I am inclined to believe Donovin Darius when he says he was going for the ball. People have to understand that football players are put in positions where they have hundredths of a second to make a decision as to their actions. Darius was maybe a second late and that made it seem like the ball wasn't anywhere near Darius's arm when he hit Ferguson. I don't think it was right, by any means, but I would give Darius the benefit of the doubt; it's like Jack Del Rio said, if he had wanted to hurt the guy he would have launched his body and gone helmet to helmet.
I don't know that the NFL did the right thing by fining him so heavily. This sets a dangerous precedent. I don't know if it matters whether or not it was intentional. What I do know is that when Darrell Jackson went down and had a siezure on the field in Dallas the Cowboy didn't receive a much stiffer penalty. I don't like the fact that the NFL takes more harsh action if a player is injured. Players easily could be injured on many plays. I think that some legal tackles in the NFL are dirty, I think a lot of blocking is dirty, but I, for one don't believe that all of these "unnecessary roughness" calls are dirty. I think that leading with your head should be illegal and I agree that clotheslines should be as well, but officials throw some very iffy flags and it has bothered me from day one.
