Helmet to Helmet Rule Change the Game
The recent story in the NFL is helmet to helmet hits on defenseless player. The league committees are trying to make the league safer for the player to reduce injuries. The NFL Commissioner is not doing a good job protecting the players because concussion and major head damage keep happening. The Commissioners idea is to penalize by a 15 yards penalty on the field against their team, but also charged significant fines toward the player who commit the penalty. (Benavent) By fining the players the league is changing the speed of the game, the hard hitting and the fun of game. NFL Commissioner Robert Goodell stated: Strategy, strength and speed are what make the game great. We don’t want to take physical contact out of the game. But we must ensure that players follow rules designed to reduce the risk of injury. Enforcing rules on illegal hits to the head with fines and suspensions has changed tackling for the better. Players and coaches have adjusted. They always do. We now see fewer dangerous hits to the head and noticeable changes in the way the game is being played.
That’s true the league is safe but fining player is not going to fix the problem. The fact is that when you are tackling you are using your head which is a fundamental football. A tackle is when a player using a great amount of force to bring a ball carrier down. Further, it’s when a defender at lower leverage and strikes a ball carrier with his head across the ball carrier body with his arms wraped around him bring him down. Let’s say that the ball carrier does the same thing lowering his head trying to avoid the hit and now the defender is call for helmet to helmet hit. In the act helmets would hit together. It’s not unavoidable and certainly not intentional. I think that the NFL commissioner wants to encourage players to hit low toward the knees where the ball carrier has no protection. The result will in tearing ACL’s and other ligaments that end players’ season and possibly careers.
That’s true the league is safe but fining player is not going to fix the problem. The fact is that when you are tackling you are using your head which is a fundamental football. A tackle is when a player using a great amount of force to bring a ball carrier down. Further, it’s when a defender at lower leverage and strikes a ball carrier with his head across the ball carrier body with his arms wraped around him bring him down. Let’s say that the ball carrier does the same thing lowering his head trying to avoid the hit and now the defender is call for helmet to helmet hit. In the act helmets would hit together. It’s not unavoidable and certainly not intentional. I think that the NFL commissioner wants to encourage players to hit low toward the knees where the ball carrier has no protection. The result will in tearing ACL’s and other ligaments that end players’ season and possibly careers.