Raiders DC Paul Guenther Calls Vontaze Burfict's Suspension a 'Witch Hunt'

Oakland Raiders linebacker Vontaze Burfict has been suspended four times by the NFL, ejected from two games and lost somewhere in the vicinity of $4 million dollars in league fines for various infractions, many of them related to illegal hits, and lost game checks during suspensions. 

He's developed a reputation for being a dirty player, and his most recent suspension was for the remainder of the 2019 season after he launched himself at Indianapolis Colts tight end Jack Doyle in Week 4, connecting on a helmet-to-helmet hit. 

Despite his history—or perhaps because of it—Oakland Raiders defensive coordinator Paul Guenther described Burfict's season-long suspension as a "witch hunt" on Thursday, according to Jerry McDonald of the Oakland Tribune.

He wasn't the only member of the Raiders to come to Burfict's defense in the wake of his suspension:

"Knowing and understanding how he works, with the perception that was out there about him, and how hard he worked not to be that guy, it’s frustrating to see the penalty that's been handed down," Raiders linebacker Tahir Whiteside said in early October, per McDonald.

Quarterback Derek Carr also defended Burfict, saying in part:

"I know that he's had a history in other places, but I think people change. I don't think he was trying to hurt that man, that man was going down. You see it all the time. There's flags flying everywhere. But if we think about football, the guy caught it here and he's already starting to hit him and he’s starting to go down, obviously you're going to hit him a little higher than you expected.

"We see other people choking people out, they're going to play this Sunday. We see other people hitting people in the helmets, they're going to play this Sunday. And Vontaze Burfict won't play the rest of the year? I think that's a little excessive if you ask me. I don't think it's fair, if we really got to know the guy. If the people making the decisions really knew the guy we know inside our building."

But there have been plenty of players and pundits alike who were either fine with Burfict's punishment or thought it should be extended even further:

Colts head coach Frank Reich thought the sentence matched the crime, per Jim Ayello of the Indianapolis Star:

"That was a pretty vicious hit. Thankfully (Doyle) came out of that one clean with no (concussion) symptoms. When someone does something like that, attacks one of your players, that's just not supposed to be in the game. And when it's against one of your players, you naturally have a reaction. I'm just glad they did what they did at the game and the follow-up action seems very appropriate."

New York Jets running back Le'Veon Bell agreed.

"There's certain fine lines you really can't cross and I feel like he kind of finds it every game," he said on the 17 Weeks podcast. "It's like unbelievable. The league did what it did. I'm glad they're finally trying to bite down on things like that because we don’t want dirty players in the league. Obviously, you don’t want guys to not be able to provide for their family."

From those perspectives, Burfict's punishment hardly sounds like a witch hunt. Rather, it sounds like a ruling that was a long time in the making.