Terrence Murphy

[Carol_Panthers]

I just wanted to stop by and say how sorry I am about Terrence Murphy. As a Panther fan, I just wanted to let you guys know that our thoughts and prayers are with him and his family.

Hopefully, he'll be back with you next season as good as new!

 

[TrueD]

Yeah I hated to hear it ended up this bad. We have a clip up in one of our forums of the hit and you can clearly see he got nailed in the head. It was a vicious blow and very unfortunate, I hope him all the best in his recovery. :!:

 

[sixone220]

and i hope they make t. davis sit out the whole yr.

 

[digsthepack]

Thank you for your concern Panthers fans. Showing yourself as class acts, both with the obvious concern displayed by you folks during the telecast and your comments now....something Packers fans always appreciate. But I cannot help but secondsixone's sentiment. Clearly intentional hits such as that, that remove a player from games or a whole season, should be mirrored in the punishment of the guilty player. The size and power of the modern player makes these shots potentially fatal, or more potentially fatal than the risks typically associated with the game. Davis should sit for as long as it takes T-Murph to get back on the field.

 

[DePack]

Guys I'm not so sure how intentional it was. Everybody seems to be using their helmet as weapons but I really think Davis was caught off guard by Davenport's muff. I actually think he was geared up to get to Davenport and when Murphy came up with the ball it threw all the timing off. Just one more reason to dump the pooper.

My son had a pretty good scare with a high school neck injury. Same type of thing returning a punt. Fortunately everything worked out fine. I'm sure Murphy feels awful but usually the one who feels second worst is the hitter. I'm willing to give Thomas Davis the benefit of th doubt on this one.

 

[musccy]

Thanks Carolina fans...

but I agree w/ DePack...maybe I wasn't paying attention, but I guess I didn't think it was an intentional helmet-helmet play either. I thought I saw Murphy curl up quicker than expected, so Davis initial hit looked like it was aimed for the chest...again, I could be WAY off, and if so I apologize, I don't mean to sound insensitive.

 

[digsthepack]

You cruel bastard, musccy!! Just kiddin, man...you know I am a smart ***.

 

[Carol_Panthers]

Guys I'm not so sure how intentional it was. Everybody seems to be using their helmet as weapons but I really think Davis was caught off guard by Davenport's muff. I actually think he was geared up to get to Davenport and when Murphy came up with the ball it threw all the timing off. Just one more reason to dump the pooper.

My son had a pretty good scare with a high school neck injury. Same type of thing returning a punt. Fortunately everything worked out fine. I'm sure Murphy feels awful but usually the one who feels second worst is the hitter. I'm willing to give Thomas Davis the benefit of th doubt on this one.

Thanks! And you're correct. I've watched the video several times. This most definitely was NOT intentional. Davis is a rookie and was doing his job. The hit is legal by NFL rules and I can assure you that it took Davis off guard. It's just one of those freaky things that unfortunately happen in football. Pointing fingers and placing blame isn't going to do anyone any good.

In case some of you have forgotten, it was last year on Monday night football that Hannibal Navies put a good lick on Steve Smith and broke his leg and he was lost to us for the year. It wasn't intentional then, and neither was this. It's the price of playing in the NFL.

 

[sixone220]

we must go by different rules then because i could have sworn that a helmet to helmet hit was illegal.

how was he thrown off by the muff? was he already in mid dive when it happened? he knew what he was doing. when i say it was intentional, i don't mean that he said, ok i'm going to lead with my helmet and hit his helmet, but he did knowingly dive head first and he has to be held accountable for his actions because of the result.

same thing as last yr, darius didn't mean to clothsline fergy in the head, but he did put out his arm to hit him. he hit him in the head because of that decision.

 

[Carol_Panthers]

we must go by different rules then because i could have sworn that a helmet to helmet hit was illegal.

how was he thrown off by the muff? was he already in mid dive when it happened? he knew what he was doing. when i say it was intentional, i don't mean that he said, ok i'm going to lead with my helmet and hit his helmet, but he did knowingly dive head first and he has to be held accountable for his actions because of the result.

same thing as last yr, darius didn't mean to clothsline fergy in the head, but he did put out his arm to hit him. he hit him in the head because of that decision.

As one of your own posters has said, Murphy started to curl down. Davis was running low, which would have been a hit to the chest, but when Murphy curled down, it put Murphy's helmet at the same level with Davis' helmet and they collided. (I've watched the video of it about 4 times) And in this type of hit, no, helmet to helmet is NOT an illegal hit because Murphy was the ball carrier. Even the analyst mentioned that fact when it happened.

Here are the illegal types of helmet to helmet hits.

The NFL penalizes defensive players who use the facemask, crown or any one of the four "hit points" on the helmet to strike a specific player under one of six "defenseless" conditions: a quarterback in the act of throwing; a wide receiver in the act of catching; a punt returner in the act of catching; a player who is down (spearing); a running back who is in the grasp of a defender and has lost his forward momentum or has stopped; and a quarterback on change of possession (fumble/interception).

As you can see, none of these apply to Murphy. He was not under "defenseless" conditions. He was the ball carrier, running in forward motion when they collided.

I'm sorry that in your opinion it was illegal. But in the NFL's opinion it wasn't, and that's all that really counts.