At the end of the day in hindsight--it really didn't hurt us all that bad. We still picked up the first down which was huge, we just lost the yardage on the catch. But that's still irrelevant at the time it happened. Had we not scored right there--it would have been a much bigger issue. Still, STFU you penalty generating fat slob. _
Yeah...it certainly was not a "Gastineau" type penalty. It was the 1st time I ever laughed out loud at a flag against us. Hey....at least Colon was involved in the game. Geno was awakened by the whistle.
We agree. I edited my post, but obviously not before you saw it and started responding. I agree that Colon should have kept his mouth shut. I hope that Bowles read him the riot act and told the rest of the team that they'd better not ever repeat that act. I know that Colon is a fiery player, and somewhat of a team leader, but he needs to be smarter. The team doesn't need that kind of leadership or "toughness."
Colon should've just wrapped his hand in a giant club and bashed Rodgers-Cromartie across the head with it. The referees don't call penalties for that. Talking though????? ohhh boy big no no ....
And there it is. What really happened: "Colon thought he had drawn the flag for cursing. But he later learned it was for standing outside the designated box for team personnel, which ends at the 30-yard line. Officially, the penalty was called against the Jets' bench." http://www.nj.com/jets/index.ssf/2015/12/jets_willie_colon_apologizes_for_getting_penalized.html
Thanks for posting this. That makes a difference. IMO it's easy to understand how a competitive, fiery player like Colon who isn't used to being on the sideline and who would follow the action intensely, could inadvertently move out of the designated box. I don't understand the purpose of that rule. If there is a valid reason for it, then ok, but otherwise, it seems to be a silly, stupid rule. Did that rule come about because of what Sal Alosi did a few years ago?
As far as I know--that's been a rule since I was in HS. And I think that rule is in force in HS, college and the NFL. There are a lot of really silly stupid rules in life as in sports. But they are rules and breaking one because of ignorance or because one thinks it's stupid or silly and not worthy of being adhered to is asinine on the part of the player. _
Some people will call the excessive celebration rule silly or stupid. But it's a rule, like it or not. I would suspect if Colon stepped outside the box inadvertently or was minding his own business picking up a hot dog wrapper, the ref would never have noticed him. The fact that he was talking trash in the refs face might have prompted the ref to notice where he was standing, or rather where he shouldn't have been standing. _
I agree if Colon intentionally broke the rule. The thing is, we don't know that it was intentional. He could have just gotten caught up in the excitement of the game, moved to try to see the action better and not noticed that he had moved out of that box. I've never seen or heard of that penalty being called before. Perhaps Colon knew he was out of the box but never thought he'd get called on it. I'm sure it will be dealt with and we won't see any repeats of that, but one would think that another Jets player or coach would have noticed that Colon was out of the box and told him to get back in.
http://operations.nfl.com/the-rules/2015-nfl-rulebook/#rule13 RULE 13. NON-PLAYER CONDUCT ARTICLE 1. NON-PLAYER FOULS There shall be no unsportsmanlike conduct by a substitute, coach, attendant, or any other non- player (entitled to sit on a team’s bench) during any period or timeout (including between halves). Note 1: “Loud speaker” coaching from the sidelines is not permissible. Note 2: A player may communicate with a coach provided the coach is in his prescribed area during dead-ball periods. ARTICLE 4. RESTRICTED AREAS All team personnel must observe the zone restrictions applicable to the bench area and the border rimming the playing field. The only persons permitted within the solid six-foot white border (1-1) while play is in progress on the field are game officials. For reasons involving the safety of participating players whose actions may carry them out of bounds, officials’ unobstructed coverage of the game, and spectators’ sightlines to the field, the border rules must be observed by all coaches and players in the bench area. Violators are subject to penalty by the officials. Penalty: For illegal acts under Articles 1 through 6 above: Loss of 15 yards from team for whose supposed benefit foul was made. (Unsportsmanlike Conduct.) Enforcement is from: the succeeding spot if the ball is dead. whatever spot the Referee, after consulting with crew, deems equitable, if the ball was in play. For a flagrant violation, the Referee may exclude the offender or offenders from the playing field enclosure for the remainder of the game. _
There is nothing about "intentional" in most rules. If a player didn't intentionally try to hit the QB in the head--is it not a penalty? Intent does not figure in to many of the rules in sports or society for that matter--just the degree of punishment. _
I wasn't referring to whether the referee should have called the penalty or not, just that if it was inadvertent, we fans shouldn't be so quick to condemn Colon.
we will have to remember this restricted area rule the next time one of these asshole coaches runs down to the 5 yard line to bitch about a call and gets a nice warning from the officials.... otherwise known as every single game.
I think many of us jumped to the wrong conclusion that his mouthing off was the reason--and for that I'll admit I was wrong. But I'd have to guess he had no idea where he was on the field, he was trash talking with DRC and that probably brought him into the restricted area so I guess the point remains the same. His ignorance of the rule and his hot head made him unintentionally violate a pretty clear rule. Intent notwithstanding. If he shut his mouth and hadn't decided to start jawing with someone (while he wasn't even playing) he likely never would have stepped out of his area and cost his team. _
Nah, that's been around for quite while. I'd assume the purpose just to set physical limits on how far bench personnel can stray down the field, I really have no clue. Maybe it's for just instances like this, setting a limit to how far bench personnel can engage players/officials on the field of play. You will usually see HC's violating that zone quite often when they have a beef, but it usually does not get flagged unless the violator is belligerent, as appears the case here. But he certainly was not flagged for trash talking or "starting it" as many have opined. Nor does it matter that he is on IR. Anyone on the sideline is culpable.
I have a hard time blaming Colon at all. This happens all the time, but for some reason Colon was flagged which was odd. 1) He didn't engage the Giants player 2) He didn't obstruct the Giants player from returning to the huddle 3) The Giants player approached him No need to blast Colon, it was a ridiculous flag.
