Greg Blue Dropping an Auburn Receiver Like 8:00 a.m. Latin

by MaconDawg on Aug 8, 2007 4:49 PM EDT in Football

Tomorrow is the first day of full contact practice for the Georgia Bulldogs, the day when we begin to see who actually wants to play football and who just looks like a football player. In honor of this auspicious occasion I present . . . your moment of Blue.

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As Borat would say, that's nice. Until later . . .

Go Dawgs!

P.S.-I know there's HTML spilling out the bottom of that clip. I can't remove it because I haven't gotten that far in "HTML for Lawyers". Check back with me next week.

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Payback is a bitch...

Junior Rosegreen's hit on Reggie Brown the following year:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C0Y9wt3XkHo

by ContrarianAUFan on Aug 8, 2007 6:07 PM EDT reply actions

You don't really want to go there, do you?

That hit was the most despicable thing I've ever seen on a football field.

The fact that this dirty player wasn't immediately expelled from the game and from the school for that play is all the reason you would ever need to know why I hate Auburn.

by T Kyle King on Aug 8, 2007 6:16 PM EDT up reply actions

HYPOCRITE!!!

They were both dirty hits. Blue's hit was also helmet to the side of chinstrap/neck, which is a hit to an unprotected area, and potentially more dangerous (like making-someone-a-quadriplegic-for life-dangerous). Just because Rosegreen's hit knocked Brown out doesn't make it more or less dirty. Don't tell that Blue wrapped up making it OK- the initial contact was CLEARLY to the side of Taylor's neck, the wrap up followed. It should also be noted that Courtney Taylor, unlike Brown, didn't catch the ball, and Blue could see that before the hit. If Blue were a less selfish DB, he would have gone for the INT, since the ball was up clearly for grabs after the tip by Taylor.

Had Reggie Brown been injured from the play, I would have never mentioned this- but it's really hypocritical to call one dirty (and call for an expulsion of the player- WTF?) and praise the other.

by ContrarianAUFan on Aug 8, 2007 6:49 PM EDT reply actions

Contrarian

I thought about that before posting, so I urge you to go back and watch the slow motion replay again. You'll see that Blue's face mask makes impact squarely on the top third of the numbers-a perfect form tackle. There was nothing dirty about it. Again, the video just doesn't lie.

I think the reason you have the impression it was dirty was the way the guy's head flies back.

by MaconDawg on Aug 8, 2007 7:57 PM EDT reply actions

Small addendum

It helps if you freeze frame it around the :21 mark.It's clear as a bell.

by MaconDawg on Aug 8, 2007 8:11 PM EDT reply actions

I've probably looked at the thing 50 times...

...in the past hour, but I still see the upper front of Greg's helmet initially make contact with the side of Courtney's head & neck. You can't see Greg's facemask, so how can it be clear? (I will step back from my previous post and say that you MAY be right, but your certainty of the matter I do question- a close-up of the side view would lay the issue to rest). And while I still think that was a dirty hit, I don't mean dirty in the sense of "intentional," just that in the NFL it would have been flagged- I don't think helmet-to-helmet hits were flagged in college ball in '03 and '04.

Now back to Junior's hit- if you pause at around the :39 mark, Junior looks to be aiming his head at the ball to cause a fumble, as one is taught to do when tackling in that situation (although he should keep his head up more- that is the only error in technique). Reggie's instinct as he sees Junior coming is to curl up to brace himself, but since Junior can't see him, he doesn't react. Poor technique in the sense of Junior not keeping his eyes on the ball- yes, but I don't think Rosegreen hit him in the head with his head on purpose. Of course Rosegreen was going to celebrate- he did cause a fumble which Will Herring recovered. The hit probably hurt Rosegreen, too, so he naturally took his helmet off as he was going towards the sideline after the change-of-possession. Rosegreen apologized later for the hit, and one would be hard-pressed to find a reaction from an opposing crowd as classy as the reaction Auburn fans gave after that hit.

When reacting to vitriol such as Kyle's posting in reaction to me giving the link, it will often make me react in a similar matter, so I will admit I got carried away. And if I know one thing about Greg, he wasn't known for his hands (at least not while at UGA), so hitting Taylor to prevent a tipped completion was probably the better choice for him. And while I do see where you're coming from, I still think that Greg's hit was helmet-to-helmet, regardless of whether Greg intended it to be (Again, a closeup of the side view would tell us for sure). I will agree with you on one point, regardless of whether Greg's hit was helmet-to-helmet or not, the form on the hit was about as perfect as a football hit can be- he MAY have just misjudged the target a bit.

by ContrarianAUFan on Aug 8, 2007 9:15 PM EDT reply actions

both dirty, but...

I can see both hits as "dirty". Not to speak for all Dawg fans, but I think the difference for us is that Rosegreen had specifically said before the game that he was going to take a player out. Blue was still a headhunter, but I doubt he came into the game looking for someone specific like Jr was. Doesn't make Blue's hit legit, just my observation...

by BCDawg97 on Aug 9, 2007 9:31 AM EDT reply actions

Contrarian

Thank you for your thoughtful rejoinder. I tried to capture the instant of contact to illustrate the point, but my technical skills prevent it. Believe me, my certainty is only a result of the available evidence.

Three things: 1)I never have had any animosity over the Junior Rosegreen hit, mainly because I hope no one ever got any video of all the allegedly "dirty" hits I made while playing. I know from experience that in the .03 seconds before impact, the rulebook is the last thing on a player's mind. I actually thought it was just a good solid hit that happened to land in the wrong place. If Reggie Brown has no animosity toward Junior (which I believe he made clear after the hit), I see no reason why I should.

2) I think part of the point is that it was not an NFL game. It was an NCAA game. And under NCAA rules, it was a clean hit. No flag. No warning to the coaches. Just a receiver learning why his position coach told him never to turn his head back to the ball in that situation.

3)Unless they've changed the way the game is taught in the 10 years since I was on a football field, you're taught to stick your facemask on the intended target, which Blue did. The location of the rest of his helmet is therefore irrelevant in determining the "criminal intent" to make a dirty hit.

I really wish I could show you the screenshot of that Blue hit. I think it would put the whole thing to bed. Oh well. Again, thanks for your thoughtful rejoinder.