Understanding Hard-Hitting Rules

[FRPLG]

He could have kept his head up and still hit him square in the face-mask with his face-mask. I am not sure what keeping his head up would have done to avoid the helmet to helmet hit. Putting his face forward wouldn't change the positioning of his head in general just what part of his head he hit him with. He lowered his shoulder and ducked his head and gets flagged for what? Getting his body into the proper position to make a good tackle? Seems crappy to me. It's unfortunate that Maclin got hit in the head but it was also unavoidable outside of completely changing the tackle positioning which presented competitive risk. The rule simply can't be so black and white... well I guess it can but it looks stupid and causes a load of other competitive issues that apparently the NFL doesn't really care about. They only care about perception of safety for some reason right now.

[mlmdub130]

Originally Posted by FRPLG

He could have kept his head up and still hit him square in the face-mask with his face-mask. I am not sure what keeping his head up would have done to avoid the helmet to helmet hit. Putting his face forward wouldn't change the positioning of his head in general just what part of his head he hit him with. He lowered his shoulder and ducked his head and gets flagged for what? Getting his body into the proper position to make a good tackle? Seems crappy to me. It's unfortunate that Maclin got hit in the head but it was also unavoidable outside of completely changing the tackle positioning which presented competitive risk. The rule simply can't be so black and white... well I guess it can but it looks stupid and causes a load of other competitive issues that apparently the NFL doesn't really care about. They only care about perception of safety for some reason right now.

did you ever happen to play football? i only played a few years i highschool but the number one thing you are alway taught is to see what you hit, and thats not so you don't hurt the player you are hitting but so you don't hurt yourself. ducking your head down is not the proper way to tackle and it's not safe for either the receiver or the defender, it's a very easy was to get seriously injured

[mlmpetert]

Originally Posted by mlmdub130

did you ever happen to play football? i only played a few years i highschool but the number one thing you are alway taught is to see what you hit, and thats not so you don't hurt the player you are hitting but so you don't hurt yourself. ducking your head down is not the proper way to tackle and it's not safe for either the receiver or the defender, it's a very easy was to get seriously injured

Well now their teaching NFL players to avoid helmet to helmet hits at all costs. So Robinson put his head down likely in a attempt to avoid the helmet to helmet hit, and could have seriously hurt himself.

Honestly i think the only way to avoid these hits is to make it a penalty for the qb to lead a receiver into a defenseless hit. Or make zone coverage illegal, however; getting ride of zone coverage would drastically alter the game.

[FRPLG]

Originally Posted by mlmdub130

did you ever happen to play football? i only played a few years i highschool but the number one thing you are alway taught is to see what you hit, and thats not so you don't hurt the player you are hitting but so you don't hurt yourself. ducking your head down is not the proper way to tackle and it's not safe for either the receiver or the defender, it's a very easy was to get seriously injured

I don't believe for one second him having his head up would have been less dangerous compared to the actual hit that occurred. I do understand the concept in general that keeping your head up properly gives you the best chance to avoid danger and it limits the downward force on your own neck but in this case the head being down didn't actually do much of anything so it's a moot point as it relates to this specific hit.

And if we're talking on about brass tax and whether it was a) illegal by rule...it was and b) deserving of a fine...not sure. But ultimately I thought we were talking about what we thought of it opinion wise. My opinion is that the defenseless WR rule is mostly crap and unabashedly impossible to enforce consistently while the league office has its head in the clouds on this stuff.

Throwing a lead pass into the middle of the field where two guys are running 15 MPH at each other is straight up dangerous. The league should be looking at how to eliminate the cause not the symptom. Frankly asking players to both evaluate the potential physics and adjust without risking competitive disadvantage is ridiculous. If the league wants to protect players then outlaw tackling. Seriously. Otherwise one of the whole points of the game is the physical encounters that they are increasingly trying to eliminate.

[mlmpetert]

Originally Posted by FRPLG

I don't believe for one second him having his head up would have been less dangerous compared to the actual hit that occurred. I do understand the concept in general that keeping your head up properly gives you the best chance to avoid danger and it limits the downward force on your own neck but in this case the head being down didn't actually do much of anything so it's a moot point as it relates to this specific hit.

And if we're talking on about brass tax and whether it was a) illegal by rule...it was and b) deserving of a fine...not sure. But ultimately I thought we were talking about what we thought of it opinion wise. My opinion is that the defenseless WR rule is mostly crap and unabashedly impossible to enforce consistently while the league office has its head in the clouds on this stuff.

Throwing a lead pass into the middle of the field where two guys are running 15 MPH at each other is straight up dangerous. The league should be looking at how to eliminate the cause not the symptom. Frankly asking players to both evaluate the potential physics and adjust without risking competitive disadvantage is ridiculous. If the league wants to protect players then outlaw tackling. Seriously. Otherwise one of the whole points of the game is the physical encounters that they are increasingly trying to eliminate.

Extremely well said!