Can't wait to get all excited about a big run, only to see it called back because...

[JimLeavy59]

Weren't ratings for the games this year down by a small margin?

 

[Sven Draconian]

This has been a rule forever. It's spearing. Why the need to constantly come out with new rules rather than enforce the old rules is beyond me.

Maybe the thing I find most fascinating is how Rugby is easily able to handle the issue of leading with the head by making their penalties actually mean something. If you engage in "dangerous play" in Rugby (leading with the head, hitting above the neck, hitting a defenseless player) you risk being ejected and your team plays down a man for 10 minutes. If somebody on your team does it again, your down a man the rest of the game and that player is suspended a game.

Guess what, that fixes the problem immediately. Start making teams play down a man when they spear or hit a defenseless player and those plays will end almost immediately. Sure, there is still incidental penalties which are penalized just how they are now (Rugby has it too), if it happens more than once or twice guys get the boot.

I'm not saying the NFL should go to that (maybe they should, it might be worth a discussion). The point is that instead of actually addressing the issue, they choose to fine guys who make million of dollars a few thousand and throw a couple extra flags in a game already littered with them. Instead of doing things to slow down the players, like enforcing that players actually wear their pads (and, make them bigger and softer to soften the impact), they just come up with this shit.

 

[Len B]

I know, boo hoo, the NFL is going to be flag football in another year.

Blame Goodell all you want, he has his share of fucking up a lot of things, but we surely can't point the fingers at the thousands of former NFL players who are suing the NFL for the concussion issue. Not to mention 31 owners passed this deal, so maybe they should get some blame as well? It's not all Goodell, here.

Not sure what anyone expects in this situation -- its a lose lose and the NFL will struggle to survive if they don't change their rules, as everyone and their mother wants to sue after they retire.

 

[Warner2BruceTD]

I know, boo hoo, the NFL is going to be flag football in another year.

Blame Goodell all you want, he has his share of fucking up a lot of things, but we surely can't point the fingers at the thousands of former NFL players who are suing the NFL for the concussion issue. Not to mention 31 owners passed this deal, so maybe they should get some blame as well? It's not all Goodell, here.

Not sure what anyone expects in this situation -- its a lose lose and the NFL will struggle to survive if they don't change their rules, as everyone and their mother wants to sue after they retire.

I can fix it.

From this point forward, if you want to play in the NFL, you must sign this waiver that says you understand the risks involved and absolve the NFL of any and all cause related to on field injury.

Everybody would sign it.

 

[Epidemik]

Originally posted by Eli Manning

Eli Manning did a radio interview this morning, and was asked about this prospective rule change. His response was a classic Eli deadpan: "It's really going to change the way I run."

 

[Epidemik]

Not just for RBs as initially thought; it is for all ball carriers and all defenders.

The new rule will draw a 15-yard penalty if a runner or a tackler initiates forcible contact by delivering a blow with the top/crown of his helmet against an opponent when both players clearly are outside the tackle box (an area extending from tackle-to-tackle and from three yards beyond the line of scrimmage to the offensive team’s end line). Incidental contact by the helmet of a runner or a tackler against an opponent would not be deemed a foul.

NEWS
NFL owners approve crown-of-helmet rule, abolish Tuck Rule
March 20, 2013
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NFL owners on Wednesday approved a rule that will ban ball carriers from initiating contact with the crown of their helmets in the open field.

The decision came on the final day of the NFL Annual Meeting in Phoenix.

“This is a very important step in our continuing efforts to emphasize player safety,” said St. Louis Rams coach Jeff Fisher, who’s also a member of the NFL Competition Committee. “The players’ habits, their reactions, their responses to rule changes, you see it on the field. This is just another step in that direction.”

The owners also overwhelmingly abolished the infamous “Tuck Rule,” which has been talked about around the league for more than a decade.

The controversy over the crown-of-the-helmet hit rule had been growing since the NFL Competition Committee proposed it Thursday. While NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell backed the rule, it was criticized by players ranging from current Chicago Bears running back Matt Forte to Hall of Fame running back Marshall Faulk. However, NFL Network reporter Ian Rapoport reported that the rule passed by a 31-1 margin, with only the Cincinnati Bengals voting against it. Fisher attempted to address some of those concerns Wednesday.

