[mlmpetert]

Originally Posted by mlmdub130

i thought he was fined for lowering his helmet right? not hitting a defensless receiver, i think thats where we are getting the most confusion. hard hits are very much still allowed on a receiver coming across the middle, you just can't do three key things 1. lower your head 2. leave your feet 3. make helmet to helmet contact. once players learn to adjust to a different style of tackling i really see this being a non issue, along the lines of the horse collar penalty. the thing that is going to suck is going to be these first few years where everyone has to adjust. and the biggest thing they need is to become way more consistant in the way the calls are made and the fines are issued. as well they also definitley need to adapt a pay grade to fine amount ratio so that guys don't lose whole game checks over a mistake.

There was never any mention of him lowering his head when he hit Maclin so I think youre wrong but honestly im not sure anymore. I started this thread because multiple articles cite this rule for why Robinson was fined:

It is a foul if a player initiates unnecessary contact against a player who is in a defenseless posture.
(a) Players in a defenseless posture are…(2) A receiver attempting to catch a pass; or who has completed a catch and has not had time to protect himself or has not clearly become a runner.

Everyone remembers the defenseless receiver rule being voted in over the summer, but i dont think anyone knows what it truly is, just generalizations of what you cant and can do, based off of things they have heard.

I tried to find more info on this rule and theres nothing out there. I cant find anything official that says you cant lower your head, launch, or make helmet to helmet contact. Thats all just stuff we have heard on tv or read in a article. Im guessing the rule shown above came from Robinson's side or a legit news source like ESPN that has access to the real rules and definitions and used it to cite what Robinson got fined for.

A while back in the Is Goodell good for the NFL someone said that all these rules are made by the rules committee and then confirmed the NFLPA and that Goodell doesn’t even take part in the matter, but couldn’t offer anything to even suggest that being true. Seriously its ridiculous, none of us actually really know what the rules in question are or how they come about.

I thought if I started this thread some stuff would get cleared up and we could talk about if some of the protection rules are good or not, but I don’t think any of us are actually citing real stuff when forming their opinion about the Robinson hit and hard hits in general. Now im just more confused than ever……