NFL bans ALL hits where player lowers head

[Actual Pats Fan]

NFL Makes Significant Rule Change, Banning Players From Lowering Heads To Initiate Contact

edit: Players cannot hit ANYWHERE with the crown of the helmet, and it applies to both offensive and defensive players. 15 yard penalty and possible ejection.

"I am grateful..."

 

[maust]

No yiu says this

 

[RobertWeathers]

Might not be able to prevent them but I think the idea is to make them less severe.

A sub-concussive hit's severity is not measurable.

It either happens or it doesn't.

 

[Actual Pats Fan]

Isn’t there supposedly a rule against ball carriers doing this? Never seen it flagged.

Fine but these two can do whatever they want right?

 

[Actual Pats Fan]

Ha, no. Football came from rugby.

Damn! I thought it was outer space...

 

[Deus Irae]

Ha, no. Football came from rugby.

At any rate, tackling is still just bringing a ball carrier to the ground, and rugby does it waaaaaay better.

Nate Ebner was good enough to make the national rugby team, and he's a sound tackler on special teams, but he can't get a sniff at a starting safety job in the NFL. At the NFL level, and even in college and high school football, tackling is not all about squaring up immediately in front of an opponent, and wrapping him up. There's more required than that.

 

[SHOWTIME15]

At least Gronk will be happier. Many of his injuries occurred because someone targeted him with his helmet.

 

[Brady_to_Moss]

So I now get to see more of the refs with 35 flags a game (can't wait.. seeing the refs for an hour is my favorite) more ejections and 4 hour games

So pumped for the new NFL!

BTW besides the Pats..I won't be watching many other games like SNF/MNF...TNF is trash anyways and I rarely watch where I would always watch

 

[Brady_to_Moss]

Yeah but how’s a defensive player supposed to make a tackle now?

Just make it flag football..what we all want...right!?

 

[signbabybrady]

A sub-concussive hit's severity is not measurable.

It either happens or it doesn't.

Thanks Dr. Weathers

 

[Tunescribe]

Ha, no. Football came from rugby.

At any rate, tackling is still just bringing a ball carrier to the ground, and rugby does it waaaaaay better.

Good for you, go watch some rugby!

Football might have evolved from rugby -- about 100 years ago. Comparing rugby to the NFL is not just apples and oranges, it's apples vs. watermelon.

 

[maust]

. Comparing rugby to the NFL is not just apples and oranges, it's apples vs. watermelon.

Hmmm..

 

[Tunescribe]

Hmmm..

Thanks for illustrating my point!

 

[maust]

Thanks for illustrating my point!

Happy to do it. Still...working...on the actual comparison though. It might take a while

 

[neuronet]

Huh? You don’t need to lead with your head to make a tackle

In fact it is poor form.

 

[patfanken]

The thing is that there is already a rule that covers this very situation. It's called spearing. It is SUPPOSED to be called when the player initiates contact with the TOP of his helmet. Unfortunately, the best recent example of this was Shazier's hit when he got injured. But I defy you to recall a time this penalty has been called this century. But it was regularly called back when I played in the 60's, and by the time I was coaching in the 70's and 80's, it wasn't called very often because coaches back made it unacceptable to hit with the top of your head. I would sit a kid down if I saw it on the field flag or no flag. It was simply unacceptable.

However, I will make this distinction. It WAS acceptable to hit a player with the FRONT of your helmet (the forehead and facemask area). In fact, the ideal was to put your face(mask) into the chest of the ball carrier and slide to the shoulder, lift and look UP.

Now I'm not sure if this "ideal" would be acceptable now. Getting to see someone actually wrapping up a ball carrier is now a rare occurrence on Sundays. Now they just throw their bodies at the runner and hope for the best. Most of the time they have their eyes down, which results in missed tackles and more injuries.

The Pats are better at tackling than most teams but still, I cringe every Sunday at the poor tackling I see at what's supposedly the highest level of the game.

 

[TheFlyingWedge]

Why dont they just bring back the leather helmets?

 

[Deus Irae]

Just bring back the leather helmets

To be fair to the NFL, all 4 of the U.S. major sports are making major rules changes that make their games suck a lot more. The NFL is not the only league where stupidity is the order of the day.

 

[luuked]

My biggest issue with the rule is just that it will create more judgement calls for the refs where some will flag incidental contact and others will not. Which is exactly what we need less and not more of.

 

[fnordcircle]

Just make it flag football..what we all want...right!?

We won't get flag football, necessarily, but we'll definitely get something much closer to it than the days of using your body like a weapon and players being unable to watch TV. And any overly-nostalgic references to the days of yore won't change that.

You can talk about personal accountability all you want but you're talking about kids whose decision-making centers in their brains aren't fully-developed. I'm very conflicted about the sport as it stands so I root for anything that will reduce whatever it is that is making these guys ****ed up in the head. I'm fine with leg/arm/back injuries, as grotesque as that sounds, because pain can be managed. Shooting themselves in the heart can't.