Washington Redskins safety Brandon Meriweather has been labeled, flagged and sidelined as a head-hunter. It’s safe to say a recent one-game suspension did nothing to change his attitude — just the body part he would target.
“I guess I’ve just got to take people’s knees out,” he said Monday, according to the Richmond Times-Dispatch. “That’s the only way. … I’d hate to end a guy’s career, you know, over a rule. But I guess it’s better other people than me getting suspended for longer.
“To be honest, man, you’ve just got to go low now. You’ve got to end people’s careers, you know? You’ve got to tear people’s ACLs and mess up people’s knees now. You can’t hit them high no more. You’ve just got to go low.”
In a Week 7 contest against the Chicago Bears, Meriweather was penalized for two illegal hits on receivers Alshon Jeffery and Brandon Marshall. He received a two-game ban, which was reduced to one game following an appeal.
After the game — which the Redskins won with a last-minute touchdown — Marshall called out Meriweather for his style of play. Meriweather fired back at Marshall.
“Listen, everybody’s got their opinion of things, you know,” Meriweather said. “Everybody’s got their opinion. He feels like, you know, I need to be kicked out of the league. I feel like, people who beat their girlfriends should be kicked out of the league too.”
That is a reference to a 2007 incident in which Marshall was arrested on suspicion of domestic violence, a charge that was eventually dropped.
“You tell me who you’d rather have: Somebody who plays aggressive on the field or somebody who beats up their girlfriend?” Meriweather continued. “Everybody’s got their opinion. That’s mine. He’s got his.”
Marshall had criticized Meriweather last week, saying, “I respect the league trying to better our game. Guys like that, maybe he needs to get suspended or taken out of the game completely. I’m not venting or anything. I understand big hits. That’s a part of our game, but when you have a guy that does it week in and week out, that’s when it becomes a problem.”
Meriweather, who was drafted by the New England Patriots and played for the Bears in 2011, has a history of headhunting.
In 2010, Meriweather drilled Baltimore Ravens tight end Todd Heap with a helmet-to-helmet hit, earning a $50,000 fine.
That weekend was a watershed moment in the NFL. There were two other violent helmet-to-helmet collisions that day: Philadelphia wide receiver DeSean Jackson was concussed on a hit by Atlanta cornerback Dunta Robinson and Cleveland wide receiver Mohamed Massaquoi was the victim of a vicious hit from Pittsburgh linebacker James Harrison.
Following that weekend, the NFL changed its rules to allow for suspensions when it came to violent hits.
In 2011, Meriweather was fined in two consecutive weeks, first for a helmet-to-helmet hit on Carolina wide receiver Steve Smith then for an unnecessary roughness penalty against the Detroit Lions.
Earlier this season, Meriweather was fined $42,000 for a helmet-to-helmet hit on Green Bay running back Eddie Lacy.