Updated: 5:40 p.m.
Talk about grace under pressure.
Punter Kevin Huber held court with the media Wednesday, complete with neck brace, and said "it was great" the NFL admitted the refs missed it when they didn't call Steelers rookie linebacker Terence Garvin for the illegal helmet hit on a defenseless player that broke Huber's jaw as well as a small bone in his neck.
Later Wednesday the NFL fined Garvin $25,000, not a slap on the wrist. That's about five percent of the rookie minimum of $405,000.
"But at the end of the day, it doesn't do anything now," Huber said of the NFL admission.
Showing why he's one of this team's more popular players, Huber poked fun at himself and didn't blame Garvin.
"I wouldn't say I'm defenseless," Huber said. "I just need to be better at looking. I need to be a better defenseless player."
He said he hasn't heard from Garvin and doesn't expect it.
"The guy made the block he was supposed to make. It's hard to get mad at him for making that block because that's what he was coached to do," Huber said. "He made the right block, obviously. It sprung a touchdown."
Huber knows he scared everyone by being motionless for so long.
"There was a lot of blood," Huber said. "I knew something wasn't right so I was, 'OK, I better not move and just lay there.' I know people were saying, 'You didn't move anything.' I was staring at the blood coming out."
This thing is going viral. He may not get a letter from Garvin. But he certainly got one from a seven-year-old fan saying he hopes Garvin's house gets taken away and he "has to live in his car." Huber saw it and loves it and has a request.
"I think it's a great letter. I want to check it out to see if it's come in the mail yet," Huber said. "If it hasn't, please send it to the stadium (One Paul Brown Stadium, Cincinnati, OH 45202) so I can get it and frame it. I'd love to see it and I think it's hilarious the kid wrote that."
Actually, Huber might be hearing from Garvin. According to Pro Football Talk, Garvin told the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review he planned to reach out to Huber but that he feels like he was just doing his job.
"When you're playing football, you don't think of all that, you're thinking about doing what you've got to do to make a play," Garvin told the paper. "I wasn't out there trying to be vicious or anything like that, I'm just trying to do what I can to make a play and help my team out. When you're in a game, you're trying to make a play; that's all I'm thinking about."
The moment of truth (or impact) was snapped in a photo and it is now Huber's avatar on Twitter.
"(The letter and photo) will be right next to each other on my nightstand," Huber said.
All kidding aside, Huber, the avid golfer who was working the 17th at California Golf Course on his East Side the day he was drafted, figures to be back playing in late March. That's when he'll start punting, too, which is normal because he always takes off a few months after the season to reboot, so to speak.
SINGLE-GAME TICKETS AVAILABLE
|
