Raiders Linebacker Vontaze Burfict Suspended for the Rest of the Season

Oakland Raiders linebacker Vontaze Burfict has lost his appeal in his helmet-to-helmet hit case on Indianapolis Colts tight end Jack Doyle, meaning the suspension is upheld and he has to sit out for the rest of the 2019 season.

NFL vice president of football operations Jon Runyan wrote a letter to Burfict explaining the decision when the suspension was announced on Sept. 30.

“There were no mitigating circumstances on this play,” the letter said. “Your contact was unnecessary, flagrant and should have been avoided. For your actions, you were penalized and disqualified from the game. Following each of your previous rule violations, you were warned by me and each of the jointly-appointed officers that future violations would result in escalated accountability measures. However, you have continued to flagrantly abuse rules designated to protect yourself and your opponents from unnecessary risk.”

Burfict has had a history of crossing the line on the field. He has also been accused of using performance enhancers. Only in the last season, Burfict was fined $112,000 for hits on Brown and James Conner in a game against Pittsburgh. According to Spotrac, Burfict has racked up more than $4.2 million in between fines and game checks lost to suspension, a total that will only go up with this latest punishment.

Raiders coach Jon Gruden was asked on Tuesday if the Raiders would reach out to the NFL to “make a case” for Burfict in his appeal. “Yes, we’re going to try to do that,” Gruden said at the time. “We’re going to try to make our case. I respect the league’s position. They have a tough job. At the same time, we have a lot of confidence that they’ll do what’s right. We want Burfict back. He’s already been punished. We hope he can return to playing soon.”