Don't skate with your head down, don't crowd the plate and always, always have your head on a swivel, or BOOM!
In under an hour’s time on Sunday afternoon, five different players in three different NFL games were concussed. Pittsburgh linebacker James Harrison knocked out the Browns Joshua Cribbs and then a little while later Mohamed Massaquoi. In the Eagles-Falcons game, Dunta Robinson knocked both himself and DeSean Jackson out of the game (and probably out of action for several weeks.) And Brandon Meriweather’s nuclear missile launch into Todd Heap’s head was by far the most reckless and dangerous of the day.
I know it's split second stuff.
In under an hour’s time on Sunday afternoon, five different players in three different NFL games were concussed. Pittsburgh linebacker James Harrison knocked out the Browns Joshua Cribbs and then a little while later Mohamed Massaquoi. In the Eagles-Falcons game, Dunta Robinson knocked both himself and DeSean Jackson out of the game (and probably out of action for several weeks.) And Brandon Meriweather’s nuclear missile launch into Todd Heap’s head was by far the most reckless and dangerous of the day.
I know it's split second stuff.
I know it's hard to let up.
But defenders do not have to launch themselves at the opposition; they can tackle without doing that. It is not required that they explode into an opponent to take him down. But that’s what guys do: explode into other players and we’ve all grown accustomed to it. No, we've grown to love it. It’s fetishized from ESPN’s SportsCenter to Madden to Nike Ads and beyond. Boom!
Today, the NFL says that they are going to start calling games more tightly, and suspending defensive players in an effort to stem the tide of injuries from vicious hits. It may not be fair. It may not be feasible. And even though it is very likely about the appearance of caring about player safety, rather than genuine concern for player safety, it is necessary before somebody ends up dead.
The league does not want that kind of blood on its image, so the change must come and it must come now. The NHL changes rules on the fly and, in fact, last year, changed a head-hunting rule mid-season. The NFL can do it, too.
It’s easy to forget that the NFL is always changing, anyway.
In the 60’s and 70’s, guys on the defensive line used to head slap. Heck, Deacon Jones made a living smacking guys upside the head. They outlawed that.
Left tackles make huge money now, but they didn't used to. It was only after Lawrence Taylor came along and terrorized quarterbacks that the term “blindside” went viral and left tackles became a focal point in the scouting process.
Over that time, the league morphed from a run-centric one to today’s pass-happy incarnation.
In 1975, through a 14 game season, the Colts (then in Baltimore) attempted 354 passes. That’s about 25 passes per game. In 2009, the Colts (now in Indianapolis) attempted 601 passes through 16 games, a little more than 37 passes per game. An average of a dozen more throws a game is a huge change.
Maybe I don't remember defenders launching themselves as much in the 1970’s precisely because it was more of a running league. As such, it was played in tighter quarters. To take down a fullback between the tackles, you can't really get up a head of steam to launch yourself at him, missile like.
I’m not saying it was a less violent game or played with less violent intentions or players, but that, as the game has opened up, it's created different opportunities for violence and different risks.
Not many players today tackle like Jack Ham did - feet on the ground, wrap up, take the guy down - precisely because the game is played in more wide open spaces, creating plenty of opportunities every week to “blow guys up.” Boom!
The game has evolved from Bert Jones to Peyton Manning and as it has also evolved from Jack Ham to James Harrison. The rules are going to have to change accordingly.
In some ways, it’s going to suck. Because we like those big plays, those splash plays. We like seeing guys get jacked up.
But it’s also going to suck for defenders who are trained to fly around in open space and separate the offensive player from the ball. They can barely touch quarterbacks. They can't disrupt wide outs' routes. They can't defend passes unless they themselves are looking at the ball. And now they can't even try to hit receivers hard enough to cause incomplete passes or fumbles?
If I were making a wish list, I'd make some quid pro quo changes to balance this out and help the defense, too. It'll never happen, but it looks like this:
The league does not want that kind of blood on its image, so the change must come and it must come now. The NHL changes rules on the fly and, in fact, last year, changed a head-hunting rule mid-season. The NFL can do it, too.
It’s easy to forget that the NFL is always changing, anyway.
In the 60’s and 70’s, guys on the defensive line used to head slap. Heck, Deacon Jones made a living smacking guys upside the head. They outlawed that.
Left tackles make huge money now, but they didn't used to. It was only after Lawrence Taylor came along and terrorized quarterbacks that the term “blindside” went viral and left tackles became a focal point in the scouting process.
Over that time, the league morphed from a run-centric one to today’s pass-happy incarnation.
In 1975, through a 14 game season, the Colts (then in Baltimore) attempted 354 passes. That’s about 25 passes per game. In 2009, the Colts (now in Indianapolis) attempted 601 passes through 16 games, a little more than 37 passes per game. An average of a dozen more throws a game is a huge change.
Maybe I don't remember defenders launching themselves as much in the 1970’s precisely because it was more of a running league. As such, it was played in tighter quarters. To take down a fullback between the tackles, you can't really get up a head of steam to launch yourself at him, missile like.
I’m not saying it was a less violent game or played with less violent intentions or players, but that, as the game has opened up, it's created different opportunities for violence and different risks.
Not many players today tackle like Jack Ham did - feet on the ground, wrap up, take the guy down - precisely because the game is played in more wide open spaces, creating plenty of opportunities every week to “blow guys up.” Boom!
The game has evolved from Bert Jones to Peyton Manning and as it has also evolved from Jack Ham to James Harrison. The rules are going to have to change accordingly.
In some ways, it’s going to suck. Because we like those big plays, those splash plays. We like seeing guys get jacked up.
But it’s also going to suck for defenders who are trained to fly around in open space and separate the offensive player from the ball. They can barely touch quarterbacks. They can't disrupt wide outs' routes. They can't defend passes unless they themselves are looking at the ball. And now they can't even try to hit receivers hard enough to cause incomplete passes or fumbles?
If I were making a wish list, I'd make some quid pro quo changes to balance this out and help the defense, too. It'll never happen, but it looks like this:
How about not calling pass interference unless it's egregious? If a defensive back holds a receiver, call it holding (a 10 yard penalty), rather than pass interference (which can be 40 or 50 yards at one chunk). Don't tell me receivers aren't simply running fly patterns trying to get those calls. They are. So take that incentive away from them.
And let defensive backs bump receivers more. Allow hand chucks. If more contact was allowed before the ball is thrown, wide outs might not come open in the middle as much. Thus they wouldn't make such tempting targets for quarterbacks. Or for head-hunting linebackers.
At the end of the day, the more latitude you give offenses, the more they're going to exploit it .Then defenders are going to have to find new ways to stop them, including hurting them. Evening the playing field a little bit would go a long way towards a game where the defenders are not at a huge tactical disadvantage.
They could also cut down on the blow up plays if they stopped marketing the games by showcasing those plays, the same ones the league is now condemning. And any talk of an 18 game season must be put aside -- the NFL cannot be taken seriously as an advocate for player safety when the owners are bullying their way to an obvious money grab that puts players at obvious risk.
The league - Commissioner Goodell and the owners -- have the power to fix all of it. The question is, just how much do they want to fix?
Boom!
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