49ers (10-2) [Last Week: 8] – The good news: The 49ers aired it out last week and were successful. The bad news: It was the Rams’ defense. I would like for them to throw more going forward before I’m a real believer in their offense heading into the playoffs.

9)      Atlanta Falcons (7-5) [Last Week: 10] – The Falcons’ defense was impressive against the Texans’ number one ranked run offense, but their offense didn’t do enough to win the game.

10)   New York Giants (6-6) [Last Week: 11] – Which Giants defense will show up this week? After getting blown out by the Saints two weeks ago, they bounced back and pressured Aaron Rodgers and played tight coverage on the Packers’ receivers despite giving up a lot of points. With Ahmad Bradshaw back (albeit not 100%) and their running game restored, will they make a run for the playoffs?

11)   Detroit Lions (7-5) [Last Week: 9] – The Lions are self-destructing right before our eyes. Their players are hurting their team’s chances of winning games by committing stupid penalties. They have also been playing too conservative, as if they don’t believe in their offense anymore, and I blame that on both the offensive coordinator and head coach. Too many screen passes and short slant passes that are easy to pick off and not enough shots downfield. The coaches have also been doing a bad job of getting Calvin Johnson open as he has been shut down for the past few weeks.

12)   Denver Broncos (7-5) [Last Week: 15] – A couple of missed tackles and blown coverage by the secondary allowed the Vikings to score, but the defense as a whole pressured Christian Ponder (without Von Miller) and picked him off twice (one for a score and one that set up the game-winning field goal) at critical times in the game. While Tim Tebow wasn’t able to run against the tough Vikings’ run defense, he displayed great accuracy in his throws and racked up 202 yards on 10/15 passes for two touchdowns. He is improving by the week.

13)   Cincinnati Bengals (7-5) [Last Week: 12] – The Bengals were shut down last week against the Steelers as they only scored seven points with Andy Dalton throwing for 135 yards and one touchdown. Meanwhile, their defense gave up 35 points both through the air and on the ground. They have another tough matchup this week against the Texans.

14)   New York Jets (7-5) [Last Week: Unranked] – Ever since they lost to the Broncos a few weeks ago, Rex Ryan said that they will be playing hard for the remainder of the season and they have done just that. With their backs against the wall, they have been playing at a much higher level on offense, something they weren’t able to do in the first half of the season.

15)   Oakland Raiders (7-5) [Last Week: 13] – The Raiders have been pretty consistent on offense when it comes to running and throwing the ball. Whether they win or lose depends on how well their defense plays. 

Editor's Note: You can follow Anh (@PrototypeDemo) on Twitter. He loves a good football discussion, or any sports discussion for that matter. So check Anh out on Twitter.