Wednesday afternoon, Oakland Raiders quarterback Derek Carr responded to the news of Vontaze Burfict being suspended by questioning the fairness in some of the decisions. To make his point, Carr mentioned other players avoiding suspensions after helmet-to-helmet hits, but he also alluded to one of the more controversial moments from week four in the NFL. Specifically, he mentioned players choking each other.
“I don’t think he was trying to hurt the man [Doyle]; the man was going down,” Carr said. “We see other people choking people out, and they’re going to play this Sunday. You see other people hitting people in the helmet, and they’re going to play this Sunday. And Vontaze Burfict won’t play the rest of the year? I think that’s a little excessive if you ask me.”
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Carr did not specifically reference Baltimore Ravens defensive back Marlon Humphrey by name, but there were not many choking incidents in the league to reference.
.@derekcarrqb defending teammate @King55Tez after his suspension this week. #Raiders pic.twitter.com/k5d6A432SK
— Silver&BlackToday™ (@SilverBlack2Day) October 2, 2019
During this play in question, Cleveland Browns wide receiver Odell Beckham Jr. became locked up with Humphrey in the midst of a play. This led to the pair ultimately fighting as Beckham threw a punch and grabbed Humphrey’s facemask. The Ravens corner took him to the turf while holding his jersey. It was a fight between opposing players, but some believe that Humphrey actually took an opportunity to choke Beckham.
In the days since the alleged choking incident, the Ravens official website has come to the defense of Humphrey while writing about how Humphrey “definitely did not choke Beckham.”
Meanwhile, Browns head coach Freddie Kitchens responded to the Ravens by simply asking if reporters had watched the footage from the play. “Did you see the video?” Kitchens asked during a press conference. “Ok. That’s my response. We’re moving on to San Francisco. Everybody saw the video.”
While opinions have certainly been split on the incident that allegedly occurred during the week four AFC North battle, it appears that Carr comes down on the side of “Humphrey choked Beckham.” At least, that’s how his comments to reporters on Wednesday make it appear.
The Raiders QB made the comments while defending his teammate, Vontaze Burfict, and voicing his frustrations about the punishments, but the point remains that he potentially sides with the Browns in the great choking debate of 2019. Will this play a role in any potential fines that are sent to Humphrey or any other possible punishment?
