Mindlessly gnawing on a breakfast burrito and a large coffee this morning, I came across a teaser on SportsCenter that advertised "Mark Schlereth on the Flozell Adams and Justin Tuck situation," or something to that effect. Since I usually make it a point to avoid diatribes by talking heads, I wiped the egg from my face and turned off my TV.
Almost certainly, I thought, it would be a screed on playing by the rules so no one gets hurt, lobbying for a stiffer penalty for the Hotel, etc, etc.
When I ran across the sports blog My Pinstripes, which detailed his remarks (or tirade), I kind of regretted my decision.
Surprisingly--or not, considering that (a) Schlereth was an offensive lineman and (b) he was a member of an immoderately dirty unit in Denver--Schlereth actually defended Flozell, saying in effect that a lineman should protect the quarterback Malcolm X-style--by any means necessary.
As I've said before, I'm in support of most actions that are detrimental to the New York Giants. Further, this would have all been forgotten about by now had Tuck not been injured on the play. But if 'ifs' and 'buts' were candy and nuts, etc.
The fact tha Tuck did get injured on the play makes it nearly impossible to defend Flozell who is (by a pretty large margin) the most penalized lineman in the league. Whether or not he's the dirtiest, I'm not sure. The difference between a 'good' offensive lineman and a 'dirty' one relies completely on whether or not he gets caught.
And in this case (and countless others), Flozell is guilty of being dirty and, despite Schlereth's best efforts, pretty indefensible.
