New England Patriots Tight End Rob Gronkowski Suspended One Game for Late Hit on Bills Cornerback Tre'Davious White
New England Patriots tight end Rob Gronkowski should have known that he was going to get in trouble when he landed a cheap shot on Buffalo Bills cornerback Tre'Davious White, but he did it anyway.
So as expected, Gronkowski was suspended for one game without pay by the National Football League (NFL) on Monday for violating the league's rules on unnecessary roughness.
"Your actions were not incidental, could have been avoided and placed the opposing player at risk of serious injury," NFL vice president of football operations Jon Runyan wrote in the letter to the four-time Pro Bowler, via NFL.com.
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"The Competition Committee has clearly expressed its goal of 'eliminating flagrant hits that have no place in our game.' Those hits include the play you were involved in yesterday," he continued.
The suspension shouldn't come as a surprise because Gronkowski did it on purpose. He didn't have to hit White on the back of the head and neck area while White was already lying on the ground. The Bills cornerback was already a defenseless player.
Gronkowski was flagged for unnecessary roughness on the play, but surprisingly, he wasn't ejected for the hit. White was taken out of the game after the hit and he entered the league's concussion protocol.
The first-team All-Pro tight end would apologize to White after the game and explain that he was just frustrated because of the lack of calls going his way.
"I don't believe in shots like that," Gronkowski said, according to ESPN. "I'm not in the business of that. It was a lot of frustration. At that moment, it happened naturally through emotions and frustration," he added.
Interestingly, Gronkowski actually tried to have his suspension dissolved, but the punishment was upheld on Tuesday.
Gronkowski will now have to sit out the Patriots' game against the Miami Dolphins next Monday.
