So when I was watching the Atlanta Falcons yesterday...

[bitesizedonut]

I noticed that sometimes after one of the Falcons tackled one of the Saints, the Falcon player would tap the Saints helmet. I think it is very interesting to watch guys play sports. Sometimes they are highly competitive and aggressive (with fights breaking out amongst teams), but then other times it seems like there is an unseen comradeship. How am I to interpret the helmet tap of an opposing player? And are there some teams that are such big rivals you will never see such behavior displayed to the other team?

[The-Nash]

Sometimes in sports, one bad apple can spoil the bunch. And a fight breaks out. Like, in college football earlier this year when Oregon played Boise st., when the game ended, Oregons running back punched a Boise st. player right in the jaw, and it started from trash talking from the Boise st. player. The player from Oregon is a good player but had a horrible game, and he was antagonized about it from the Boise st. player. Only he chose to punch the other guy in the face. Funny thing here, watch the youtube video, the coach, like, pushes his player into the punch. (Lagarret Blount Punch is the video). That's one person antagonizing another person.

Another funny thing is rivalries, like you said. This can be complicated. Depends on what happens leading up to the game. Like when Joey Porter player for the Steelers, he would make some interesting provoking comments in some statements made before games. Sometimes other teams would take it personally. He's been not so provoking while playing for the dolphins though, sometimes a player change a little, too, lol. Other players like, when the Saints played the Patriots, both Drew Brees and Tom Brady talked very highly of each other. they also kinda share a history, when they both played college football, they were rivalries - Tom played for Michigan and Drew played for Purdue. So sometimes players are cool with each other from previous past experiences. There's a lot of sports history players carry with them as students of their game. It's one thing I think makes sports interesting.

[bitesizedonut]

Wow - great answer. :)

[The-Nash]

It was an interesting question, lol. One last point I forgot was: When players are traded things become interesting when they play the old team, too. The team that traded the player wants to prove they don't need him, and the opposing team rallies around their player in supporting him wanting to beat his old team. Like with what happened with Bret Farve. When the Vikings play the Packers, it's a big rivalry.

And there is also dirt playing, this creates more spontaneous fights.

[The-Nash]

In football, when a quarterback takes a hard hit to the helmet, or when a player gets hit after he goes out of bounds, or sometimes when a wide receiver gets crushed while going for a pass the person on the receiving end of the hit usually finds it a pretty cheap hit while the person who gave the hit saw it as legal. But if the quarterback gets hit and it looks bad, usually the whole offensive line steps in, lol, as their job is to protect the quarterback.

[ArtistBboy]

Light helmet tap: "It's okay bud, you got knocked the f*** out, let's go again ;-)" *Friendly*

Hard helmet tap, like a punch to the face: "Get off my field noob!" *Compete-ing enemy*

[Sarcasm follows]

Natural helmet tap: "Damn I slipped, thank you for catching me with your face"

Best regards,

ArtistBBoy

[bitesizedonut]

Lol - thanks for the insight ArtistBboy :D

[ArtistBboy]

Anytime amiga! Let me know if I can help more ;D

P.s. I'm impressed to see another woman that enjoys football

[bitesizedonut]

I'm not obsessed - but I do like to watch it. I'd say I enjoy baseball and hockey more. Football grew on me when I moved to the south. :D

[Cylon]

I watched the game and noticed that ATL lost by 3 points. If they win the rest of their games and teams in front of them lose, they'll make it to the wildcard. I'm keeping my fingers crossed for them to make it that far at least.

ArtistBboy hit the nail on the head though. When the fights break out, it is usually because of frustration from one side or the other.

[bitesizedonut]

Yeah - they played a pretty good game considering their win-lose ratio and the fact that they played the top team :) If they play like that for the rest of the season they'll be in like flint.