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FOXBOROUGH, Mass. — New England Patriots tight end Rob Gronkowski has been suspended one game by the NFL without pay for his late hit on defenseless Buffalo Bills cornerback Tre’Davious White in Sunday’s 23-3 victory.
Gronkowski was penalized on the play but not ejected from the game. It is the first NFL suspension for Gronkowski since he entered the league as a second-round draft choice with the Patriots in 2010.
Suspension hurts Pats, but not major blow with Gronk available at Steelers
Missing Rob Gronkowski for a game isn’t ideal, but having him back for a Week 15 tilt that could determine home field in the AFC is huge.
Bills blast Gronk’s ‘dirty play, apology or not’
An apologetic Rob Gronkowski said he is “not in the business” of cheap shots following his late hit on Bills cornerback Tre’Davious White in the fourth quarter of Sunday’s game, with Micah Hyde chiming in that “it was a dirty play, apology or not.”
“Your actions were not incidental, could have been avoided and placed the opposing player at risk of serious injury. The Competition Committee has clearly expressed its goal of ‘eliminating flagrant hits that have no place in our game.’ Those hits include the play you were involved in yesterday,” vice president of football operations Jon Runyan wrote in the letter to Gronkowski to inform him of his suspension.
In remarks to reporters after the game, Gronkowski had apologized to White for the hit, which came after an interception thrown in his direction. White was on the ground after the play, face down, when Gronkowski leaped on top of him and put his elbow/forearm into the back of his head/neck area.
Gronkowski will appeal the penalty, a source told ESPN’s Adam Schefter.
White had been covering Gronkowski, having tugged his jersey during the route and then appeared to push him at the top of the route. Gronkowski explained that he was upset about not seeing a penalty, as his frustration level was rising after being penalized earlier in the game for pass interference.
“I just don’t understand why there wasn’t a flag,” he said after the game. “It was a couple times in the game, and they’re calling me for the craziest stuff ever. And it’s crazy, like, what am I supposed to do? And then they don’t call that [on White]. It was just frustration, and that’s what happened.”
As Gronkowski walked off the field at the end of the game, he had a brief discussion with referee Gene Steratore and line judge Gary Arthur.
Gronkowski was called for four penalties in Sunday’s game — offensive pass interference, false start, holding and unnecessary roughness — and had been called for five all season entering the game.
Since the start of his career in 2010, he has been called for 23 penalties that were either offensive holding and/or offensive pass interference. The only skill-position player who has been called for more such penalties over that span is tight end Jermaine Gresham (29).
Indianapolis Colts safety Sergio Brown along the sideline; $8,268 for taunting late in Super Bowl XLIX against the Seattle Seahawks; and $9,115 for taunting in Week 6 of the 2016 season in a game against the Cincinnati Bengals.
While Gronkowski wasn’t ejected from the game, there is precedent for a player to be suspended nonetheless.
Tampa Bay Buccaneers receiver Mike Evans wasn’t ejected from a Nov. 5 game against the New Orleans Saints for a blindside hit on cornerback Marshon Lattimore that led to a sideline scuffle. He was suspended one game for the hit.
Chicago Bears linebacker Danny Trevathan was suspended one game after hitting Green Bay Packers receiver Devante Adams in the head on a tackle in a Sept. 28 game. Trevathan, who wasn’t ejected from the game, was suspended two games, and the suspension was reduced to one game after his appeal.
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Bryan Singer has accused Fox of refusing to give him time off to deal with health issues of one of his parents, which is why he says he was fired from Queen biopic “Bohemian Rhapsody.”
The director made the statement Monday evening through his attorney Andrew B. Brettler, several hours after Fox announced that he’d been terminated.
“‘Bohemian Rhapsody’ is a passion project of mine,” Singer said. “With fewer than three weeks to shoot remaining, I asked Fox for some time off so I could return to the U.S. to deal with pressing health matters concerning one of my parents. This was a very taxing experience, which ultimately took a serious toll on my own health. Unfortunately, the studio was unwilling to accommodate me and terminated my services. This was not my decision and it was beyond my control.”
Singer also said that rumors that his departure was sparked by a dispute with Rami Malek, who portrays Queen frontman Freddie Mercury in the film, were untrue.
“While, at times, we did have creative differences on set, Rami and I successfully put those differences behind us and continued to work on the film together until just prior to Thanksgiving,” Singer said. “I wanted nothing more than to be able to finish this project and help honor the legacy of Queen, but Fox would not permit me to do so because I needed to temporarily put my health, and the health of my loved ones, first.”
Fox had no comment on the statement. The studio had issued a terse statement Monday afternoon, saying, “Bryan Singer is no longer the director of ‘Bohemian Rhapsody.’”
The studio terminated Singer under the “pay or play” provision of his contract, sources indicated, due to his repeated failures to show up on the set. A new director has not been named.
Filming has been taking place in London. New Regency and GK Films are the production companies. The producers are Graham King, Singer, and Jim Beach, Queen’s longtime manager. Denis O’Sullivan, Arnon Milchan, and Jane Rosenthal are the executive producers.
Sources said Monday that as a result of Singer’s absences, the cinematographer Thomas Newton Sigel had to step in to direct on some of the days while Singer was missing. Sources said Malek had complained about what he perceived as Singer’s lack of professionalism.
Fox had given a similarly terse statement on Dec. 1 when it announced, “Twentieth Century Fox Film has temporarily halted production on Bohemian Rhapsody due to the unexpected unavailability of Bryan Singer.”
At that point, a representative for the director said that the halt was due to “a personal health matter concerning Bryan and his family. Bryan hopes to get back to work on the film soon after the holidays.”
A source also said that Tom Hollander, who plays Jim Beach, departed the film due to Singer’s behavior, but was persuaded to return. Another source said that about two weeks of shooting remain to complete the movie, which may result in the studio turning to a member of the current crew such as Sigel to complete the film rather than bringing in a new director from the outside.
Singer, who is 52, has directed films including “The Usual Suspects,” four X-Men movies including last year’s “X-Men: Apocalypse,” “Jack the Giant Slayer,” and “Superman Returns.”
A rep for Fox confirmed Monday night that Singer’s production company Bad Hat Harry, is leaving the Twentieth Century Fox lot. The director had a three-year first look deal with the studio that ended Oct. 31 and was not renewed. Singer was allowed to remain on the lot while he finished “Bohemian Rhapsody” but that arrangement ended Monday following his firing from the movie.
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