In an attempt to maybe somehow affect the officiating crew that will handle the Super Bowl between the Denver Broncos and the Seattle Seahawks, Walter Thurmond decided it’s time for him to also share his opinion on the hit Wes Welker brought upon Aqib Talib.
The facts? Welker blocked Talib in the AFC championship game between the Broncos and the Patriots, injuring Talib in the process. No flags were thrown, no fines were dealt. Only Bill Belichick spoke his mind because he was probably finding it hard to think of something to say after losing.
So Thurmond, from a Seattle secondary that doesn’t play the “cleanest” style of football and enjoys, at home games at least, a very lenient brand of officiating that helps his group dominate physically against pretty much every receiving unit, decided he’ll try and influence the game more than a week before it begins, throwing in a little bit of trash talk into the mix.
It was really uncalled for. The receiver ran right into the guy. I don’t know the extent of the injury Talib had, but I thought we were supposed to protect football players in this league now. I guess not. I guess that only goes one way. If you’re intentionally coming at somebody, it’s supposed to be a flag. But they didn’t throw the flag on him. Some players get away with a lot more than other players depending on status, but that’s just the nature of the game. Welker had his head down, like he was coming down the whole time. That should be a flag, and he should be getting fined. There’s a whole bunch of things that should happen in that situation, but I don’t run the NFL.
Maybe Thurmond isn’t only speaking as a “Legion of Boom” member. There’s a chance he’s speaking for all defensive players who feel that referees don’t call their hits and offensive player violence the same way, but he probably wouldn’t have mentioned it if the Seahawks weren’t going up against the Broncos.
Welker isn’t a dirty player, just a physical one. The injury Talib sustained is only the symptom, but the fact that he got injured doesn’t mean what Welker did was wrong. Football, believe it or not, is a slightly dangerous sport, and what Welker did was within the guidelines and rules of the game. Thurmond trying to twist the truth in order to give himself an advantage doesn’t change what really happened.