Dec 2nd 2008 11:00AM by Ryan Wilson (author feed)
Filed under: Patriots, Steelers, AFC East, AFC North, NFL Fans, NFL Injuries, NFL Video, NFL Referees

You may have heard something about Steelers safety Ryan Clark knocking Patriots wideout Wes Welker through the Gillette Stadium turf on Sunday. Opinions vary as to the legality of the hit (by the letter of the rules, it was a penalty — don’t kill the messenger, just saying), and there used to be a time in the NFL when hard tackles didn’t automatically result in a flag and a subsequent fine.

But as Troy Polamalu rightly pointed out in October, football “just loses so much of its essence when it becomes like a pansy game.” Yes, yes it does. In any event, Clark was apologetic after the game.Continue Reading