Despite the over-riding impression that grid-iron is a game where just about anything goes . . . the job of every linebacker is to hurt the opposing quarterback . . . Tennessee Titans' defensive tackle Albert Haynesworth (right) appears to have crossed the line. When he raked his boot across the face of Dallas Cowboy Andre Gurode last Sunday, he incurred the wrath of a nation. Starting with his own coach Jeff Fisher berating him as he left the field and culminating in the NFL commissioner Roger Goodell handing him a five-game ban, he has been vilified for bringing disgrace upon the sport.

Apart from using his boot in a game where hand-tohand combat is preferred, Haynesworth committed the cardinal sin of assaulting an opponent after the play had ended. With a mass of players on the ground, he dislodged Gurode's helmet before almost casually stomping on his opponent's bare head. Then he sort of dragged his foot back across his face again in a way that suggested he just wanted to make sure he hit the target. It says much about the nature of the NFL that the umpire cited Haynesworth for unsportsmanlike conduct. What other game would file opening a prone opponent's face with your studs under unsportsmanlike?

"You take your time to take a guy's helmet off and then to stomp on him in that manner?" said Cowboys' linebacker Greg Ellis. "Everybody knows it's totally uncalled for. You see fighting. You see someone spit, but, when you take off someone's helmet and kick them. And then the small detail that some people don't understand is if we were playing on a turf field with rubber bottoms, Andre's face would've swelled, but he wouldn't have been cut. But, on a grass field, we play with screw-in cleats (studs); that hurts. You could've put that man's eye out. You could have ended his career on a crazy play like that."

The fall-out from Haynesworth's assault has been a sight to behold. The NFL gave him the longest suspension ever for an on-field incident, his union refused to appeal the judgment, and as a litany of previous incidents involving him came to light, columnists openly speculated about whether he might be a victim of "roid rage". From once trying to attack a teammate with a stick to an allegation he attempted to run another car off the road earlier this year, the six-foot-six 23-stone behemoth has a history of what the Americans love to call "anger management" issues.

"He loses his mind sometimes, " said Justin Hartwig, a former teammate. "When he's getting beat, he tends to lose control of his emotions. He gets irrational and doesn't think straight. He would lose his cool and hit somebody after the play, stuff like that when they're not looking. I got into it with him almost every year. It's kind of unimaginable to think a football player could do that to another football player, but knowing Albert and what he's done in the past, it really didn't surprise me at all. I wouldn't put anything past that guy."

Although the Nashville police opened a criminal file on the incident, Gurode declined to press charges. He's apparently satisfied Haynesworth's loss of almost one third of his $646,251 salary and his extensive and ongoing public humiliation is sufficient punishment. If that's the least the Titan deserved, some of the sanctimonious guff written about denigrating the noble game has been difficult to stomach too. This isn't the most pristine sport in the world. For instance, a steroid offence would have got him just a fourgame sanction.

Haynesworth's actions were cowardly but in a game that celebrates physical brutality, they were hardly out of step.

One of the most beloved aspects of ESPN's NFL highlights package every week is a segment called "He got jacked up!" This involves studio analysts celebrating the most violent, bone-shuddering and often illegal hits that take place. Whether or not the player on the receiving end is badly injured, the pundits childishly chorus "he got jacked up!" over the footage. The phrase has entered the popular lexicon and at any high-school game a fierce tackle will be thus described by gloating teenagers.

Perhaps the most bizarre element of the entire affair is Gurode's reaction to his own injuries. After receiving 30 stitches during the game, only blurred vision prevented him from returning to the action. Having visited a plastic surgeon last Monday to have the handiwork inspected, he did some weights and conditioning Tuesday before returning to training with the team Thursday.

He is listed as probable to play in today's encounter with the Philadelphia Eagles.

Tough sport. In so many different ways.