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It hasn’t taken long for new Las Vegas Raiders head coach Antonio Pierce to start ruffling some feathers. Pierce recently turned some heads when he suggested “Jordan Rules” should be applied to Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes.
Essentially, he was saying that he wants his team to be physical with the quarterback, which is what many coaches expect from their players in the NFL. However, some weren’t a fan of Pierce saying the quiet part out loud. ESPN’s Mike Greenberg took the coach to task for his comments.
“I’m going to tell you right now; I don’t like it,” Greenberg said on the February 22 episode of the “#Greeny” show. “I don’t like hearing it and if I’m the league, I’m doing something about it, and I’ll tell you why. Protecting the quarterbacks is the most important thing the NFL can do. Patrick Mahomes is the most important player in football. He’s as important a player that football has had in a long time. He is right there with [Tom] Brady and Peyton Manning and Brett Favre as a draw. There is no bigger draw right now in the sport than Patrick Mahomes. Maybe Taylor Swift is the only bigger draw than Mahomes is.”
Greenberg is concerned with Pierce’s comments that he suggested that NFL commissioner Roger Goodell get involved.
“You cannot have coaches preaching hurting him, and I understand that he’s not going to go so far as to say ‘hurt him,’ but I’m telling you right now if I’m Roger Goodell, I’m calling Antonio Pierce,” he added. “I don’t mean to be a ‘Fuddy Duddy’ on this, but I’m going to say ‘Listen, I’m going to instruct my officials to be keeping a close eye on Patrick in your games because of what you said, and if I see anything I don’t like, we’re throwing flags on every freaking play. You want 15 yards on every play? I’ll give you 15 yards on every play. You’re going to knock out our money maker, mine and yours. I’m not interested in it.”
Pierce’s comments didn’t appear controversial at first but there’s definitely so pushback from the media.
Can Antonio Pierce Get in Trouble?
Antonio Pierce is a first-time head coach and former player so he’s likely going to learn a lot in the coming year. He can say whatever he wants to his players behind closed doors but it’s looking like it was a bad idea to reveal his plans for Patrick Mahomes.
It’s hard to imagine the NFL will drop the hammer on Pierce for his comments. He never said he wants his players to injure Mahomes. At worst, he’s likely going to get a talking-to due to the media pushback. Otherwise, the ramifications shouldn’t be too steep.
Las Vegas Raiders vs. The NFL
Antonio Pierce grew up a fan of the Raiders so he’s well aware of their history with the NFL. The league hasn’t always been kind to the franchise. Whether it’s fair or not, if Pierce gets in trouble with the NFL for his comments, fans of the team aren’t likely to be happy.
Pierce is unlikely to get too upset if he has issues with the NFL early on but it could be a sign of what’s to come for the Raiders.
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