NFL and Faking Injuries: More Reports Are Coming out About the New York Giants

We see this happen all the time in football: Players are injured by their opponents, they lie there on the field writhing in pain and the trainers come over. We believe that these players are injured. 

But what happened on Monday Night Football between the St. Louis Rams and the New York Giants has everyone, from current to former players, to hardcore and casual fans, questioning what they are seeing on the field. 

It is being speculated that during the Rams versus Giants game there were certain players on the Giants that were faking injuries. These players seemed to be fine at one moment, then suddenly they would fall to the ground, holding their legs while complaining about cramps. 

This was a tactic used to slow down a Rams offense that was moving the ball on the Giants defense. The Rams, using a no-huddle style offense, caused the Giants defense to get tired quickly. Two members of the Giants defense, Deon Grant and Jacquain WIlliams, fell down to the turf complaining of leg cramps. 

Both players, and the Giants organization, are strongly denying any involvement of faking injuries. 

However, according to former Giant and current Rams linebacker Bryan Kehl, Giants defensive coordinator Perry Fewell coaches faking injuries.

Today, a report on ESPN.com’s New York page states that faking injuries may be a common practice across the NFL. 

Speaking about these motives by NFL teams, Cleveland Browns linebacker Scott Fujita said, “I've been places where it has been taught. They have a name for it and I've been places where it's been pre-called. I've been places where it's one player who has been designated. Maybe I'm getting everyone in trouble, but I'm just being honest."

So who do you believe? 

Do you believe that both Grant and Williams both had legit leg cramps? That it was just bad timing to get these cramps? What if these men happened to get these cramps on a 2nd-and-20 on the Rams 10-yard line? Would we still be having this same conversation?

These are questions that have to be answered before we can jump to conclusions about a subject such as faking injuries. 

For now, it is a subject that needs to be looked into more. The NFL has sent out an email to all 32 teams letting them know if they are caught faking injuries, they will be subject to fines, suspensions and loss of draft picks. 

With all that said, don’t expect any players laying around complaining of cramps this week. 

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