Buccaneers safety Dashon Goldson suspended by NFL for helmet-to-helmet hits

Yes, the NFL has heard you, Mr. Goldson. It's going to come out of your wallet, too. (AP/Brian Blanco) The NFL has suspended Tampa Bay Buccaneers safety Dashon

Doug Farrar | Sep 16, 2013

Buccaneers safety Dashon Goldson suspended by NFL for helmet-to-helmet hits /

Yes, the NFL has heard you, Mr. Goldson. It's going to come out of your wallet, too. (AP/Brian Blanco)

The NFL has suspended Tampa Bay Buccaneers safety Dashon Goldson for one game due to what the league has determined is Goldson's history of personal fouls, and specifically for his helmet-to-helmet hit on New Orleans Saints running back Darren Sproles on Sunday. It is Goldson's first such suspension, but he has amassed more personal fouls (15) than any other NFL player since 2010. He was also fined $30,000 for a Week 1 hit on New York Jets tight end Jeff Cumberland.

"You had an unobstructed path to your opponent," NFL VP of Football Operations Merton Hanks wrote 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."

Ian Rapoport of the NFL Network reports that Goldson will appeal the suspension. He will not be able to practice this week, or play against the New England Patriots on Sunday.

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Published Sep 16, 2013

DOUG FARRAR

SI.com contributing NFL writer and Seattle resident Doug Farrar started writing about football locally in 2002, and became Football Outsiders' West Coast NFL guy in 2006. He was fascinated by FO's idea to combine Bill James with Dr. Z, and wrote for the site for six years. He wrote a game-tape column called "Cover-2" for a number of years, and contributed to six editions of "Pro Football Prospectus" and the "Football Outsiders Almanac." In 2009, Doug was invited to join Yahoo Sports' NFL team, and covered Senior Bowls, scouting combines, Super Bowls, and all sorts of other things for Yahoo Sports and the Shutdown Corner blog through June, 2013. Doug received the proverbial offer he couldn't refuse from SI.com in 2013, and that was that. Doug has also written for the Seattle Times, the Washington Post, the New York Sun, FOX Sports, ESPN.com, and ESPN The Magazine. He also makes regular appearances on several local and national radio shows, and has hosted several podcasts over the years. He counts Dan Jenkins, Thomas Boswell, Frank Deford, Ralph Wiley, Peter King, and Bill Simmons as the writers who made him want to do this for a living. In his rare off-time, Doug can be found reading, hiking, working out, searching for new Hendrix, Who, and MC5 bootlegs, and wondering if the Mariners will ever be good again.