Richard Seymour, You Sir, Are a Disgrace to the National Football League

While a Patriot, defensive end Richard Seymour was always a player I respected. He was always a guy who I saw as a hard-worker who did what it takes to win games for his team. His 227 tackles and 39 sacks in eight seasons with the Patriots is proof of his hard work and a salute to his solid NFL career.

Now a Raider since last season, Seymour has recorded 60 tackles and 8.5 sacks in his 25 games in Oakland.

Unfortunately, all respect I had for him is gone after watching his unsportsmanlike display in yesterday's ugly 35-3 loss to the 7-3 Pittsburgh Steelers.

After Pittsburgh quarterback Ben Roethlisberger threw a 22-yard touchdown pass to rookie wideout Emmanuel Sanders he went up behind Seymour and appeared to say something to him. Seymour then turned around and threw an open-hand "punch" at Roethlisberger, knocking him to the ground. The officials went on to eject him from the game.

Now, of course, Roethlisberger isn't quite innocent in this incident as we see him clearly saying something to him to provoke the punch, but that does not mean Seymour shouldn't get in trouble. Goodell fined him $25,000 today, but I think the punch certainly warrants a suspension of at least one game. There's absolutely no excuse for a 31-year old man to punch another player on the football field. Wasn't he ever taught not to let your emotions get the best of you, especially on the field? Kids are told that by their youth football coaches all the time, why can't a grown man understand this concept?

Unacceptable.

And what makes it even worse is, after further research, it has come to my attention that this is not the first time he's been fined for unnecessary roughness after the whistle. Last December he was ejected and fined $10,000 for hitting Cleveland's running back Jerome Harrison after the play was dead. One thing is for sure, Seymour doesn't like the AFC North too much.

Photo Credit

Richard Seymour: AP Photo/Keith Srakocic