Eric the Red
Team HuskerBoard
ANyone who has particpates in anything, list some of you biggest cheap shot moments, whether it happened to yourself or you did it to someone or saw it happen.
Rough-house football a familiar game tradition
By ROBIN WASHUT
October 27, 2005
Adam Carriker has been head butted in the face, spit on and punched countless times in his kidneys, and yet somehow, all of it went unnoticed.
In a game that has become loved and renowned for its violence, such is the life of a football player.
Stories of cheap shots, saliva and some of the worst name calling ever recorded have almost become synonymous with football.
Judging from the accounts of a few members of the Nebraska football team, it’s clear that the reputation – though arguably less so than in previous years – is still a part of the game.
“It doesn’t happen all the time, but I’m not going to say it doesn’t happen at all,” Carriker, a junior, said of the dirty play. “You play to the whistle and some guys stop, some don’t. None of it gets flagged unless you retaliate.”
Though it would be impossible to penalize every cheap shot and dirty play made during a game, some of the things that go unseen seem downright brutal.
In the Cornhuskers’ 27-20 double-overtime win over Iowa State earlier this month, Carriker recounted a couple different instances of just that.
One example was when the junior defensive end was locked up with a Cyclone offensive lineman while attempting to rush the quarterback, and an ISU tight end came over to help block.
Instead of blocking, however, the tight end began throwing punches in Carriker’s kidneys.
Later in the same game, Carriker was again engaged in a block with an Iowa State lineman, and as Carriker tried to make a move around him the lineman grabbed Carriker by the jersey and laid a vicious head butt into Carriker’s facemask.
After that, Carriker knew he had to put an end to cheap shots.
“You’ve got to let them know that that kind of stuff is not going to happen,” Carriker said. “On the next play, they threw the ball and I laid into him. He didn’t do much else after that.”
As much as they may prefer not to use it, many of the Huskers know a few tricks of their own.
“Every linebacker in the country knows the trick when you tackle a guy around the ankles along the sideline, you grab onto his foot and you keep twisting around,” sophomore linebacker Corey McKeon said. “I know when I used to carry the ball (as a running back in high school), guys would tackle you and dig their helmets right into your chest.
“When you get in a pile, you always push him into the ground. You got to let them know that guy is just a piece of meat.”
The art of the cheap shot is obviously nothing new, as the things that may have happened in a game 20 years ago could probably earn someone a prison sentence.
A big part of the decrease in dirty play has been a combination of increased awareness by officials and the enforcement of coaches to denounce the cheap-shot mentality.
According to NU Offensive Line Coach Dennis Wagner, who was an all-conference offensive guard at Utah from 1978-1979, the amount of dirty play that happens in games today is minimal at best.
“Maybe that kind of stuff used to happen in the old days, but it just doesn’t happen anymore,” Wagner said. “I don’t think the officiating allows it to happen. As a team, your game film is your résumé, and you don’t want other teams to watch it and think that’s what you’re coaching your players.”
While the coaches may not want to admit to the prevalence of cheap shots in games, it’s clear from the players that they happen more often than not.
When asked what was the most blatant incident of dirty play he had seen in his collegiate career, Carriker didn’t waste much time giving an answer.
During the 2003 season, Carriker said he saw a teammate punch, spit, cuss at and do pretty much everything else he could think of to opposing players.
Though Carriker declined to name the teammate, he did say, “you probably know who he is.”
As for how the Big 12 Conference ranks as far as the amount of dirty play, the consensus was that it was no worse than any other nonconference school the Huskers have faced.
However, Carriker did say that generally the more talented the opponent is, the more arrogant the players may be, thus giving them more confidence to take their shots.
In the overall scheme of things, though, one opinion stood out as a consensus on the matter – if the opponent is playing dirty, it’s your job to shut him up.
“It needs to be cracked down on,” Carriker said. “That’s part of professional wrestling, not football. But until it is, it’s up to you not to let it happen in the first place. If you’re on the ground, that means you lost.”
