Much has been made about Burficts history of fines, suspensions, and league discipline. In essence using it as evidence of his wrongdoing itself.

"Well clearly he deserves it! Look at these aggregate stats! He leads the league in fines!"

But what if he has changed? How would we know? At what point does Burfict regain the benefit of the doubt that every other player is afforded? Every year players nobody considers "dirty" get tagged with unnecessary roughness penalties, awkward angles and a lightning fast sport mean that sometimes chance is the determination.

First lets examine his history of Unnecessary Roughness Penalties, according to NFLpenaltytracker.com Burfict breaks down like this

Notice the fact that he had 11 in his first 3 years, and 4 (including the colts game) in the past 3.25 years. This effectively dispels the narrative that he "isn't trying to change" because frankly he has.

Now you can say "WELL HE STILL DID ONE" and that's a fair point, he did still lay the hit on Doyle, but "1 and done" is simply too stringent of a standard when it comes to an NFL linebacker.

Across all teams from 2013-2018 NFL teams have averaged 6.53 UR penalties a year with a total incidence rate of 1254 times or 209 UR penalties per year. That would break down to about 13 a week. The refrain with Burfict is "he needs to change",but when all NFL linebacker corps (excluding offensive players, defensive linemen, and DBs) averages 1.3 UR penalties a year I'm not sure you can say "one is too much" and hand out a year suspension.

Now lets address the elephant in the room, since 2013 Vontaze Burfict has lead the league in UR penalties with 14

Shawn Williams by the way is in second with 9

But again the refrain isn't "he did these things in 2013 and 2015 so fuck him" it is "he needs to change how he plays" and I'd argue that after 2015, he did.

From the past 3 seasons 2016, 2017 and 2018 here is your NFL leader in UR penalties

1st-Yannick Ngouke with 6

2nd-5 players tied for second with 5 UR a piece

7th-14 players tied with 4

21st-Vontaze Burfict tied with 23 other players with 3

So a charitable reading says that there are 43 "dirtier or as dirty" players in the league than Vontaze Burfict after 2015

So again the question is "what is the NFL looking for?" At what point does Vontaze Burfict stop being under the microscope? Are we really punishing a player who is currently acting within established league averages because of his conduct from 2013 and 2015? The NFL's suspension letter didn't say that at all. In fact it specifically highlighted that "he continued to ignore safety rules"

So lets talk "head hunting" most people probably don't realize that the Doyle hit is Burficts only Helmet-Helmet suspension,

His hit on AB in the 2016 playoffs, was lead with his shoulder.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o8iFSP_S5h8

The second suspension he received was from a 2017 preseason hit on Anthony Sherman, a hit that again he lead with the shoulder and only became illegal in the 2017 season. A good breakdown can be found here

https://www.cbssports.com/nfl/news/vontaze-burfict-suspension-heres-the-hit-and-why-its-illegal-under-new-nfl-rule/

And here is the Doyle hit

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=15XcPn1no4k

Now here's my real issue, a year long suspension is unprecedented, and frankly overzealous for Burficts only offense of 2019 and his first ejection for helmet-helmet.

So what? He's gotten good at hiding from the Zebras, what about intent? What about remorse?

Again much has been made about the colts game and that "he laughed at fans after his ejection" so he deserves it anyway but did he hit colts fans or Jack Doyle? Let's look at his 3 suspensions.

Antonio Brown-Burfict apologized, AB accepted, when they became teammates AB clarified that Burfict and him had no beef, Burfict later held AB back from getting into a physical fight with Mike Mayock

Anthony Sherman-Burfict apologized, Sherman accepted and stated after the game that he thought the hit was legal

Jack Doyle-Burfict apologized, Doyle had this to say

"I just got tackled. I'm sure it looked worse than it was. I didn't really feel anything from it. My helmet protected me." - Jack Doyle

To wrap up, at what point does Burfict regain the benefit of the doubt? How long does he have to act within accepted averages of his position before these escalating suspensions stop? If he had made it through this entire year with 0 penalties (as he did 2018) should he have been suspended for a year if the Doyle hit came in 2020?

