If you thought that there would be a Brandon Meriweather apology for his over-the-top comments on taking out players' knees in lieu of hitting them high, you were right. Kind of. Maybe.
The Redskins safety didn't apologize himself for his comments saying that he plans to "tear people's ACLs" rather than go high, something that earned him a one-game suspension. It's actually unclear if he apologized at all. But NFL Players Association executive director DeMaurice Smith said he "knows" that Meriweather is sorry after speaking with him.
Pay close attention to the wording of this statement, released on the NFLPA site:
“I spoke to Brandon. He is passionate about the game, and I know he is sorry for what he said. He is concentrating on helping his team win the rest of the season. Brandon knows that all players have a responsibility to each other and to play within the rules of the game.”
Now, maybe the statement is just worded oddly, and Meriweather did specifically apologize for his comments and that wasn't clearly conveyed. But if that was the case you'd think Smith would have said, "I spoke to Brandon, and he apologized for what he said." Not that he somehow intuitively knows that Meriweather is sorry. Having the union chief say he "knows" that Meriweather is sorry and that Meriweather "knows" all players have a responsibility to each other (nothing that he's ever shown by his actions) is a bit different than the player explicitly saying that. Perhaps Meriweather will apologize publicly at some point if that's what he expressed to Smith.
Here were Meriweather's original comments:

“To be honest, man, you’ve just got to go low now, man,” Meriweather said. “You’ve got to end people’s careers, you know? You’ve got to tear people’s ACLs and mess up people’s knees now. You can’t hit them high no more. You’ve just got to go low.”
But hey, don't worry, receivers of the NFL. The union chief knows that Meriweather is sorry. You're safe.
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Frank Schwab is the editor of Shutdown Corner on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at [email protected] or follow him on Twitter!
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