“Every step along the way, we have been unanimous presenting this proposal,” Fisher said. “I think if the players knew the amount of time that went into this, they would have a better understanding.”

Under the new rule, a runner or a tackler would draw a 15-yard penalty if he initiates forcible contact by delivering a blow with the top/crown of his helmet against an opponent when both players clearly are outside the tackle box (an area extending from tackle to tackle and from three yards beyond the line of scrimmage to the offensive team’s end line). Incidental contact by the helmet of a runner or a tackler against an opponent would not be deemed a foul.

“We know there is going to be helmet-to-helmet contact,” Fisher said. “The running back has an opportunity to protect the football, lower the head, lower the shoulder, as long as he doesn’t load up and strike with the top of the helmet.”

The rule was proposed as part of the league’s health and safety crusade. The competition committee wanted to take away a play that could cause a concussion, by making it illegal for players to use their helmets as weapons.

“We really think the time has come that we need to address the situation in space when a runner or a tackler has a choice as to how they are going to approach the opponent,” Atlanta Falcons president Rich McKay, chairman of the competition committee, said before the meeting. “We are going to say that you can’t make that choice ducking your head and delivering a blow, a forcible blow, with the top crown of your helmet. We are trying to protect the runner or the tackler from himself in that instance.”

The logic didn’t fly with at least one Hall of Fame running back.

“As a running back, it’s almost impossible (to not lower your head),” Emmitt Smith, the NFL’s all-time leading rusher, said earlier this week. “The first thing you do is get behind your shoulder pads. That means you’re leaning forward and the first part of contact that’s going to take place is your head, regardless.

“I disagree with the rule altogether. It doesn’t make any sense for that position. It sounds like it’s been made up by people who have never played the game of football.”

Also, the infamous “Tuck Rule” was eliminated by a 29-1-2 vote. The Pittsburgh Steelers voted against the rule change, and the New England Patriots and Washington Redskins abstained. The “Tuck Rule” allowed a fumbled ball moving forward in the hand of a quarterback to be called an incomplete pass. It became famous in 2001 when Patriots quarterback Tom Brady dropped a ball while starting a passing motion during a snowy 2001 playoff game against the Oakland Raiders.

The owners also voted to amend the rule regarding the illegal throwing of a challenge flag. The so-called “Jim Schwartz Rule” will tie the challenging of plays to timeouts. Under the new rule, every time a coach initiates a replay, his team will be charged a timeout. If a play is challenged illegally, the team will lose a timeout — even if the challenge is successful. If a team is out of timeouts, it will be penalized 15 yards, but the play still will be reviewed.

This became an issue last season, when Schwartz challenged a Houston Texans touchdown run during a Thanksgiving game. All scoring plays automatically are reviewed, so Schwartz was denied the challenge, and the Texans’ TD stood, even though the runner’s knee appeared to be down.

– Bill Bradley, contributing editor

http://www.nflevolution.com/article/NFL-owners-approve-crown-of-helmet-rule-change?ref=7317

 

[Cornelius]

I can fix it.

From this point forward, if you want to play in the NFL, you must sign this waiver that says you understand the risks involved and absolve the NFL of any and all cause related to on field injury.

Everybody would sign it.

NASCAR still has dudes flying around the track at crazy speeds and the NFL would still have dudes lining up to risk brain injury.

Goodell fuckin sucks

 

[KINGOFOOTBALL]

I know, boo hoo, the NFL is going to be flag football in another year.

Blame Goodell all you want, he has his share of fucking up a lot of things, but we surely can't point the fingers at the thousands of former NFL players who are suing the NFL for the concussion issue. Not to mention 31 owners passed this deal, so maybe they should get some blame as well? It's not all Goodell, here.

Not sure what anyone expects in this situation -- its a lose lose and the NFL will struggle to survive if they don't change their rules, as everyone and their mother wants to sue after they retire.

Already covered this. Players are suing because NFL failed to take preventive steps to cover these guys for years. This could have been squashed entirely in the last cba.
Of course owners get blame.. But they're owners. Goodell should have some level of objectivity which he does not.

 

[BiggaAdams]

So what's the point of a fucking power running back now? Unbelievable...

 

[Aso]

This will be called WAY more than 35 times a season. This is awful for the league.

 

[Liquidrob]