Rough-house football a familiar game tradition
By ROBIN WASHUT
October 27, 2005
Adam Carriker has been head butted in the face, spit on and punched countless times in his kidneys, and yet somehow, all of it went unnoticed.
In a game that has become loved and renowned for its violence, such is the life of a football player.
Stories of cheap shots, saliva and some of the worst name calling ever recorded have almost become synonymous with football.
Judging from the accounts of a few members of the Nebraska football team, it’s clear that the reputation – though arguably less so than in previous years – is still a part of the game.
“It doesn’t happen all the time, but I’m not going to say it doesn’t happen at all,” Carriker, a junior, said of the dirty play. “You play to the whistle and some guys stop, some don’t. None of it gets flagged unless you retaliate.”
Though it would be impossible to penalize every cheap shot and dirty play made during a game, some of the things that go unseen seem downright brutal.
In the Cornhuskers’ 27-20 double-overtime win over Iowa State earlier this month, Carriker recounted a couple different instances of just that.
One example was when the junior defensive end was locked up with a Cyclone offensive lineman while attempting to rush the quarterback, and an ISU tight end came over to help block.
Instead of blocking, however, the tight end began throwing punches in Carriker’s kidneys.
Later in the same game, Carriker was again engaged in a block with an Iowa State lineman, and as Carriker tried to make a move around him the lineman grabbed Carriker by the jersey and laid a vicious head butt into Carriker’s facemask.
After that, Carriker knew he had to put an end to cheap shots.
“You’ve got to let them know that that kind of stuff is not going to happen,” Carriker said. “On the next play, they threw the ball and I laid into him. He didn’t do much else after that.”
As much as they may prefer not to use it, many of the Huskers know a few tricks of their own.
“Every linebacker in the country knows the trick when you tackle a guy around the ankles along the sideline, you grab onto his foot and you keep twisting around,” sophomore linebacker Corey McKeon said. “I know when I used to carry the ball (as a running back in high school), guys would tackle you and dig their helmets right into your chest.
“When you get in a pile, you always push him into the ground. You got to let them know that guy is just a piece of meat.”
The art of the cheap shot is obviously nothing new, as the things that may have happened in a game 20 years ago could probably earn someone a prison sentence.
A big part of the decrease in dirty play has been a combination of increased awareness by officials and the enforcement of coaches to denounce the cheap-shot mentality.
According to NU Offensive Line Coach Dennis Wagner, who was an all-conference offensive guard at Utah from 1978-1979, the amount of dirty play that happens in games today is minimal at best.
“Maybe that kind of stuff used to happen in the old days, but it just doesn’t happen anymore,” Wagner said. “I don’t think the officiating allows it to happen. As a team, your game film is your résumé, and you don’t want other teams to watch it and think that’s what you’re coaching your players.”
While the coaches may not want to admit to the prevalence of cheap shots in games, it’s clear from the players that they happen more often than not.
When asked what was the most blatant incident of dirty play he had seen in his collegiate career, Carriker didn’t waste much time giving an answer.
During the 2003 season, Carriker said he saw a teammate punch, spit, cuss at and do pretty much everything else he could think of to opposing players.
Though Carriker declined to name the teammate, he did say, “you probably know who he is.”
As for how the Big 12 Conference ranks as far as the amount of dirty play, the consensus was that it was no worse than any other nonconference school the Huskers have faced.
However, Carriker did say that generally the more talented the opponent is, the more arrogant the players may be, thus giving them more confidence to take their shots.
In the overall scheme of things, though, one opinion stood out as a consensus on the matter – if the opponent is playing dirty, it’s your job to shut him up.
“It needs to be cracked down on,” Carriker said. “That’s part of professional wrestling, not football. But until it is, it’s up to you not to let it happen in the first place. If you’re on the ground, that means you lost.”
