GDT Ssk at Cgy, Sat Aug 23, 600PM

[BBRT]

mmm, thanks for the reminder I guess. I think your last paragraph is over blown, sure Calgary looks great now, but that statement is an overestimation. We shall see how this plays out in the back half of the year.

Agree that I might have awarded the Stamps a little early. I was at the game and even though I believe that the Riders have one of the best Defenses in the league the Stamps really put a hurt on them. I was really impressed with the Stamps OL and how well they handled the Riders DL and LB's. But I agree let's see how the second half of the season goes especially when the weather turns and late fall sets in. My major issue is that I believe both the Stamps and Riders have more talent across the board than the Bombers do.

[The Zipp]

I still maintain the Stampeders are the most complete team in the West.

prob the CFL...VA has made a huge difference for them.  I know Dickenson has some haters on this board but he is a solid coach who has lots of experience and they have a young and aggressive o-line who are playing very well as a unit.  Their defence hits hard too.

Weather in Calgary is a crapshoot and I predict there will be a playoff game there if VA stays healthy.

The west is going to be dogfight...no games off and no easy games for us.

[J5V]

Video of concussed Trevor Harris 2025-08-23

(play it a few times...)

Ok, learned a new skill today, command line extraction of a frame range...

Watch it and cringe...

That's when you're telling your body to do something but the signals are going all haywire.  Just like Cornish.  It's a bad look for the league.  I respect more and more how Zach handles it, he always ALWAYS just lays down until the initial nastiness passes and then quietly leaves the game.

Trevor taking the 2nd head-hitting sack after this might have done extra bad damage, as you're in the danger zone temporally.

P.S. This first hit did not injure his legs.  The zombie limp is purely concussion.  How do I know?  He's walking perfectly normal on the sidelines 20s later, and fine in the next series.  It was the 2nd head hit that he dinged up his ankle and started limping.  That's the hit Mace pulled him right after.

I was reading today that "According to numerous medical journals, concussions can cause muscle spasms." I wasn't aware of that but you'd think trained medical staffs would be which adds to the mystery of the lack of concern for Trevor's brain health. I certainly agree with you that it's a bad look for the league and the Riders. I'm glad that Zach and the Bombers take a much more cautious approach.

[blue_gold_84]

prob the CFL...VA has made a huge difference for them.  I know Dickenson has some haters on this board but he is a solid coach who has lots of experience and they have a young and aggressive o-line who are playing very well as a unit.  Their defence hits hard too.

In 2023 and 2024, they were missing a 1QB. Now that they have one again, they look the Stampeders of old under the Hufnagel/Dickenson regime.

Trading for Adams was a brilliant move in hindsight.

[Throw Long Bannatyne]

I was reading today that "According to numerous medical journals, concussions can cause muscle spasms." I wasn't aware of that but you'd think trained medical staffs would be which adds to the mystery of the lack of concern for Trevor's brain health. I certainly agree with you that it's a bad look for the league and the Riders. I'm glad that Zach and the Bombers take a much more cautious approach.

The concussion argument keeps going in circles but seems to resurface every couple of weeks.  Looking at the 2 hits that concussed Harris and Zach a few weeks ago, it's not hard to classify them both as using excessive force that went well beyond wrapping a player up or simply tackling, there was an element of punishment and sending a message involved. 

The hit on Zach sent him catapulting backwards causing him to land on his back and smashing his head into the turf. The DE that took out Harris landed with his full weight on his upper chest, again smashing the back of his head into the turf. No penalty was called on either play when the intent and results were fairly obvious. Would a bear hug not have sufficed in both cases?

The key to protecting all players is a movement to eliminate all cases of excessive force.  It doesn't matter who the victim is, all players deserve the same level of protection and only they can tone down the level of violence they dole out on the field to their fellow competitors. As long as players are taught doling out extra punishment is a good attribute the game will continue to consume the players that sustain and finance it's operation.

The following article on Micah Awe gives a brief explanation of why he turns from a reasonable human into a psychopath when he steps on the field, it's self preservation and the economic pressure he feels to retain his job that drive his actions, not ill intent.

https://3downnation.com/2025/08/22/b-c-lions-linebacker-micah-awe-issued-max-fine-for-pair-of-head-hits-against-alouettes/

Awe acknowledged the two penalties when asked by 3DownNation after that game, but indicated that he feared he'd be knocked unconscious if he had approached the second one any differently."

"That one's tough because it's a fullback; he has 30 pounds on me. The moment I don't go full speed, he runs me over, and now I'm in the newspaper another way," he said."If he would have got me and I got knocked out, the honest truth is the offence is not going to get penalized for that. For me, it's never malice. It's just me. That's what I do. I run to the ball. That's the only reason why I've lasted eight years is because I have effort and I show it."

[markf]

Zach Collaros interview July 23 2025 wpg sun

https://winnipegsun.com/sports/football/cfl/winnipeg-bluebombers/collaros-more-protection-for-qbs-july-24-2025

" "I just think there is not a lot of consistency, and that is the bottom line," Collaros said in a previous interview. "There are ways to mitigate those hits from happening, I think they would have to be drastic, and I don't think the league, or the union or the (CFL Players) Association are ready to do those kinds of things."


