Issue link: http://read.uberflip.com/i/215100
tw i n c i t y do dge presents: boilermakers in the nfl Hit On Brees Draws Fine BY KYLE CHARTERS KCharters@ GoldandBlack.com D rew Brees was the source — well, his neck was at least — of some controversy this week in the NFL. In the Saints' 2320 last-second win over San Francisco, Brees was hit across the neck by 49er linebacker Ahmad Brooks, drawing a 15-yard penalty and allowing a critical New Orleans' drive to continue. It erased a fumble, which had been recovered by San Francisco. Five plays later, the Saints kicked a game-tying field goal in the fourth quarter. The hit was certainly violent, but was it a penalty? Brooks doesn't think so. New Orleans Saints "I didn't hit him with my hand or my Drew Brees was knocked across the neck on Sunday, drawing a penalty and helping the helmet," Brooks said, Saints upend the 49ers in a critical NFC showdown. via the San Francisco Chronicle. "I basically bear-hugged him. That's just how football is played. … Football, the way they call stuff these days, it's watered down. It ain't real no more." But that wasn't the NFL's feeling. On Wednesday, the league fined Brooks $15,750 for the hit. Brees told reporters Tuesday that he didn't think the hit was intentional. "I don't think what Ahmad Brooks did was intentional at all,"Brees said. "I think he's a heck of a football player and a clean football player. A hard-nosed, clean football player. "But you look at the result of that … and again in real time … you can slow it down all you want and watch it and say, 'Look where the [arm is].' But I can tell you how I felt when I got hit. It felt like I got my head ripped off. And I get up and I've got a mouth full of blood. So there was no doubt in my mind that, 'Hey, it's gonna be a penalty.'" Phillips Gets Bonus Shaun Phillips' first season in Denver is going exceedingly well. The linebacker now has a team-high nine sacks, after collecting 1.5 in a win over Kansas City on Sunday night. It kicked in a $400,000 bonus, after the former Charger passed eight sacks. He'll get another bonus if he gets to 10 sacks this season. Phillips signed a one-year, $1-million contract in the offseason. Pollard Fined Again For the third time this season, Tennessee Titans safety Bernard Pollard was fined for a hit. The league sent Pollard a bill for $15,750 after he hit Jaguars' quarterback Chad Henne late earlier this month. Pollard now has $67,750 worth of fines this season. j TWIN CITY DODGE CHRYSLER JEEP RAM 650 Sagamore Parkway South Lafayette, IN 47905 See the 2014 Jeep Wrangler! 800-562-4581 TwinCitySuperstore.com GoldanDBlack express • volume 24, express 11 • 27