As expected, the NFL has imposed a three-game suspension on Texans linebacker Azeez Al-Shaair for his blatantly illegal hit on Jaguars quarterback Trevor Lawrence. Still, the statement announcing the move isn’t clear.
The NFL’s preamble to the letter from Jon Runyan to Al-Shaair mentions the player’s history of “multiple offenses for personal fouls and sportsmanship-related rules violations in recent seasons.” The letter mentions the illegal hit, which was the focal point of the incident.
The Runyan letter also mentions Al-Shaair’s involvement in a “brawl, which you escalated when you pulled an opponent down to the ground by his facemask.” It ties the ejection to “the hit [and Lawrence] and your unsportsmanlike acts.” And the letter then mentions the second altercation in which Al-Shaair engaged.
So what was he suspended for? The hit? His history? The first fight? The second one? Some of them? All of them?
The absence of any semblance of a formula creates the impression that the league makes it up as it goes, picking the punishment to fit the circumstances. Next, one of the four hearing officers will have to decide whether to uphold, scrap, or reduce the suspension.
No one knows what will happen, in large part because precedent doesn’t seem to matter. It’s all case-by-case, with no real sense that prior outcomes impact future decisions.
That makes it harder for players to know the stakes of misbehavior, and it takes the saying “f—k around and find out” to its most literal extreme.
Yes, the player will find out. Along with everyone else. Because nobody seems to really know what will happen in any of these cases until it does.
