How is this situation any different than when Myles Garrett did it? Leaked footage from a fight during the Rams-Bengals joint practiced showed Aaron Donald repeatedly smashing Bengals players over the head with a dislodged helmet.
Why are NFL players all of a sudden obsessed with braining other players? I guess since head shots are being heavily penalized now, they need a new way to concussion their opponents.
Okay, being serious, what idiot thought it would be a good idea to schedule a joint practice between the reigning Super Bowl champions and their defeated Super Bowl opponents? Did they really think there would be no hard feelings between the two teams, especially when the game was only settled by one score? Of course, a fight (more like mass brawl) was bound to happen.
But that still doesn’t excuse Aaron Donald. What was he thinking? When is it okay to start smashing people over the head with 6 lbs., hardened plastic helmet?
He’s very lucky the Bengals players he was hitting over the head also had helmets on, or he could have seriously hurt someone. Just like how Myles Garrett could have seriously hurt Mason Rudolph in his helmet incident.
And that’s why Donald MUST be suspended as his actions sets a bad precedence if gone unanswered.
If the NFL allows Donald to get away with this insane outburst (yes, that’s what I’m calling it), then I’m certain we’ll see more and more of these angry, out-of-control incidents. And then someone really will get hurt.
Unfortunately, due to this taking place during practice, the NFL league office cannot be the ones to suspend Donald. They don’t have the authority to adjudicate team practices, only the 32 teams have that power. And, in this situation, that team would be the Los Angeles Rams.
Therefore, the NFL needs to pressure the Rams into doing it, though that’s obviously a difficult task as Donald is not only their best player, but also arguably the best player in the NFL today.
If the NFL can’t strong-arm the Rams into suspending Donald, then they should fine and forfeit draft picks (if they still have any) from Los Angeles. These outbursts cannot keep happening, even if they are “behind closed doors” and outside the NFL’s ruling sphere.
As for a potential length of a Donald suspension, I don’t see why it shouldn’t be the exact same length as Myles Garrett’s six games. It’s honestly the most “like-for-like” suspension comparison the NFL/Rams will ever have.
Anyway, all of my complain will be for naught as Aaron Donald isn’t getting suspended by the Rams. Ever.
The worst-case scenario for this incident is that the NFL will fine the Rams for improperly policing their players and maybe take away a few meaningless draft picks. And the risk of someone suffering serious head/brain trauma from these outbursts will continue.
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