Patrick Willis Hit on Brad Smith (Video)

And Willis showing so much class celebrating and preening for the cameras after that hit. And the league wonders why it has an image problem.

 

Yeah, that was a pretty rough hit. Helmet to helmet. I doubt the league is going to do anything about it though. Goodell is on Robert Kraft's payroll. That was pretty scary when Smith just bounced back up as if nothing ever happened. He'll probably be out for next weeks game, who knows; maybe we'll get to see Clowney get some play time?

 

Willis hit Smith at an angle, so perhaps you could say he did not "lead" with his helmet, but there was definitely helmet to helmet contact there when Smith was already in the grasp of a Niner defender.

Imo, should be a fine and perhaps more.

 

It's football.

I hope Smith is OK, but it was a nice hit.

 

bad news: if Smith is hurt, our special teams will lose a great asset.

good news: this could activate Clowney..and we could see if he'll make an impact.

 

He led with the helmet. On replay, even the announcers had to admit it.

Smith got a one-game suspension for a much more accidental hit.

 

looked like a bad hit but certainly didn't look intended to be a dirty one

 

I agree. I didn't see any malicious intent. It was ugly though. I gotta give Smith credit for popping right back up.

 

It's never fun to see a player on your team get lit up but that was a clean hit. The announcers pretty much summed it up when they said... "this is football there is going to be helmet to helmet contact and it is legal as long as it's not against a defenseless receiver in the air", which Smith was not.

I agree the celebrating while Smith was lying motionless showed a lack of class.

I also think Willis is getting too much credit for this hit because the only reason it was so vicious was because there was another Niner behind Smith's legs.

 

Intent does not matter in a helmet to helmet hit. He should be suspended.

 

There was a question about Eric Smith's intent, considering he was aiming for the ball initially and Rhodes knocked Boldin into him, but he led with the helmet and was fined and suspended for it. Willis led with the helmet. It has nothing to do with being in the air, helmet to helmet is exactly that.

 

The first angle makes it look like he led with the helmet. The 2nd & 3rd show the impact was made with his right shoulder pad. It was a clean hit.

 

Vicious hit. Brad Smith looks like he's going to die for a few seconds there..

 

very vicious hit im glad that smith seems to be ok.

i hope nobody that was cheering the hit on welker as "sending a message" will be calling for a suspension on this one.

 

the hit itself was not that bad

it was the fact that his legs were almost under another guy and he was being held back so he had no way to defend himself

i don't think anyone should be fined or suspended, it's one of those things that just happens when you're playing such a violent game ... anything can happen ... it's unfortunate ... but it could have been worse

 

Gotta give Smith some props for poping up like he did. Even though he went right back down after a few steps. I didn't think he would be getting up for awhile after that hit.

 

The reason Smith popped up so suddenly is because he regained consciousness. He blacked-out, his body went limp for a few seconds, and the only thing propping him up was the leverage of his legs and the defender underneath his thighs. He was out cold for a good few seconds, then he popped up because he regained consciousness and couldn't remember what happened, the last thing he probably remembered was catching the ball (hence why it was kind of amusing to see him be so clueless to the hit he just took). After a few seconds he realized what happened/felt the severity of the pain and went back down... woozy and unaware.


Vicious hit, led with the helmet, should be suspended one game. Yes it is football, but if Goodell is going to set the precedent that leading with the helmet hits which cause injury are going to punished, then this one ought to, as well. Plus the fact that he celebrated, and continued to celebrate after he looked back to see him injured and its a gimme.

 

You cannot not suspend this guy and fine him. This was no different that Smith's hit, which was totally accidental.

 

i wouldn't call these two hits the same at all. smith did lead with his head while jumping to make the hit. now i dont think he meant to spear boldin in the face, but he still lead with the head while jumping into the air to make the hit.

this hit was very much more incidental than the smith hit. there was no dropping the head like smith did. sure he lowered it a bit, but everyone does that. brad smith couldn't avoid it because he was being tackled from behind.