Sad news: why Tampa Bay Buccaneers suspended a superstar..
Evans of the Bucs suspended after altercation with Lattimore of the Saints
Mike Evans, a receiver for Tampa Bay, and Marshon Lattimore, a cornerback for New Orleans, got into a fight during the Bucs vs. Saints game, and Evans was sent off without pay for one game.
The Bucs star intervened in a fight that started between Lattimore and teammates Tom Brady and Leonard Fournette, and Evans knocked Lattimore to the ground, in violation of the NFL’s unsportsmanlike conduct and unnecessary roughness rules, the league said on Monday.
“You were making your way to your sidelines following the conclusion of a play. In a letter informing Evans of the punishment, league vice president of football operations Jon Runyan stated, “You ran toward that area on the field and violently threw your body into and struck an unsuspecting opponent who was part of that confrontation when you noticed your teammates engaged in a confrontation with Saints’ players.”
The letter claimed that after “you knocked your opponent to the ground, a melee involving players from both teams ensued.” “Your aggressive behavior clearly does not reflect the high standards of sportsmanship expected of a professional and could have seriously injured your opponent.”
Evans was suspended for the home game against the Green Bay Packers on Sunday; he has the right to appeal the ruling.
Evans has been suspended before in his career. Evans also knocked Lattimore to the ground during a Bucs-Saints game at the Superdome in 2017, earning him a one-game suspension.
Due to suspension, the Bucs will be without a receiver against the Packers, especially since Julio Jones (knee) and Chris Godwin (hamstring) are recovering from injuries that prevented them from playing last week.
“Like I said, our team suffers because we lose a very good ballplayer because of the fighting alone,” Bowles remarked.
The coach went on, “We have to go forward and find a way to win without him. We don’t want that, we don’t condone it.” “But all of our other players should take that as a lesson.”
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Mike Evans Can Appeal After Being Suspended for One Game
The league suspended wide receiver Mike Evans for his involvement in an altercation on the field in New Orleans on Sunday, so unless he files a successful appeal, Evans will miss the Buccaneers’ Week Three matchup against the Packers.
The NFL has suspended Tampa Bay Buccaneers wide receiver Mike Evans for one game due to his actions during an altercation between Buccaneers and New Orleans Saints players that occurred on the field. Although Evans is free to challenge the suspension, Buccaneers head coach Todd Bowles says the team needs to be ready to play the Green Bay Packers on Sunday even without its top receiver. Bowles was informed of the league’s decision just prior to his Monday press conference.
Bowles said, “He’ll be suspended for one game.” “As I previously stated, our team suffers because we lose a very talented player due to fighting alone. We have to move on and figure out a way to win without him because we don’t want that and we don’t support it. However, all of our other players ought to take note of that.”
Evans, according to the NFL, was “in violation of Rule 12, Section 2, Article 8(g) which prohibits any action that is ‘contrary to the generally understood principles of sportsmanship,’ as well as Rule 12, Section 3, Article 1 which prohibits ‘unnecessarily running, diving into, cutting, or throwing the body against or on a player who is out of the play or should not have reasonably anticipated such contact by an opponent, before or after the ball is dead.'”
Following the altercation, which was started by shoving between Saints cornerback Marshon Lattimore and Buccaneers running back Leonard Fournette as Lattimore and Tom Brady exchanged words, Evans and Lattimore were ejected from the game. Neither Lattimore nor any of the other participants in the altercation were suspended.
Evans was obviously trying to shield Brady, but Bowles suggested that instinct should be expressed in a different way.
“There’s always a fine line,” the coach declared. It’s a game of controlled aggression. You try to defend your teammate in this game of controlled aggression, but you have to do it correctly.”
After the game on Sunday, Bowles had an opportunity to watch the television replay of the midfield brawl, but it did not alter his opinion of what happened.
“It doesn’t change my perspective,” he replied. “We want to avoid fights in our game because losing a talented player hurts us as a team. Therefore, that is not something we support, teach, or want to see in our game.”
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