Welcome to the Powder Puff League Boys

[kmanharris]

That's why I said this rule needs to be instituted at the amateur levels before the NFL even touches the subject. As long as high school and college kids are allowed to lead with their heads they're going to do it, and it's going to get them on the field and into the league. And by that point it becomes their instinct to play that way, and to ask someone to change the very thing that has made them such a highly touted player in the past is a bit unfair IMO. It's a lot different to ask a guy to drag an extra foot as compared to hesitating for even a second or two on defense. And we're talking about guy's jobs and reputations being on the line at this point.

Don't you think that if the highest level of football institutes a new rule then every other level below it will follow? Eliminating it in the NFL will eliminate it in college, high school, and lower.

[Senser81]

As I'm typing this, Chris McKendry is reading a statement from the league on why certain photos will no longer run or be sold on NFL.com. Guess the commissioner does have power over his own league's website after all.




Oh, and James Harrison wants to retire. LOL.

Of course the commissioner has power over the league's website. Was that really in question? The point was two-fold...one, should we "retroactively" criticize the commissioner for historic content on NFL.com and the NFL Network...and two, would/should the commissioner even care or waste his time with policing such content?

I guess we know now that the commissioner has a lot of time on his hands.

[NAHSTE]

Of course the commissioner has power over the league's website. Was that really in question? The point was two-fold...one, should we "retroactively" criticize the commissioner for historic content on NFL.com and the NFL Network...and two, would/should the commissioner even care or waste his time with policing such content?

I am not retroactively criticizing anyone, I'm merely highlighting the blatant hypocrisy that stems from fining a player for a hit, then selling that highlight to a network and running the photos for sale on your own website.

There's an ethical disconnect there. It's not the commissioner's fault, but that doesn't mean he should ignore it. I think that the fact the photos are no longer on the website shows you that yes, the commissioner does waste his time policing such content. That's his job, to police content.

If he's going to police the players, he needs to police his media relations department too. "Devastating hits" are a rampant problem on the field, but it's foolish to single out players like Harrison as the sole cause of the issue. The fans, the media and the league office have been more than complicit this whole time.

[mgoblue2290]

Don't you think that if the highest level of football institutes a new rule then every other level below it will follow? Eliminating it in the NFL will eliminate it in college, high school, and lower.

You don't build from the top of something downwards do you? No you start at the bottom and get it across there, that way it doesn't even cross the players minds after awhile because they're not trained to react that way.

[NAHSTE]

Because this guy said it better than I did:

http://deadspin.com/5668631/last-nights-winner-the-continued-glorification-of-brain-mushification

The NFL has already responded, saying that the licensed vendor uses an automated system to sell the photos, and that they'll take steps to stop this from happening in the future. (The photos in question have already been pulled.) I'm sure it was an honest mistake, but the problem doesn't lie with the vendor, or the NFL, but rather the fact that there's a market for this sort of thing in the first place.

We like hits. Love 'em. They broke into whatever game you were watching on Sunday to immediately, repeatedly show you Dunta Robinson laying out DeSean Jackson. We love the hit stick in Madden. Hell, the YouTube video above is titled "Hard Hits Steelers Football" and set to an alt-metal soundtrack. They wouldn't be selling professional photos of big hits if there weren't someone out there buying them.

None of this is an indictment of the NFL's attempts to crack down on head trauma (though it might be an indictment of the decades they spent hyping up those sort of hits). It's just a sign of the uphill battle the league faces in making the game safer. It's not going to be a matter of fining millionaires and telling them "don't do that again." It's going to require an audience who loves football precisely for its physicality coming to accept a sea change in the way the game is played.

Maybe that'll happen. In the meantime, I don't see any framed photos for sale of a fullback setting a fundamentally sound block.

....

[Warner2BruceTD]

Nobody teaches players to attack with the helmet or take cheap shots at any level of football. Some of you guys will go to any length to defend theses players.

You want to stop this stuff? Tell them to stop leading with the helmet, or gtfo and get a real job. Nobody needs to be retaught anything.

[NAHSTE]

Nobody teaches players to attack with the helmet or take cheap shots at any level of football. Some of you guys will go to any length to defend theses players.

You want to stop this stuff? Tell them to stop leading with the helmet, or gtfo and get a real job. Nobody needs to be retaught anything.

I played high school football 6 years ago, and you're definitely taught to put your facemask/helmet squarely on the ball carrier while wrapping up with your arms.

Pretty impossible to do a proper "form tackle" without your helmet hitting the other guy. Especially since that's proper technique.

But what Meriweather did was chicken shit, I agree. I'm not defending the players, especially the ones who can't tackle so they launch forward like dummies, but when you are running full speed at a guy in a live game, technique goes out the window sometimes.

Chris Houston hit a ballcarrier who had just caught the football and was running towards him, yet he was flagged for hitting a defenseless receiver ... I don't get that one.

[Senser81]

I think that the fact the photos are no longer on the website shows you that yes, the commissioner does waste his time policing such content. That's his job, to police content.

Silly me. And here I thought the Commissioner's job was to negotiate the Collective Bargaining Agreement between the players and owners so that the NFL can continue to exist...I guess I was wrong. The Commissioner's job is to edit Pat Kirwan's blog. Thanks for the heads-up.

