ESPN: Vontaze Burfict Facing Season-Long Suspension for Illegal Cheap Shot

According to ESPN’s Chris Mortensen, Raiders linebacker Vontaze Burfict is facing a season-long suspension for his illegal hit on Indianapolis tight end Jack Doyle.

The helmet-to-helmet hit, which occurred during Oakland’s surprising 31-24 win over the Colts, earned Burfict an ejection and drew plenty of ire on social media.

Vontaze Burfict was ejected for this hit on Jack Doyle pic.twitter.com/vFply5QOKN

— NFL Stats (@NFL_Stats) September 29, 2019

Though the hit itself may not be worthy of a season-long suspension on its own, Burfict is a repeat offender with a long history of taking cheap shots.

“It’s a tough decision, it’s a tough call. I think it was a flag,” Raiders coach Jon Gruden said Sunday. “It was very well-documented that the league was going to review those plays this year in New York City. So, that’s what happened and I’ll wait to hear what their reasoning was. But it was a penalty, he went in there with his head down, it was called and, unfortunately for us, it was an ejection.”

Burfict, 29, has already been suspended twice in his career for illegal hits which caused him to miss a total of six games. Overall, he received 13 suspensions and fines in seven seasons with the Cincinnati Bengals before signing with the Raiders as a free agent.

Should the league follow through and suspend Burfict for the season, it would be the longest for an on-field act in NFL history, surpassing the five-game ban Albert Haynesworth received for stomping on Andre Gurode’s head in 2006.

Today in Sports History
2006 – Albert Haynesworth (#Titans) kicked off the helmet of Andre Gurode (#Cowboys) and then scraped his cleat across his head. Gurode required 30 stitches & suffered blurry vision from the attack. The NFL suspended Haynesworth for 5 games without pay. pic.twitter.com/EAnmdk5hVI

— History of Sports (@BeforeFamePics) October 1, 2018

No matter how long the NFL suspends Burfict for, he will fight the ban.

“Burfict will appeal any suspension,” Mortensen reported on Twitter. “He had a 5-game suspensión reduced by a neutral arbitrator in 2017. League’s job is to discipline and, in effect, send a message regardless of appeal.”

UPDATE: The league has followed through on the suspension.