Patriots tight end Rob Gronkowski has been suspended for one game for his late hit on Buffalo Bills cornerback Tre’Davious White in Sunday’s victory.
The controversial hit has been discussed over the past 24 hours and has been a big debate on whether Gronkowski should be suspended or not, personally I do not think that Gronkowski should be suspended I also don’t think that Gronkowski should appeal the decision. Following the game Gronkowski delivered an apology to White, saying that he was frustrated with the officiating, which was absolutely terrible, and said that he isn’t a dirty player and doesn’t try playing like a dirty player. Gronkowski has no previous history of being a cheap player or making dirty hits on the field, unlike someone like Vontaze Burfict who has a history of being a cheap and dirty player and has been suspended games before for his play. Gronkowski retaliated to both the referees and to White in a way that he shouldn’t have after White should have been called for defensive holding and pass interference on that play and for calls that Gronkowski wasn’t getting all day as well as a terrible pass interference call against Gronkowski earlier on in the game, Gronkowski shouldn’t have done what he had, no doubts about it but a one game suspension for a player with no history of being a cheap player seems a bit excessive.
I compare this situation to the AJ Green-Jalen Ramsey fight that happened several weeks ago; where after the play was dead Green had picked up Ramsey from behind in a choke hold and slammed him to the ground and proceeded to throw punches at Ramsey. Both Green and Ramsey were ejected for the incident, Green was later fined for the incident and Ramsey was not. While the situations are similar they are also different; but to me it seems like because Green was ejected from the game he was not suspended, Gronkowski was not ejected from the game so he is being suspended. Like Gronkowski, Green is a player who does not have a history of cheap plays and was given a large fine for his actions, like he should have been. That fact that the refs didn’t eject Gronkowski should be on them and not taken out on Gronkowski and force him to miss a separate game, the suspension makes it seem like it is a make-up call for something the refs missed.
With all this being said why I don’t think Gronkowski should be suspended for a game, I don’t think he should appeal the suspension either. The game that Gronkowski will miss is a Monday night game against Miami in Miami, the same team the Patriots beat 35-17 just one week ago and won with ease. While the Patriots offense is obviously better with Gronkowski in it, they should still be able to beat Miami without much problems without Gronkowski. Following Miami, the Patriots travel to Pittsburgh to take on the Steelers for a game which will likely determine who the number one seed in the AFC will be and who will get home-field advantage throughout the playoffs. The game in Pittsburgh is a far more valuable game for the Patriots and Gronkowski, especially since Pittsburgh is a team that Gronkowski has absolutely destroyed throughout his career. In five games against the Steelers Gronkowski has piled up 30 receptions for 496 yards and eight touchdowns, including two separate three touchdown games.
Gronkowski has three days to file the appeal of his suspension, and is Gronkowski does appeal it is unknown when the decision on his appeal would be made. If the appeal decision isn’t made before the weekend and pushed into the following week and it’s lost Gronkowski would then be forced to miss the game against Pittsburgh. Gronkowski could very well win his appeal or even hear news before this weeks game, but is it worth the risk? I don’t think it is and if I’m Gronkowski and the Patriots though I don’t think I should be suspended, I take it to make sure that once the matchup with Pittsburgh comes the team will be at their best with Gronkowski on the field.
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