There is usually a difference between the things players and coaches say to each other and the things they say publicly. In his recent appearance on the Maxx Crosby podcast, new Raiders coach Antonio Pierce hit that wall with a sledgehammer.
Specifically, Pierce said the quiet part about the inherently violent realities of football out loud. However, in the post-#Bountygate NFL, certain things are not allowed to be said over a microphone.
Pierce spoke openly about playing Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes the way the Pistons used to play Michael Jordan, with relentless and gratuitous physicality. Pierce also said this: “We have to cut off the head of the snake. Fifteen.”
That's a risky comment from Pierce or any other NFL player or coach. In 2004, five years before Congress forced the NFL to make a disclosure about head trauma, then-Browns defensive tackle Gerard Warren said the following about then-Steelers rookie quarterback Ben in the days before a game between Cleveland and Pittsburgh Roethlisberger: “One rule They always told me: Kill the head and the body is dead.”
The NFL saw the comment and issued a warning to the Browns.
“We have informed the team, including Gerard Warren, that a player committing a flagrant foul after making such a statement may, depending on the overall circumstances, be a determining factor in the player's suspension,” NFL said. spokesman Greg Aiello told ESPN.com at the time.
In 2012, after the NFL blamed the Saints for a cultural problem that permeated the sport, we all became aware of Gregg Williams' cartoonish locker room insults. One of his sayings was: “Kill the head, the body will die.”
We don't want to get Pierce into trouble with this. I like the guy. He deserves the job he has. But he has to be careful about what he says, especially about a player like Patrick Mahomes. Trust me, I know what the backlash can be when I suggest, for example, that defensive players shouldn't be paralyzed by the fear of an unwarranted 15-yard penalty for hitting a quarterback-turned-running back How running backs get hit all the time.
Pierce didn't specifically say, “Kill the head.” He said, “We have to cut the snake's head off.” Fifteen.” Given that Mahomes is currently the most popular player in the NFL not dating Taylor Swift, That's probably enough to get the NFL's attention, either now or as the first of two Raiders-Chiefs games in 2024 approaches.