Brief and to the Point ...
What Vontaze Burfict did wasn't tough. It was the antithesis of tough.
Anyone citing toughness in any capacity to describe any of his behavior Saturday in Cincinnati -- and it's come up stunningly often since then, including from some prominent national talking heads -- hasn't got a clue about what constitutes actual toughness in professional football.
Neither do I, of course, but Marcus Gilbert sure does.
"Toughness isn't delivering the hit. It's taking the hit," the Steelers' right tackle was telling me over the weekend. "It's knowing the hit is coming. It's putting yourself in position to get hit, anyway. And it's taking the hit."
In other words, it's this:
No, not Burfict. Absolutely not Burfict. What he did, anyone off the street could do. It's cowardly. It's criminal. It's assaulting someone sight unseen.
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