Former Dolphins DL relives practice fight with Mike Pouncey

After Myles Garrett’s helmet swing, former Dolphins DL A.J. Francis relived a fight with Mike Pouncey in which a helmet was involved.

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The transgressions of Cleveland Browns DE Myles Garrett left the football world buzzing yesterday. In case you missed it, Garrett and Steelers QB Mason Rudolph got into a scuffle on the ground with just seconds remaining in Cleveland’s 21-7 win against the Steelers on Thursday Night Football — which culminated with Garrett swinging Rudolph’s helmet at the quarterback, hitting him atop the head with it. The ensuing chaos included Steelers center Maurkice Pouncey tackling Garrett to the ground and landing haymakers to defend his quarterback.

The NFL wasted little time handing out discipline, with Garrett getting an indefinite suspension that will include a minimum of the rest of the 2019 season, Pouncey getting a 3-game suspension and both teams being fined $250k.

Everyone had an opinion on the manner. Including former Miami Dolphins defensive lineman A.J. Francis, who was prompted by the incident to tell a story of how he and former Dolphins center Mike Pouncey got into a fight during organized team activities (OTAs) and how Pouncey nearly used a helmet as a weapon.

It’s a super fun read — all 14 tweets worth of it. Some of the highlights from Francis include:

  • Joe Philbin’s Dolphins circumventing the collective bargaining agreement and conducting illegal contact drills during OTAs
  • Then DL coach Kacy Rodgers encouraging Francis to stand his ground to Pouncey during one on one drills and show some fire
  • Francis bull rushing Pouncey to kickstart an offensive line versus defensive line melee, where Pouncey ends up pulling Francis’ helmet off before winding up to take a swing with it — before discarding it and punching Francis in the face

Ultimately, Francis culminates his story by pointing out that Mike Pouncey, in a fit of anger, still had the judgement to avoid using Francis’ helmet as a weapon in a fight — and that any NFL player should be able to maintain their judgement in the heat of the battle.

Saturday mornings are great for light reading, so go swing over to Francis’ timeline and read the story for yourself!

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