Vontaze Burfict To Meet With Roger Goodell

Bengals linebacker Vontaze Burfict is scheduled to have a sit-down in the coming days with NFL commissioner Roger Goodell, a source close to Burfict tells Coley Harvey of ESPN.com. Burfict hopes that his meeting will lead to his three-game suspension being reduced. Vontaze Burfict (vertical)

On Monday night, the NFL suspended Burfict for the first three games of this upcoming season for “repeated violations of safety-related playing rules.” Burfict’s latest and worst offense, of course, came late in Saturday’s AFC Wild Card playoff game against the Steelers when he leveled Antonio Brown. The Steelers wide receiver was coming across the middle of the field when Burfict drilled Brown in the head, leaving him with a nasty concussion. The latest word on Brown is that he will probably not be able to play this weekend against the Broncos. Pittsburgh will have running back DeAngelo Williams back in the lineup against Denver, but they will be playing at a serious disadvantage if Brown is sidelined.

Burfict was previously been fined for safety-related violations four times in 2015, including a $50K fine for unnecessarily contacting an opponent who was out of the play in Cincinnati’s Week 17 game against the Ravens. That play, which can be viewed here, saw tight end Maxx Williams run a route in the end zone and get leveled by Burfict, even though the ball was nowhere near him.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

 

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