[Warner2BruceTD]

There is a big difference between putting your facemask on a guy or leading with the crown of your helmet. If James Harrison or anybody else can't make that distinction, maybe they should retire, before they seriously injure someone.

I get the sense some of you are playing dumb (not directed at NAHSTE). We all know the types of hits the league is looking at. Stop playing semantics.

[Senser81]

I played high school football 6 years ago, and you're definitely taught to put your facemask/helmet squarely on the ball carrier while wrapping up with your arms.

Pretty impossible to do a proper "form tackle" without your helmet hitting the other guy. Especially since that's proper technique.

Deja vu all over again. Spearing someone on the ground with your head and hitting someone with the crown of your helmet is not a proper "form tackle".

But we've already had this discussion before, and you've already lost this argument before, so....

[RainboUnicorn]

I dont like the hitting a defenseless receiver rule at all. Has this penalty ever been called on a completed pass?

[kmanharris]

You don't build from the top of something downwards do you? No you start at the bottom and get it across there, that way it doesn't even cross the players minds after awhile because they're not trained to react that way.

In a business, what you do at the top is looked on by everyone and they react accordingly. If there are members of management at the top skimming money and taking kickbacks you can bet your ass people who are making shit for money will do the same thing. This is the same concept.

Right now high school and college players see big hits and think that is their way to make it to the NFL. If the NFL bans it, college and high school players will realize that big hits are not the way to make it.

[KINGOFOOTBALL]

There is a big difference between putting your facemask on a guy or leading with the crown of your helmet. If James Harrison or anybody else can't make that distinction, maybe they should retire, before they seriously injure someone.
.

Deja vu all over again. Spearing someone on the ground with your head and hitting someone with the crown of your helmet is not a proper "form tackle".

But we've already had this discussion before, and you've already lost this argument before, so....

There isnt a big difference.

Half the tackles against running backs in this league would be labeled spearing. Most blocking techniques could be interpreted as spearing.
You simply cannot make a tackle on someone whos pad level is lower than yours without leading with your head. You ALWAYS lead with your head you can only try to make sure your shoulder hits first , and even then incidental contact is a natural occurrence.

As usual the NFL leaves a massive gray area so the refs can take the burden and NFL can take thing on a case by case basis for there convenience.
This isnt about protection of players...this is about keeping "star" players in the field.

Utley , Byrd , Brown were all paralyzed within a few years of each other league didnt do much of anything. Aikman goes and gets concussed by Arrington all of a sudden the crown of the helmet is a bad guy.
Peterson, Jacobs ,and any "power" back or back over 6ft 1 is getting his knees launched at every other play. Palmer gets injured and we have to wildly enforce knee rules. Defensive players get wacked in the head on a routine basis , some QB gets hit with an inadvertent elbow and now even grazing his helmet with a finger is a fine.

You are making the target area far too small for a defender. Its no different from the wild shrinking the strike zone had in MLB that made it damn near impossible for a pitcher to function without a handicap.


The NFLs motivation is strictly financial. They refuse to make clear definitions. They are posturing to avoid retro active lawsuits and positioning with the CBA upcoming. They only care about offense offense offense(i.e $$ $$$ $$$$) which creates the nasty cycle.

Defenders cant contact the WR past 5 yards at all. Defenders cant "over" jam a te/wr at the los or be called for holding. OK so we'll just play zone coverage all day. OC gets a wide open field they decide to send 5 guys into routes with no pass protection and QBs with minimal ability to read a rush or defense. QBs chuck it up mindlessly to WRs running the wrong routes for the coverage and they end up getting nailed while "defenseless".So you have to put rules saying they cant be impaired during any of the "catch" process. Ok..even more incentive to pass now isnt it.


Bottom line this isnt about technique. LOL@ implying a Patriot and Steeler dont know proper form tackling. Youve given players no alternative but to go for huge hits in order to intimidate , loosen a ball , or impose there will on offensive players.
Let them bump and run , distinguish between incidental and flagrant Pass Interference , give them black and white tackling rules , get rid of the ticky tack defensive penalties put in the last decade THEN tell these guys if they cross the line theyll be suspended.

Amazing the NFL can have a team completely screwed out of a victory over a terrible catch interpretation and it will take months and months for it to be discussed. A player gets hurt during a legal play all of a sudden the NFL can act swiftly and immediately.

[KINGOFOOTBALL]

Thank God someone came to help me..

:inlove:

[Warner2BruceTD]

Again, I think you guys are missing the point.

This is about blatant, crown-of-the-helmet leading "tackles", where the intent is to lead with the crown of the helmet. And also launching yourself at guys head first, and making helmet to helmet contact.

Merriweather wasnt taught what he did at any level. James Harrison was never taught to drive his helmet into the helmet of WR's who are already on the ground, as he did to Massaquia (or however the fuck you spell it).

If this means a few borderline tackles lead to guys being suspended, so be it. Collateral damage, tough shit, what can you do? You can't stop these headhunters with fines, and justifying their actions due to coaching, like they are psycologically broken down Vietnam vets, is beyond lame. Decent humans don't do what Merrriweather & Harrison did Sunday. C'mon.