Bucs safety Dashon Goldson suspended one game for helmet-to-helmet hit

Bucs safety Dashon Goldson was suspended one game for a hit against the Saints. (AP Photo/Brian Blanco)

The NFL suspended Tampa Bay Buccaneers safety Dashon Goldson for one game for his helmet-to-helmet hit on New Orleans Saints running back Darren Sproles, the league announced.

He will miss this Sunday's game against the New England Patriots.

Goldson was flagged 15 yards for unnecessary roughness on the play and it's his fifth violation for unnecessary roughness since 2011 and his second in the first two weeks of the 2013 season.

Goldson was fined $30,000 for hitting New York Jets tight end Jeff Cumberland during the Buccaneers' Week 1 loss.

"It's hurting the football team. By the same token, I want our guys to play hard. I don't think anybody is intentionally trying to do that," Buccaneers coach Greg Schiano said yesterday. "We just have to be more and more aware of that situation and make sure we avoid that as much as we can."

Goldson is in his first season with Tampa after signing a five-year, $41.25 million contract in the offseason. He played his first six seasons with the San Francisco 49ers.

“You had an unobstructed path to your opponent,” NFL Vice President of Football Operations Merton Hanks wrote in a letter to Goldson. “It is clear that you lowered your head and unnecessarily rammed the left side of your helmet into the left side of your opponent’s head.  You delivered a forceful blow with your helmet and made no attempt whatsoever to wrap up your opponent or make a conventional tackle on the play.  This illegal contact clearly could have been avoided.”