Remember earlier this year when Dominic Raiola went for the knees of a Patriots player on a meaningless play because he was mad his team was losing? Well, he did something awful again:
Dominic Raiola stomps on Bears DT’s ankle, suspended one game
The Lions center deliberately attempted to injure a player on the opposing team for the second time this season.
That’s Raiola appears to intentionally step on the ankle of Bears DT Ego Ferguson. He clearly looks down at Ferguson’s ankle, and he clearly stomps down on the unaware lineman with force.
Yet Raiola claims the contact was “totally unintentional” according to ESPN. He says he spoke with one of Ferguson’s teammates after the game to clear the air.
However, much like his play against the Patriots, there is no possible intent Raiola could’ve had besides injuring an opposing player. This happened with the play over, and he aimed for a part of the body that’s particularly vulnerable to bad injuries. Accordingly, the league suspended Raiola for one game without pay per Ian Rapoport. Though Raiola appealed, NBC Sports reports that the league has decided not to overturn the suspension.
Luckily Ferguson didn’t seem particularly hurt -- he limped off the field, but returned on the next possession -- but that isn’t the point. This is now the second time this year Raiola has made a non-football play with the intent of hurting another player on the field. That’s not okay. The NFL rightly punished Raiola to let him know trying to hurt the opposition is not acceptable.
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