lillloyd
Third String But Playing on Special Teams
- Joined
- Apr 12, 2010
- Messages
- 502
- Reaction score
- 776
That's an excellent point…but I thought helmet to helmet is always a penalty, regardless of in or out of the pocket?
Also, no QB asks for takes more punishment than Big Ben…he gets the Shaq rules thrown at him. It is hard to let McCoy run around and then flip it with his head leaning forward AND NOT have some helmet contact.
There is a common misconception out there that helmet-to-helmet contact is categorically illegal; it is not. Once a player establishes himself as a runner, helmet-to-helmet contact is allowed.
I think the misconception persists because when commentators describe a play or a fine, they say it is for "helmet-to-helmet" contact and not "helmet-to-helmet contact on a defenseless player". That last part is obviously critical. Helmet-to-helmet contact occurs every game (Mendenhall was twice hit, helmet-to-helmet, in that same Browns game, but that is NOT a penalty). The reason you never see it called on running backs is that almost by definition, they are established runners and not defenseless. If every helmet-to-helmet instance were called, players would be getting suspended left and right, because it's impossible to take that aspect completely out of the game (if a runner jukes and lowers his head, he may actually initiate the helmet to helmet).
Look, Harrison deserved a fine (and by extension, the suspension for his recent string of violations) for his McCoy hit. He took an extra step and blasted him. But this did fall into a somewhat grey area in the rulebook--something many commentators noted--in that McCoy tucked the ball, ran several steps along the line of scrimmage, and then only at the last second flicked it out. He basically went from having established himself as a runner to defenseless in a split second. There were several commentators who speculated (incorrectly) that Harrison might only receive a fine because their were mitigating circumstances.