Vontaze Burfict Learned of His NFL Suspension While in a Foreign Country

When NFL players are suspended, it generally comes at a time where they are either at home or the team facility. It's a simple matter to adjust what they are doing and leave the team. For Vontaze Burfict, however, leaving the Raiders upon being told that he was suspended was not very realistic. He was informed of the news in a foreign country.

Following the battle against the Indianapolis Colts, a game in which Burfict was ejected for an illegal hit on Jack Doyle, the Oakland Raiders hopped on a plane and headed overseas. The next game on the schedule is a battle in London with the Chicago Bears, and head coach Jon Gruden wanted to get a headstart on acclimating to the time change. Burfict joined his team on the flight with the expectation that he would be active for Sunday's game.

This was not the case, and now Burfict is in the United Kingdom. This also means that he is not allowed to practice with his team or participate in any football activities.

According to NFL insider Ian Rapoport, Burfict has remained in London with his team. He is appealing the suspension that will keep him out of action for the remainder of the season, which will likely take place on Tuesday. As Rapoport explained on Monday morning, the appeal won't be based upon whether or not Burfict should be suspended after the hit on Doyle. Instead, the argument will potentially be that this 12-game suspension is unprecedented for a helmet-to-helmet hit.

In response, the NFL will likely use the argument that Burfict's track record of illegal hits and subsequent discipline paved the way for this historic suspension. NFL VP of policy and rules administration Jon Runyan even mentioned the past transgressions in a letter to Burfict notifying him of the suspension.

"For your actions, you were penalized and disqualified from the game," he wrote. "Following each of your previous rule violations, you were warned by me and each of the jointly-appointed appeal officers that future violations would result in escalated accountability measures. However, you have continued to flagrantly abuse rules designated to protect yourself and your opponents from unnecessary risk."

While this appeal plays out, Burfict may not participate in football activities with his team, but does that mean that he will be heading home from London? He could remain overseas with his team in hopes of playing on Sunday, but that outcome seems very unlikely based on the severity of the punishment.