Falcons’ Joe Hawley kicked out of joint practice for fighting with Titans players
By Dan Zinski
Falcons center Joe Hawley likes to fight more than he likes to practice. This has become evident after a pair of incidents, one involving his own teammate, the other involving players from another squad.
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The other day Hawley showed off his penchant for training camp fisticuffs by getting in a scrap with rookie DT Ra’Shede Hageman that left Hageman with an injured (but not broken) wrist. Monday, Hawley was at it again, scuffling with Tennessee Titans players Tommie Campbell and Cotie Sensabaugh during a joint practice.
Do you get the feeling Hawley enjoys fighting? Me too. Falcons coach Mike Smith is not amused by Hawley’s pugilistic tendencies however. He threw Hawley out of Monday’s joint practice, saying the same behavior would have gotten Hawley ejected from a game (via PFT):
"“The guys knew the rules of engagement. They were violated,” Smith said, via the Associated Press. “When they are violated, there’s going to be a consequence. … During a game, if that were to happen, we’re going to lose a player. We need to know that we can’t be fighting.”"
Hopefully Hawley has now gotten the message. Football practice is a time for practicing football, not boxing. Maybe the Falcons should bring back Ray Edwards to teach Hawley a lesson about real boxing. Ray is a pro boxer now, you know. Not a very good one, but he can still probably beat the s–t out of Joe Hawley.
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