ESPN's Mark Schlereth on the new hitting rule in the NFL

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Part 2...

 

Just because "that's how it's always been" doesn't mean that's how it should be.

If Dunta wants to be wreckless to his own self (make no mistake, launching yourself face first at someone is more dangerous to you than to them), then let him.

I don't mind making football safer, on all levels.

As for boxing, why don't they let them hit each other in the nuts? Probably because it's detrimental to the sport. Kinda like how the hits we've seen lately are also detrimental to the sport.

Bring on the more offensive oriented football era with less hits that put people in the hospital and cause them to die at an early age, I'm all for it.

 

Here's part 1... I couldn't get it to post above...

NYTimes... I played HS football, but if I had a son, I wouldn't let him play today.

Part 1...

Edit: Ah screw it... I can't get it to post. Just go to link for an in-depth article on the state of football helmets.

 

Hey. Heeeeey.

Soccer >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> NFL with no hitting.

 

Schlereth is absolutely right.

And trust me, James Harrison wears his emotions on his sleeve and obviously won't really follow through on his threat to retire. He's trying to make a point.

The bigger issue is the evolution of athletes in general. They're bigger, faster, stronger and more freakish than ever. Eventually, that's going to be a problem in a contact sport. Especially, whenever all it takes is one slight change of direction (from the offensive player) to turn a perfectly legit and "legal" hit into something worthy of a fine and/or suspension.

 

how about penalizing for not tackling with your arms. the reason there are massive collisions in the first place is because defensive backs are gearing up for the high impact shoulder hit and launching themselves from the ground. if you require the defense to actually do fundamental tackling by using their arms, they won't be in a position to drive their shoulders into the receiver.

 

That'd probably be too hard to call, plus it removes the ability for the defensive player to defend himself or "brace" for impact.

It'd be hard enough to legislate the "heads-up" rule I keep talking about, but that would be downright impossible... especially since a lot of guys first instinct is to put their arms in front of them to prevent themselves from getting hurt in a collision.

 

For the people defending NFL please tell me do NFL really care about their players when they trying to add two more game to the regular season, when injuries are happening left and right.


I agree with NFL to cut down illegal helmet to helmet contract but sometime it's unavoidable and hard hit happen. Football is a violent sport and its so popular because of it and, when you are playing defense, you trying to get the ball and help your team win.

 

The NFL was selling pictures of the James Harrison hit. So they fine him 75k for a hit, but sell pictures of it? Makes no sense. They got called out, and took it down. Total crap...

I think James Harrison should have been fined. But to sell photos of a hit you say was bad makes no sense.

http://postgazette.com/pg/10293/1096658-66.stm

 

So your position is that if the NFL does any single thing that might increase injuries, it shouldn't do anything to help cut down on them? WTF?

And sometimes, by suspending people for doing stupid things, you can. The defeatist attitude of "oh, nothing can be done, so let's not try anything!" is bizarre. Let's see the results of the suspension policy before we declare that it's impossible to stop.

 

They still have the videos up as highlights.

 

the NFL is basically in a lose-lose situation. its been known for years that football is a violent sport, obviously, but with the studies coming out with head trauma/concussions and the lasting effects, they have to do something. if congress is going after baseball for steroids, they'll go after football too. in fact, didnt goodell and a few others already get in front of congress? thought i remember awhile back hearing about that and how the panel straight up said, look, this data suggests that playing football and head trauma are hand and hand, what do you have to say for yourself? and goodell just mumbled something about not sure about the validity of the data or something.

basically he couldnt come out and say yes, yes it does because hes basically admitting his product is killing people.

 

http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/news/story?id=5708701

DAVIE, Fla. -- Miami Dolphins linebacker Channing Crowder says the only way of preventing helmet-to-helmet hits is to eliminate the helmet.

Otherwise he's going to use his, regardless of punishment from league officials.

"If I get a chance to knock somebody out, I'm going to knock them out and take what they give me," Crowder said Wednesday. "They give me a helmet, I'm going to use it."

After several recent helmet-to-helmet hits, several of which resulted in concussions, the NFL ramped up the punishment Tuesday. Three players received big fines, and the league warned that starting with this week's games, violent conduct will be cause for suspension.

There's particular concern about helmet hits, but many players are unhappy about the crackdown. That includes Crowder, who said concussions are a normal part of the game.

He thinks he gets one every week and often keeps playing.

"If I'm knocked out, I don't know where I'm at, I can't say my name, now I can't play football," he said. "If I get hit in the head and black out for a second and now I get back up dizzy, OK, I'm ready to go."

Crowder missed the first four games this season because of an injury -- to his groin -- before rejoining the lineup last week. He said he has been getting concussions since high school, but in six NFL seasons he has missed only 13 games, none because of a concussion.

Crowder said the NFL is "making a big deal about nothing" and cited money as the motivation.

"They want to save the receivers and quarterbacks because they sell all the jerseys," Crowder said. "They don't give a damn at all about defensive players because we don't sell as many jerseys as them. ...

"If they want to change football to a graceful sport, change it all the way to a graceful sport. Don't try to save the quarterbacks and receivers because they make the money, which that's what they're doing," he said.

 

Some of you people need to understand all it takes is a slight change of direction/height/movement for a lunging defensive player to be in position where he's now able to produce a fine or suspension-worthy hit.

Think about this: You're a safety or a LB playing in a sport where you read-and-react impulsively. There's an offensive player moving towards you so you lunge forward with what you THINK is a perfectly legal shoulder-shoulder or shoulder-chest hit only to have that player get tripped up at the last second thereby exposing his head by lowering it more towards the ground.

Guess what? Like or it or not, you're in a position where you might produce a helmet-helmet hit.

Bottom line: there is no "simple" solution to this matter. Sure, there are idiots out there like Brandon Merriweather that need dealt with, but 90% of the time this rule's enforcement is going to subjective and controversial. Throw in postseason implications and what not -- talk about a PR recipe for disaster.

 

Yeah, I'll agree with that.

 

That's why it's frustrating to a defensive player for sure. And beyond that, as they'll all tell you, it's a double standard. Let up on hitting people full-force and you get benched/cut. Hit people full-force and you get fined/suspended. It's a no-win for them.

That is why I think the heads-up rule could work. It limits how hard you can hit somebody by pure physics, and also makes sure the players at least have some visual clue as to what they're hitting, so they can make at least *some* adjustments mid-tackle to try and avoid head to head or other dangerous style collisions.

 

This man speaks the truth. Eliminate the helmet (we'll have some busted teeth and broken noses every once in a while, but less concussions for sure) and minimize the shoulderpads. It seems counter-intuitive, but it will work.

 

I don't really have a firm opinion on this, but I honestly think that dudes getting paid millions to hit each other should be allowed to hit each other as hard as they can, in whatever way they want.

Don't try to pretend football is something it's not. It's a violent sport founded on the same spectacle as gladiatorial combat: conflict.

I know, I'm repeating the dude in the video - except that he seemed to ignore the "money" aspect for the players too - they get paid a lot to take these risks. End of story.