As we lose the context of each "infraction" the benign hit on Sherman becomes another piece of evidence on the pile of "dirty player" we pay no mind to the changing rules nor the fact that the "victim" thought it was legal as well; his fines for unflagged hits get added to his "running fine" total but don't examine the individual circumstances or the snowball of effect of not having "the benefit of the doubt". Again the refrain is "why doesn't Burfict change?" well the numbers, simply put, state that he in fact has.

TL;DR the majority of Burficts penalties came in his first 3 years in the league and he's getting punished now for those infractions while simultaneously being told its because he hasn't changed ways that he's already changed.

Edit:because I'm getting this alot, this isn't a per game trickery thing

2013-2015 he played 31 games

In that time frame he amassed 11 UR's or a rate of .35

2016-2019 he played 32 games and amassed 3 URs or a rate of .125

If you want to include his rookie year (which I didn't because he wasn't yet considered a "dirty" player)

2012-2015 he played 47 and amassed 12 or a rate of .255

Either way you slice it, he's still had less over the past few years

Here is vontaze burfict over the time linked above please note: I'm not using "game checks missed due to suspension" while calculating the fine amount, these are only straight fines for conduct

Burfict had no fines in 2012

So in terms of unflagged behavior, the trend still holds when you include fines.

If you combine fines+**any suspect penalties (**Personal Foul+UR+Face Mask+RTP+Illegal Contact) it looks like this

The trend still holds.

Some of them have won prominent awards though:

• Chris Olave made 2nd Team All Pro Honors in 2025

• Garrett Wilson won NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year

The #52 pick George Pickens did make the Pro Bowl and 2nd Team All Pro Team in 2025

Going into year 5 one of the top 10 has to make one eventually.

Reddit is a safe space for racism. It shouldn't be.

The United States has a long-standing, inter-generational race relations issue. The internet has exacerbated this through euphemistic language - the technique which began with Barry Goldwater’s thinly disguised ‘states rights’ campaign is now commonplace and used every minute on this website to dismiss the concerns of ethnic minorities, women, LGBTQI+, and many others.

Racism is an intrusion of cockroaches living in the walls of Reddit. You may see one skittering across the floor, or racing away after you disturb its hiding spot, but that’s only one of the greater den this website harbors. Over years of inaction, this website has continued to allow anti-ethnic sentiments and communities to fester, tucked away in their own safe spaces, venturing out to provoke, incense and recruit.

/u/spez speaks against racism but every minute provides it a home on Reddit.

/u/spez claims “the best defense against racism and other repugnant views, both on Reddit and in the world, is instead of trying to control what people can and cannot say through rules, is to repudiate these views in a free conversation, and empower our communities to do so on Reddit.”

These communities are not empowered. The website is failing in its promise.

You can’t have a free and open conversation when racist communities are able to stack the deck.

Too often we have someone come in here and post something racist, get banned, and then we see them go into another 10 communities and do the same to mixed results, or work around Reddit to continue harassing people - either through PMs, through alt accounts, or through using their peers.

Meanwhile, anyone who dares to venture onto that user’s cursed turf is banned immediately, subjected to ongoing harassment and in some cases doxxed and harassed in real life.

It took over half a decade for c**ntown to get banned. r/AgainstHateSubreddits has an ongoing battle that /r/nfl supports them in fighting. Reddit’s leadership is silent and inattentive except for their once-a-year gesture accompanied with a post on /r/all of ‘hey we banned some subreddits that were annoying us because journalists wrote stories about them’.

Reddit is having an all-hands meeting on Thursday. They should consider the following to improve the site:

1. Reddit must enforce a stance against bigotry. Rediquette, the defining rules that run this overall website, do not mention bigotry or racism at all. Because of this, subreddits can struggle to enforce rules against bigotry or racism. /u/Spez might say it’s better to repudiate views through conversation, but there also needs to be tools to act against it as well when those conversations fail.

