Who knew a swing pass to Matt Spaeth could have such sweeping repercussions? But it was just that seemingly insignificant play in last year’s Steelers/Bengals game in Cincinnati that is stirring discussion to this day because of a block that Hines Ward put on Bengals linebacker Keith Rivers that resulted in a season-ending jaw injury and a subsequent rule change named for Ward.↵
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Hines Ward Will Blindside You Again Without Regret
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↵Now that the Steelers are returning to Cincy on Sunday, the story has returned to the fore. And even in the face of the league mandating that he changes the way he plays, Ward remains defiant. ↵↵⇥“I’ll still hit him. I’ll just get fined,” Ward said. “I’d rather take a fine than try to end somebody’s career, so I’m not going to change. Me being the defensive guy, I’d rather get hit high than low. Because if I hit Rivers (low), I probably would have blown out his knee and he never would have played football again.”↵↵↵If the fans of Steelers rivals are to be believed, Hines Ward has long cultivated the reputation of being a cheap shot artist and a dirty player, though his defenders would counter that he unfairly receives flack for playing with the physicality that most receivers should be employing anyway. In this scenario, it may sound callous for Ward to say he would throw the same block again, but there is a lot of reason in his argument. ↵
↵↵More often a defender is going to sustain a debilitating injury if a blocker dives at his knees than going after him straight up. Obvious helmet-to-helmet collisions are the exception, but on the particular Rivers block, Ward led with the shoulder while the linebacker was pursuing the ballcarrier. The shoulder caught Rivers under the facemask and unfortunately resulted in an injury. While what Ward did will occasionally lead to an injury, it won’t be with the same frequency that comes with diving at someone’s legs.↵
↵↵Of course, with the new rule in place, it won’t just be a fine that Ward receives, but also a 15-yard penalty, so there’s a chance that could be enough to deter him from a repeat performance.↵
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This post originally appeared on the Sporting Blog. For more, see The Sporting Blog Archives.
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