Jimbodandy said:Almost all of the force of that hit was shoulder applied to chest. The receiver took two full steps juggling the ball before contact. Whether their helmets grazed a little is not relevant, nor is whether Browner was trying to "decleat" the receiver. It's obvious that Browner was trying to avoid the head when he hit him, for God's sake.
According to the MNF football referee expert / former ref it was a textbook hit:
May be a slight hit to the neck area but Browner delivers a hit exactly like the League wants it done....didn't appear to be illegal
https://twitter.com/RefereeJimD/status/541799747863191553
Personally I'm much more with the comment above about 10 years ago I'd love it, now it does make me cringe a bit, but it was a good hit, legal and to the shoulder. It's no worse than taking out someone's knee and destroying it. It's part of the game and he did it cleanly. I don't have any problem with what Browner did, but wish the guy didn't get hurt.
A QB and WR also need to make sure they are taking precautions and not sending guys into trouble or throwing Hospital Balls out there.
My biggest problem with this whole debate is the "PLAYER SAFETY" flag that's constantly waved. NFL abuses on thinks like illegal contact, illegal hands to the face, pushing a lineman from behind, or whatever they want to make the game more offensively based this week. You can't push a lineman from behind in a kick situation because it's dangerous but they allow 5 offensive lineman to run into a running back in the pile and try to push him forward. It's just not consistent and doesn't make any sense..
If CBs were able to actually play defense and make contact, then the receivers would be less likely to run at full speed into someone coming the other way, they'd be slowed down and impact reduced.
Also, as said above, if that was Gronk there would have been no flag. The whole thing is so subjective. Just because someone gets hurt doesn't mean it was a bad play, dirty or illegal.