Someone really ought to tell Dashon Goldson how reputations get made.
The Buccaneers safety, who is a regular guest on the league’s weekly fine list and has been suspended for being a repeat offender, said it bothers him that people consider him dirty.
“I remember being on the good side of it, hearing commentators, analysts talking about how perfect, how good, how I do it the right way, and all of a sudden with the new rule I’m a dirty player, a nasty player, targeted and I’m not playing the game how it’s supposed to be played,” Goldson said, via Pat Yasinskas of ESPN.com. “I think that’s ridiculous, and [I’m] being targeted, I feel, because it’s been a few times people have been in the situation or worse situations than me and haven’t gotten penalized like I’ve been.”
Goldson said he thinks players and coaches respect his style (although he might not have asked the people he keeps hitting illegally).
“I think the players, they understand the game and how it’s supposed to be played,” Goldson said. “They’re more on my side than anybody else, and coaches on top of that.
“Now with the new rule, you do have some of those guys, as far as coaches, who complain about hits. And they’re the same guys I’m sure who are teaching their players how to hit and congratulating them when they make a big hit.”
In a sense, Goldson has a point. Because he’s a recidivist, the league is going to look at his actions more closely, and use him as an example to create a deterrent factor for other players.
But he should also look at the tape, and see how he developed the reputation to begin with.