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merriman should not even speak about this.
Merriman responds to Taylor's criticism
FOXSports.com
Posted: 12 hours ago
Let the war of words begin.
Shawne Merriman added some thoughts of his own when responding to criticism from fellow NFL Defensive Player of the Year candidate Jason Taylor, telling the North County Times, "I sent (Taylor) a 'Lights Out' hat and a 'Lights Out' T-shirt and a bag of popcorn so he can watch us in the playoffs."
On Wednesday, the Dolphins defensive end said that the Chargers linebacker should not be considered for the NFL's defensive award, saying, "you really shouldn't be able to fail a test like that and play in this league, to begin with. To make the Pro Bowl and all the other awards, I think you're walking a fine line of sending the wrong message.
"A performance-enhancing drug is, obviously, what it is," Taylor said. "You enhance your performance by doing that. You fail that test, I think it's not right, it's against the rules and ultimately I think it's sending the wrong message to the youth in America and the people who look at this game not only as entertainment but also to learn lessons from it."
Merriman quickly defended himself after Taylor's comments went public.
"He has a right to his opinion,'' Merriman added. "I've watched Jason Taylor for many years and he's a great pass rusher and a great player. So he's en led to his opinion. As for my suspension, I went about all the right things I was supposed to do in sitting out the four games.''
Merriman leads the NFL with 16 sacks in 11 games for the AFC West champion Chargers (13-2). He has four forced fumbles and has one interception. With a win over the Cardinals on Sunday, the Chargers will clinch home-field advantage throughout the AFC playoffs.
On Adam Schein's Afternoon Blitz on Sirius NFL Radio, Broncos cornerback Champ Bailey also added his two cents on the Merriman issue.
"I hate to throw him further under the bus than he already is," Bailey said. "But fact is he used a performance enhancing drug, whether he knew it or not. I don't like anybody getting anything special when they get caught cheating. It kind of ruins the integrity of the game. Yes he did his time, but it is still the same season. It's kind of hard. I love the guy to death; the way he plays, his at ude. But he took a performance-enhancing drug. It's hard to get away from that."
Bailey, too, is a possibility for the top defensive player award. Bailey has a league-leading nine interceptions and 20 pass breakups.
Taylor, however, appears to be the concensus choice, recording 13 1/2 sacks, 10 forced fumbles and two interceptions — both returned for touchdowns.
While Merriman has been a dominant force on arguably the NFL's best team, the Chargers went 4-0 during the linebacker's suspension.
"If I wasn't having the kind of season I'm having, this wouldn't even be a conversation," Merriman said Wednesday. "The NFL will always have the level of integrity. That's what makes the NFL. In my situation, everything happened in an appropriate way. I sat out my four games, my money was taken away from me, my four games were taken away from me, and I came back and played my rear off."
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
http://msn.foxsports.com/nfl/story/6317616
merriman should not even speak about this.
Roid Rage
dude would have better stats then taylor if he played 4 games
he easily should win the reward
the other 2 players want to win it so they run to the press and
those 2 can go job off the grand canyon ledge and fall.....................
except that he broke the rules and got caught. i need to work on my will clark impersonation - his "buddy, you got caught" quote on palmeiro was awesome. this isn't nam ducks, there are rules.
he paid the price
he goes and gets 4 sacks tomorrow and one int
the award should be his
in the rule books does it say that if a player gets caught with steriods that he can not win the award. I doubt it. no one has because when they get caught they are not good enough to get the stats for them to win the award except for him
i'm not saying they should hold it against him forever, just that it would stink like 3 year old fish if he won. it sends a bad message. he can win it the next 5 years for all i care, just not this one. he really shouldn't be talking about it at all, he got caught.
taylor started this
not him
You don't reward someone for a great season, when they were found guilty of cheating in that same season. No way.
Would you give a guy who's found guilty of child abuse a humanitarian award 6 weeks after he's served his time, and been released from jail?
Regardless of how good Merriman is, he needs to realize this will always follow him.
then why not write it in the rules
it is not in the rules so they should not hold it againt him
so since he is a member of the chargers does not mean that win they win the le you will put an asterick by it?
child abuse is not the same thing as taking steriods
alot of football players do this
only a few get caught
child abuse people should go to prison for one year while his cell mates torture the out of him
then hang him
When i read the le my first thought was that Merriman went roid rage and shot Jason Taylor.
also, Champ is the DPOY!
because he picks off a few balls in the end zone?
if it was not for the pass raise those balls would not have been picked
I agree 100% he cheated that roid head.
Let these two have a PPV boxing match for charity.
You can talk about the extra 2 or 3 sacks Merriman has, but the most impressive thing to me is Taylor's 10 forced fumbles. That's insane.
If QBs were smarter they wouldn't throw Champ's way at all. Champ has like 6 picks in the end zone or inside the 5, that's 42 off the board because of one guy.
Chris Carter agrees with me:
yahoo.comDEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE YEAR
This pick will shock a lot of folks because most of the sentiment has been for Miami's Jason Taylor or San Diego's Shawne Merriman. However, I’m going with Denver Broncos cornerback Champ Bailey.
After an Un-Champ-like season in which he was frequently targeted and beat by opposing offenses, Bailey has adjusted to the NFL rule changes and emphasis (no contact five yards past the line of scrimmage) and gotten back to dominating one half of the field. He is the only true shutdown corner in football.
I don't think he should get the award, and I'm a huge Merriman fan. The dude will win it for the next six years. I do find it funny that Taylor is ing about it. Taylor. I hope Champ wins it.
who cares what chris carter thinks?
Bailey's a good pick. Without the suspension, I think Merriman wins.
does merriman play the run very well? we don't get too many chargers games here in austin.
Roid Rage!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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