Dunlap: What's The End Game For Burfict?
PITTSBURGH (93-7 The Fan) - The part I don't understand is this: What's the end game for Bengals nuisance Vontaze Burfict?
Is he trying to intimidate people? That won't work in a league where some of the toughest people on the planet are employed. How is one going to intimidate men who make a living hitting others as hard as they can?
Is he trying to help his team to a bunch of wins? Certainly taking boneheaded penalties --- particularly at crucial times -- isn't the best vehicle to aid in wins.
So that's what is all so puzzling about this guy.
What is his intent, his end game, with his behavior?
It seems to me it invariably falls back, it always falls back, to Vontaze Burfict out there trying to hurt people. And how ridiculous is that; really, how ridiculous is that for an NFL that keeps telling us about how much they are trying to keep players safe.
He's succeeded in the past; Burfict has accomplished what he has set out to do. Just ask Le'Veon Bell and Antonio Brown about this.
Why is it OK for Burfict to take the cheapest of cheap shots at Rosie Nix in this past weekend's game against the Steelers with seemingly the sole purpose of hurting Nix?
Burfict was made to serve a suspension at the beginning of this season for what appeared to be those kind of actions as an intent to injure finally got him a vacation.
But after this past Sunday's Steelers game, does it appear to you --- does it appear to anyone --- Burfict is getting any closer to wising up?
Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger doesn't think so.
"His teammates don't get it either," Roethlisberger said on his radio hit on 93.7 The Fan. "I have talked to them."
Whoa.
This is a big deal and should be taken as such.
Think about this for a moment --- just think about Ben's words. This is one of the top talents in the NFL taking a very public stand and using his platform to speak out against another player --- and Roethlisberger went a step farther. When you unpack this fully, just one of two things is happening: Ben is an outright liar or Burfict's teammates can't understand him.
I know the side I'm betting on here: I don't think Roethlisberger would say publicly he talked to Bengals players if he didn't, well, talk to Bengals players. That said, it's a very, very dangerous situation if it's trickled all the way to the point where Burfict doesn't even have the support of his teammates.
I'll never understand what Vontaze Burfict's true end game is. In my estimation, at this point, it has to be as a vehicle to hurt people.
If the NFL doesn't step in and give a lengthy suspension soon, they are nothing less than complicit in all of this.
Colin Dunlap is a featured columnist at CBSPittsburgh.com. He can also be heard weekdays from 5:40 a.m. to 10 a.m. on Sports Radio 93-7 "The Fan." You can e-mail him at colin.dunlap@cbsradio.com. Check out his bio here.
