Pierce is motivation behind NFL reviewing gang signs

[bdm860]

http://sports.yahoo.com/nfl/news?slug=ap-nflgangs&prov=ap&type=lgns

NEW YORK (AP)—The NFL is stepping up its monitoring of on-field player activities to ensure that no one is flashing the hand signals of street gangs.

The Los Angeles Times reported Tuesday that the league had hired experts to look at game tapes and identify players or team officials who might be using suspected gang signals. Violators would be warned and disciplined if the episodes recurred.

League officials said Tuesday that avoiding gang-related activities has long been stressed.

They said the scrutiny was intensified after the shooting death of Denver cornerback Darrent Williams in 2007 after Williams was involved in a dispute with known gang members. Anti-gang information is included in orientation literature and stressed in the annual mandatory league meeting for rookies.

The NFL took further notice after Paul Pierce of the NBA’s Boston Celtics was fined $25,000 in April for what the league said was a “menacing gesture” toward the Atlanta Hawks’ bench. “I 100 percent do not in any way promote gang violence or anything close to it.” Pierce said in a statement. “I am sorry if it was misinterpreted that way at Saturday’s game.”

The Times said that was the precipitating incident for the NFL.

“We were always suspicious that might be happening,” it quoted Mike Pereira, the NFL’s vice president of officiating, as saying of gang-related signals. “But the Paul Pierce thing is what brought it to light. When he was fined … that’s when we said we need to take a look at it and see if we need to be aware of it.”

Most senior NFL officials were at a league outing Tuesday and could not immediately be reached for comment.

Just thought this was interesting.

[Fan from VT]

http://sports.yahoo.com/nfl/news?slug=ap-nflgangs&prov=ap&type=lgns

NEW YORK (AP)—The NFL is stepping up its monitoring of on-field player activities to ensure that no one is flashing the hand signals of street gangs.

The Los Angeles Times reported Tuesday that the league had hired experts to look at game tapes and identify players or team officials who might be using suspected gang signals. Violators would be warned and disciplined if the episodes recurred.

League officials said Tuesday that avoiding gang-related activities has long been stressed.

They said the scrutiny was intensified after the shooting death of Denver cornerback Darrent Williams in 2007 after Williams was involved in a dispute with known gang members. Anti-gang information is included in orientation literature and stressed in the annual mandatory league meeting for rookies.

The NFL took further notice after Paul Pierce of the NBA’s Boston Celtics was fined $25,000 in April for what the league said was a “menacing gesture” toward the Atlanta Hawks’ bench. “I 100 percent do not in any way promote gang violence or anything close to it.” Pierce said in a statement. “I am sorry if it was misinterpreted that way at Saturday’s game.”

The Times said that was the precipitating incident for the NFL.

“We were always suspicious that might be happening,” it quoted Mike Pereira, the NFL’s vice president of officiating, as saying of gang-related signals. “But the Paul Pierce thing is what brought it to light. When he was fined … that’s when we said we need to take a look at it and see if we need to be aware of it.”

Most senior NFL officials were at a league outing Tuesday and could not immediately be reached for comment.

Just thought this was interesting.

So the NFL, in wanting to clean up its image, is desperate to eliminate obscure possible gang signs that almost no one would recognize, but still embraces the ridiculous alcohol advertising that inundates the sport? Making something out of nothing.

[Roy Hobbs]

The Los Angeles Times reported Tuesday that the league had hired experts to look at game tapes and identify players or team officials who might be using suspected gang signals. Violators would be warned and disciplined if the episodes recurred.

Team officials?  My guess is Belichek, definitely.

[buckets]

i heard the hoodie is down with maras


Edit: because even tough the name is that one
not all of us are pround of our country  being related with those sub human beings

[klg05]

LA smacking back at the Celtics.  Poor losers!

[zerophase]

The Los Angeles Times reported Tuesday that the league had hired experts to look at game tapes and identify players or team officials who might be using suspected gang signals. Violators would be warned and disciplined if the episodes recurred.

Team officials?  My guess is Belichek, definitely.

"hired experts" ...great..., now they are hiring gang leaders to identify the symbols.

[Celtic]

Maybe they're hiring Paul, he's an LA guy, and he could use a good off season job.

[TruthSerum]

This is poison -- nobody should swallow it. Anybody who saw that clip of Pierce could see it was a sign of encouragement, not harassment. It's disgusting to witness what these people do with their fat paychecks & spare time when they could be cleaning up their own image with the same energy.

[Roy Hobbs]

Anybody who saw that clip of Pierce could see it was a sign of encouragement, not harassment.

Not to rehash this whole overblown argument, but I'm fairly certain that Pierce wasn't giving Horford a sign of encouragement.  It was thrown at Horford, not the Celtics bench.

Now, we don't know if he meant a gang sign, something to do with the number three, sign language for profanity, a pro-Boston sign, or any other explanation.  However, I don't think that -- judging by context, demeanor, and the target of the gesture -- it was made out of love and respect.

[Morris Blue]

pierce was definitely flashing a gang symbol at Al Horford. 

[RAcker]

This "Blood,Sweat and Tears" symbol as Pierce described it after the incident is something that I noticed him doing during the introductions before games all year.  I'm no expert on symbolism, but he holds his index finger and thumb upside down (like a drop of liquid would look) and extends the other three fingers straight out (1. blood 2. sweat 3. tears). 

Most likely, this is an inside gesture the team uses. If that makes it a "gang sign" then okay.  What he did towards Horford, from my way of looking at it, was an ill-conceived way of showing the cocky rookie that despite his chest bumping and barking at Pierce that the Celtics' team would ultimately take him down.

Yes, it was a stupid move by the captain due to it's possible connotations, but I think this is sooooo overblown. "If" anyone can definitively link this to an organized street gang, then I will gladly take back my assumptions based on Pierce's explanation.  Until then, I say this is BS.

[TruthSerum]

I didn't say he was encouraging the other team, that would be counterproductive.

[ChampKind]

The Chiefs, with their blatant Bloods-based color scheme, are in some serious trouble.  

[Roy Hobbs]

I didn't say he was encouraging the other team, that would be counterproductive.

Who was he encouraging by flashing a hand gesture directly at Horford while walking towards the Atlanta bench with a scowl on his face?  You don't see that as harassment?

If Pierce showed the gesture to the Celtics bench, or the crowd, maybe.  Not in the circumstances as they occurred, though.  That doesn't mean it was a gang sign, but it certainly was meant to mean *something* to Horford.

[Roy Hobbs]

The Chiefs, with their blatant Bloods-based color scheme, are in some serious trouble.  

Haha.  It's actually pretty fascinating to see how the various gangs wear clothing from the various sports teams to symbolize their affiliation, though.