Wade Graham's was a combination of Hoffman falling and Graham standing upright, also Graham hit Hoffman front on, not side on, showing there was no intent to lead with the shoulder.
Te'o lead with the sholder and had full intentions of hitting Groat with the shoulder.
Therein lies the difference.
I would have happily let Te'o get away with it if he had've done it to Blair, but lazy bludging birds of a feather and all that
Absolutely.
And even the photos supplied here in defense of Teo compared to Graham show that very clearly.
Much of the damage from Graham's tackle was really from the force he exerted compared to how weak Hoffman was at the time (because he was all ready groggy). We can't even really tell from the footage how much contact there is between Hoffman's head and Graham's shoulder, as Hoffman's head comes down over the top of Graham's shoulder and Hoffman's chest and body are quickly launched away from Graham as well, due to the power of the tackle.
In the Teo tackle, all of Teo's force, driving from the legs and shoulder turned and angled for it, drives up into Groat's head.
Obviously I'm a Sharks fan, but I think Graham's tackle is much less dangerous than even Kasiano's (who was also front on, but moving), and he didn't get cited.