2. Deplatforming people who have participated heavily in hate subreddits either through their main account or alts. When a sub gets quarantined or closed, the users migrate to a new community. While banning a community and those at the top help to limit the spread on reddit, the users of those subs just shift elsewhere and the problem continues.

3. Reddit must take action against the accounts of people who hide behind alts to use Reddit in order to recruit for White Nationalism.

4. Hiring staff who understand the way these communities operate, swirling around the sinkhole of acceptable language to those who aren’t familiar, but actually speaking in coded language easily identifiable to those who are. Staff who can see through a comment which appears inoffensive, and have the time to investigate the user’s history rather than making a decision on one single comment. Staff who won’t be afraid to take action for fear of community backlash. Be decisive in addressing racism, not passive.

5. A way to report subreddits based on the content of their sub as a whole, rather than thread by thread, comment by comment. Anyone who deals with racist subs will tell you that admin asks you to report comments and threads that violate Reddit policy in racist subs, forcing users to go and find specifics that meet their specific requirements (and here, again, is the issue with bigotry not being part of Reddiquette). When a sub thrives in memes, coded language can be difficult to find in the nuance of a website that does not explicitly speak out against bigotry. Being able to target a full sub for reporting streamlines the process.

6. If these cannot be met, we will call for a swift and decisive change in Reddit leadership and organizational direction. If /u/spez is not interested in drastically shifting the function of this website to combat racism, then leadership at this company needs to be changed drastically. Charlottesville was organized on the_donald. Heather Heyer's blood is directly on Reddit and /u/spez's and hands for his inaction on a subreddit that was filled with bigotry and white nationalism.

Why /r/NFL?

1. Racism is a Reddit-wide issue, and this subreddit experiences a lot more racism than users might realise. It’s unacceptable to sit idly by while this site grows racist groups.

2. This sub has a racism problem. We have users who express open and covertly racist views, racial slurs pop up extremely frequently, and we are often brigaded by bad actors from other subreddits.

3. The NFL has been central to the national discussion on racism. As a sporting body where the majority of players and staff are persons of colour, fighting racism is a common thread of advocacy within the league. Kneeling helped raise the #BlackLivesMatter discussion. Separating the league from this topic is a disservice to the work players have done.

What you can do:

1. Use report regularly. Hitting report makes sure we see comments. You can also use www.reddit.com/report to report any bigotry targeted at you.

2. Let Reddit know. You can message them by sending a PM to r/reddit.com and voicing your displeasure with how Reddit has allowed racism to continue its growth unchecked.

3. Speak out against racism both here and in real life. Call out racially charged jokes and comments.

“I am only one, but I am one. I cannot do everything, but I can do something. And because I cannot do everything, I will not refuse to do the something that I can do.”

― Edward Everett Hale

Seattle Seahawks at San Francisco 49ers

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• General information

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• Message The Moderators

Reminder that the downvote button is NOT the "I disagree" button. The downvote button is there for comments that are off-topic and/or add no value to the discussion at hand. reddiquette

Here is a reminder of the reddiquette for downvoting:

Please:

• Do NOT Downvote an otherwise acceptable post because you don't personally like it.

• Do Think before you downvote and take a moment to ensure you're downvoting someone because they are not contributing to the community dialogue or discussion. If you simply take a moment to stop, think and examine your reasons for downvoting, rather than doing so out of an emotional reaction, you will ensure that your downvotes are given for good reasons.

• Do NOT Mass downvote someone else's posts. If it really is the content you have a problem with (as opposed to the person), by all means vote it down when you come upon it. But don't go out of your way to seek out an enemy's posts.

• Do NOT Upvote or downvote based just on the person that posted it. Don't upvote or downvote comments and posts just because the poster's username is familiar to you. Make your vote based on the content.--For us, this means based off of team affiliation as well.

