The Keith Rivers hit (the hit that everybody's crying foul over) was not away from the ball.  To be honest, I haven't seen any of the other hits the NFL is getting on Ward's case over, so maybe I am a little clueless in that department, but I would think that if Hines has been playing dirty consistently the refs would have been paying much closer attention to him and he'd be drawing a lot more flags.  It's not like he's doing subtle stuff to opposing players after the play's over and the refs aren't looking.  Laying somebody out on a block is anything but subtle, and should be pretty easy for the refs to spot.

Like Jag Maker mentioned, I doubt you'd be so quick to attack his playing style if he played for the Jaguars.

I said earlier, not all of his hits are illegal, so the refs can't do anything, they're just cheap shots.  There's a difference between a cheap shot and an illegal hit.  And he doesn't play for the Jags, so sorry I can't tell ya.

Also, I don't think the Rivers hit was that unecessary, it just adds on to a long line of cheap shots that has made me hate him before.  Fueling the fire.

Would someone please tell me what the definition of a cheap shot is today?  Fans are such pansies. 

Hines blocks and hits people away from the play...so what?  It is not illegal nor cheap.  Most of the people b1tching about Hines never strapped on a Jockstrap in their life.  Once the ball is snapped, and before the whistle blows, I expect every player to attempt to knock the snot out of somebody, and/or block somebody.  If you are not throwing, catching or rushing, you had better be blocking.  If you are standing around watching the play then get the heck off the field.

I remember an old football coach of mine say, "if you aren't hittin somebody, then you are going to get hit."  Like Ditka said, "if you don't like getting hit, go play soccer." 

If the league wants to change the rules so that you can't hit or block someone away from the play(this would be stupid), then they should change the rule.  Until then, your head better be on a swivel.

What I don't get is, everybody loves the hit MoJo put on Shawn Merriman last year, but Hines Ward is getting blasted for making those same kinds of hits.