DeMeco Ryans Blames Trevor Lawrence for the Azeez Al-Shaair Hit and Says the Jaguars Overreacted

Just as I started to write this post, the NFL made the announcement they're suspending Azeez Al-Shaair for nearly decapitating Trevor Lawrence after he had clearly gone into a slide. Which, by any objective standard, is the least they could have done. Of course this wouldn't be the NFL in 2024 if they didn't somehow still find a way to cock up a perfectly solid decision. In this case, with a cloying, sanctimonious pronouncement that reads like it was written by the Assistant Principal of an elementary school scolding a kid for fighting at recess: 

"During your game against the Jacksonville Jaguars on December 1, with 4:20 remaining in the second quarter, you were involved in a play that the League considers unacceptable and a serious violation of the playing rules. Video shows you striking the head/neck area of Jaguars' quarterback Trevor Lawrence after he clearly goes down in a feet-first slide... You led with your forearm and helmet and delivered a forceful blow to the head/neck area of your opponent when you had time and space to avoid such contact.

 

"After the illegal hit, you proceeded to engage in a brawl, which you escalated when you pulled an opponent down to the ground by his facemask. After the referee announced that you were disqualified for the hit and your unsportsmanlike acts, you removed your helmet and reengaged with your opponent while walking down and across the field, which started another physical confrontation near the end zone.

 

"Your lack of sportsmanship and respect for the game of football and all those who play, coach, and enjoy watching it, is troubling and does not reflect the core values of the NFL… Your continued disregard for NFL playing rules puts the health and safety of both you and your opponents in jeopardy and will not be tolerated."

Brevity is the soul of wit. How about we drop all the pretentious "Think of the children!" bullshit about respect for the game and core values. This whole thing could've been reduced to just "Duh!" followed by this photo:

But whatever. The NFL is gonna NFL. What makes this whole incident blogworthy is DeMeco Ryans' scorching hot take on it:

Before we go on, let us pause here for a second to give a brief history of Al-Shaair sportsmanship and respect for the game of football and all those who play, coach, and enjoy watching it. Which includes choking Tom Brady, late-hitting Caleb Williams then punching Roschon Johnson, and tackling Tony Pollard three yards out of bounds:

And yet Ryans managed to paint him as the victim. Not only of Trevor Lawrence's devilishly clever late slide tactic, but of the Jaguars bench's gross overreaction to watching their franchise player get concussed. Not to mention, Al-Shaair is a team captain. So that "That is not representative of us" nonsense is literally untrue. I guess the obvious follow up question for Ryans would be, "Would you react the same way if that hit had been on CJ Stroud?" But to the best of my knowledge, no one in the Texans media room thought to ask it. 

On some level, you have to respect Ryans for defending his guy. But there's a Marianas Trench-sized gap between not piling on your linebacker for his grotesque ratfuckery that got him tossed out of a game and acting like he's the one being treated unfairly. "A lot of the onus is on the defender" is of course true. Because they're the ones dishing out the hits. They could put it on the quarterbacks to not get hit, but that's pretty much like saying it's up to the people getting hit with strays in a mass shooting to avoid the bullets. 

I suppose if I'm on the Houston Texans, I'm loving this. I'm playing for a coach who'll defend me no matter what. But what I'm positive of is DeMeco Ryans is exactly the kind of guy every defense lawyer wants sitting on a jury. "Ladies and gentlemen, let's focus on Mr. Lawrence's actions in all this. Why, dressed the way he was, in that part of the field, sliding around right in front of my client in this way, he was basically asking to have a forearm smashed into the crown of his helmet. And all those eyewitnesses who grabbed the defendant were in on it!"

The latest update is that Al-Shaair is appealing the suspension. I wish the league would put it on Red Zone, because watching him argue how he's innocent would be wild. And if he's smart, he'll hire Ryans to represent him.