Same article Re Dru Brown:

" Hamilton defensive back DaShaun Amos came free on a blitz and drilled Brown at 12:33 of the second quarter. Amos was assessed a Grade 2 roughing the passer penalty, resulting in a 25-yard loss.

"We say we're going to protect quarterbacks, but I don't know how that's not an ejection," Ottawa head coach Bob Dyce told TSN's Claire Hanna after the intermission.

A Grade 2 roughing the passer penalty can be called if a "blow is delivered with the crown of the helmet to the head or neck area of the passer, despite having a clear view to contact, and there are no mitigating circumstances such as the QB's helmet level changing prior to contact."

On replay, it appeared the point of contact was the face mask. Brown did not return to the game."


It's obvious that the CFL could do more to protect quarterbacks, no matter what they, players, coaches, managers, league officials all say.  Crocodile tears. Phoney concern.

[Jesse]

It's obvious that the CFL could do more to protect quarterbacks, no matter what they, players, coaches, managers, league officials all say.  Crocodile tears. Phoney concern.

Really?

They're pretty well protected already, it's just a dangerous sport.

I don't know if I want to take the extra step to make it touch football, to be honest.

[Throw Long Bannatyne]

Really?

They're pretty well protected already, it's just a dangerous sport.

I don't know if I want to take the extra step to make it touch football, to be honest.

Not really, I believe 7 of the 9 starting QB's have missed games so far this season, won't be long till it's 9 for 9. 

[Jesse]

Not really, I believe 7 of the 9 starting QB's have missed games so far this season, won't be long till it's 9 for 9. 

Because it's football and guys from every positional group get injured. But QBs already have an almost ridiculous amount of extra protection on them. Which I agree with, but I'm not sure how you can do any more to protect them unless you make them completely untouchable.

[bunker]

Its pretty easy in theory actually. Make it more punitive to take a shot at the QBs. Make roughing the passer 25 yards. Make a grade 2 RFP an automatic suspension for that game and the next. Make any player's second RFP in a season an automatic suspension for that game and the next. Third would be a 3 game suspension, 4th a 4 game, etc...It won't get rid of the clean hits that injure QBs, but will decrease some of the garbage we see now. But it won't happen, because as Zach alluded to the league (and ironically) the player's association will not allow it. Got to protect the D-lineman's game cheque, even if it comes at the cost of the QBs health and the quality of the league's play.

[Throw Long Bannatyne]

Its pretty easy in theory actually. Make it more punitive to take a shot at the QBs. Make roughing the passer 25 yards. Make a grade 2 RFP an automatic suspension for that game and the next. Make any player's second RFP in a season an automatic suspension for that game and the next. Third would be a 3 game suspension, 4th a 4 game, etc...It won't get rid of the clean hits that injure QBs, but will decrease some of the garbage we see now. But it won't happen, because as Zach alluded to the league (and ironically) the player's association will not allow it. Got to protect the D-lineman's game cheque, even if it comes at the cost of the QBs health and the quality of the league's play.

You might be right but I notice the DB's and LB's have mostly absorbed the message, rarely has a violation occurred for hitting a sliding QB this season, they pretty much do whatever they can to avoid contact.

[bunker]

I agree. Most seems to occur behind the line of scrimmage. Some of it is due to the chaos that goes on back there and is not always intentional. There's the D-lineman falling into the QBs legs because he's pushed from behind by the O-lineman, that's going to happen regardless of the penalty, because its not really the D-lineman's fault.

But there's also plays where there's an element of intention on the part of the D-lineman, like where the D-lineman is falling forward and decides he's going to take a shot at the QBs legs while going down. Or like when recently, one of the QBs was taken out by the other team (can't recall the game) and then next series the D takes a late shot at the other teams QB in retaliation. That might happen less often.

And of course then there's the extreme Marino move, which is uncommon, but might be discouraged by stricter penalties. (Although player like Marino and Awe are so destructive, who really knows if it would affect them.)

[Jesse]

Its pretty easy in theory actually. Make it more punitive to take a shot at the QBs. Make roughing the passer 25 yards. Make a grade 2 RFP an automatic suspension for that game and the next. Make any player's second RFP in a season an automatic suspension for that game and the next. Third would be a 3 game suspension, 4th a 4 game, etc...It won't get rid of the clean hits that injure QBs, but will decrease some of the garbage we see now. But it won't happen, because as Zach alluded to the league (and ironically) the player's association will not allow it. Got to protect the D-lineman's game cheque, even if it comes at the cost of the QBs health and the quality of the league's play.

I don't know how much it helps in practice. Some of these RTP calls are so iffy already. Players really do their best to avoid the QB in the vast majority of cases. But again, it's football and things happen.

How many QB injuries are even happening because of illegal hits? Zach and Dru (most recently) were both taken out cleanly. We see a few no contact injuries as well.

I don't think there's a way to legislate injuries out of football.

[markf]

I watch a bit of NFL.   Not long ago they had the worst kind of head hunting imaginable. It was celebrated.

But They have largely eliminated these kind of hits to the head in that league.  And we all know the hitting is extreme in the NFL.

So it can be done.

"It's part of the game" is what used to be said about the broad street bullies stick work. Mostly gone now.

[Sir Blue and Gold]

The NFL has done a pretty good job with hip drop tackles too and the CFL has seen a few guys go down with those kind of tackles this year.