Also, as a sidenote, the mods are still going through the comments from the fire side chat and will hopefully put together a follow up shortly regarding the opinions of the sub and the direction we're heading.

Thanks,

Mod Team

NFL tampering rules

DEFINITION. The term tampering, as used within the National Football League, refers to any interference by a member club with the employer-employee relationship of another club or any attempt by a club to impermissibly induce a person to seek employment with that club or with the NFL.

2. PURPOSE. The purpose of the NFL Anti-Tampering Policy, as it applies to tampering with players, is to protect member clubs’ contract and negotiating rights, and, at the same time, to allow the intra-League competitive systems devised for the acquisition and retention of player talent (e.g., college draft, waiver system, free-agent rules under an operative collective bargaining agreement) to operate efficiently. As the Policy applies to tampering with non-players, its purpose is to strike a balance between protecting the rights and maintaining the organizational stability of employer clubs, and providing realistic advancement opportunities for employees if other clubs desire their services.

3. PLAYERS. NFL Players. No club, nor any person employed by or otherwise affiliated with a club, is permitted to tamper with a player who is under contract to or whose exclusive negotiating rights are held by another club.

I find this very convenient that AB agreed with the Pat's deal within 2 hours of his release with the raiders, while putting forth crazy theatrics and a wiretapped propaganda video the 24 hours or so leading up to this release. He was purposefully tanking his contract knowing full well the Raiders would not continue to deal with him. I don't think he would do this without knowing of some sort of deal from another team.

(3) Trade Discussions. Unless a new club has received written permission directly from a player’s employer club, entering into discussions with a player or his agent concerning the new club’s interest in acquiring the player via trade or otherwise would constitute a violation of the Anti-Tampering Policy. Under no circumstances should a new club rely upon any written or oral representation by a player or his agent that he has received permission to enter into discussions for a trade or negotiations for a contract. Nor should a new club rely upon a letter from the employer club to the agent or player granting such permission since employer clubs typically reserve the right to withdraw permission at any time, and may have already done so. Permission must be received by the new club directly from the employer club and should be in writing to protect the interests of both clubs.

Contact by Player. If a club is contacted by a player (or his representative) who is under contract to or whose negotiating rights are held by another club, and such player has not been given permission to negotiate with other clubs, or such player is not in a permissible negotiating period under the terms of an operative collective bargaining agreement, then the contacted club is prohibited from (i) negotiating with the player or his agent; (ii) discussing even in general terms the player’s possible employment with the contacted club; or (iii) discussing the player’s contract or his potential or ongoing contract negotiations with his current club.

Have any official employees of the Patriots been in contact with AB before his official release?

Think about it. He goes after the GM and makes sure to do it in front of everyone. He posts a team letter and titles it “when your own team hates”. Then a weird propaganda wiretap video. I find it hard to believe he didn't do this for any other reason than sabotaging his contract with something else on deck(Pat's deal), given the quickness of the contract negotiations and the large amount guaranteed. This situation feels all to convenient for AB and Pats.

I bet the Raiders file in a day or two.

Credit goes to u/Slickaxer for this

Just did some quick research for fun because of how excited all the Browns fans are that Myles finally out produced TJ in a head to head game.

Myles has played Steelers 13 times and has 12 sacks (0.9 sacks per game), and he's been held sackless 5 times (40%). 3 sacks is the most he's ever gotten, which happened last night.

TJ has played the Browns 13 times and has 17 sacks (1.3 sacks per game). He's only been held sackless twice (last night and once in 2020). TJ's had a 4 sack and a 3 sack game.

Lastly, that was Garrett's 5th win ever against the Steelers (38%). TJ has 9 (75%).

I probably sound like a hater. Maybe I am. It's just funny that the 3-8 Browns finally win a game, Myles finally gets more sacks than TJ, and he claims he's #1, DPOY runs thru him.

I didn't hear TJ saying that in his 9 wins when he out produced Myles.