Back to the Cincinnati Bengals Newsfeed

Vontaze Burfict has been playing this way 'since he was a little kid'

Skip to main content

The NFL banned Oakland Raiders LB Vontaze Burfict from playing the rest of the 2019 season following repeated violations of the unnecessary roughness policy. USA TODAY

The kids who grew up playing football with Vontaze Burfict might have seen this coming.

On Monday, the NFL suspended Burfict for 12 games — the longest suspension in league history for an on-the-field infraction — for his helmet-to-helmet hit on Indianapolis Colts tight end Jack Doyle and for what the league called "repeated violations of unnecessary roughness rules.