The brawl between the Titans and Broncos was sparked by a low block applied by Tennessee receiver Harry Douglas to Denver cornerback Chris Harris Jr. After the game, Harris sounded off on Douglas.
“That was so illegal,” Harris said, via Nicki Jhabvala of the Denver Post. “I have never had a player try to end my career like that. That was dirty and he should be fined. That’s not football. He tried to take me out of the game and tried to end my career. That’s not football.”
The move -- an effort to block Harris low while the two players were face to face in the open field -- is technically not illegal, as Douglas explained.
“It was a run play with me and him looking at each other and I cut-blocked him,” Douglas said, via Jhabvala. “Like I told them, if they watch film, which they’re supposed to do in the NFL, you would know I can cut block in the run game and that’s a legal play. I guess he didn’t watch film because if he watched me last week or any other game he would see that’s what I do in the run game.”
Legal or not, many would regard it as dirty. Harris definitely did.
“I can’t even say what I said,” Harris added. “I feel OK. I was sore, I’m not going to lie. I was hurting a little bit, but I fought through it and I’m going to tough it out for my team.”
It could have been worse. Harris could have been done for the year with a torn ACL.
The broader philosophical question for the NFL becomes whether additional restrictions should be placed on the use of low blocks. A staple in football for years (primarily because it’s the only way a smaller player can get a bigger player onto the ground), the league has adopted limitations in recent years, primarily in response to complaints from defensive players about the NFL’s failure to give them any protection at a time when their offensive counterparts enjoy extensive safeguards.
