I am all for the safety of the players.. We have seen way too many injuries that are LIFE IMPACTING let alone football impacting...If you are UNDER THE AGE OF 40, you never got to see the 'old school' type of hitting that use to exist, especially in the NFL.... The Oakland Raiders' safeties Jack Tatum and George Atkinson would tape up their arms up to the elbow from the fingers, then use their arms like clubs to hit any receiver that came through their territory..Including at the neck or head area. People talk about the Darryl Stingley paralysis from a Tatum hit but I can assure you that there were other hits that I thought Tatum or Atkinson killed someone on the field, and that is no exaggeration.. Tatum hit Steeler WR Lynn Swann so hard one time that I could not believe that Swann would ever get up again...If today's rules existed 40 years ago, Tatum and Atkinson would have to have adjusted or they would have been thrown out of the league after 1 quarter. There were other safety combinations like the Broncos' Steve Atwater and Dennis Smith that hit like a ton of bricks... Ronnie Lott from the 49ers and Joey Browner from the Vikings as a few examples. All those guys would destroy you if they got ahold of you. Probably is true for D-linemen and LBs as well with their sack/tackling techniques of yesteryear.
Now, it comes into question(I admit that I watched BTN yesterday on this) of how to call targeting.. In the NFL, the Vikings got called for a couple of questionable fouls and the hit by Clay Matthews on Kirk Cousins cost the Packers the ballgame against the Vikings, IMO.. I thought every one of them were terrible calls EVEN AS A HUGE VIKINGS FAN.
The whole thing of rules against putting body weight and pushing the QB into the ground is even tough for me... What if you are playing a QB like Cam Newton or Ben Roethlisberger?? Those guys are built like TEs.. I agree to protect the head but the body weight rule of driving a QB into the ground has to go, IMO..How is a defensive linemen suppose to get a sack??? The refs are making subjective calls on this. Do you want something like this to determine a game if it is close?? There are some great athletes at the QB position where you have to hit them hard to get a sack.
The other is the turning of the body by offensive players like RBs and WRs while having the ball... These are 'bang-bang' situations where bodies duck and dodge while changing angles in a split second.. I am not sure that all helmet to helmet contact can be avoided because of the speed of the game.. Defenders are fighting through blocks and ball carriers are twisting and turning to get that extra yard.. It is almost impossible to avoid even if you have been taught the best technique for tackling and avoiding the head injury... I am just not sure it is practical to expect the defenders to avoid all helmet to helmet contact. Throwing them out of the game may be a bit extreme.
The other factor is how defensive players are wired.. TRUST ME, there is a difference between how fans look at defenses vs. what is going on, on the field.. Minnesota Gophers used to be a great example.
EXAMPLE SITUATIONS: Minnesota Gophers don't cover some receiver from the opposition and the opponent misfires on the pass that clearly would have been a huge gain, had the pass been completed.. MINNESOTA DEFENDERS ARE HIGH FIVING EACH OTHER... Then Minnesota gives up a 25-30+ yard play and after the Gopher tackle, the Gopher defenders are hand slapping each other.
1. FAN PERSPECTIVE ON THE SITUATIONS: "Look you bunch of a**holes, you shouldn't be 'high fiving' because you would have been torched had they completed the pass.. You did nothing to stop it so QUIT CONGRATULATING EACH OTHER!!!".... Or " You dumba**es, you just gave up a 30 yard play. You should be ashamed and not handslapping each other"
2. PLAYER PERSPECTIVE ON THE SITUATIONS: Defense is all about emotion.. Those defensive guys are amped going into the game like no other. They have to do all they can do to remain positive, even in difficult circumstances like giving up big gains... If you go on most campuses, the guys raising the most hell on a football team, on or off the field, are defensive guys.. That is just how they are wired.. Perhaps a 'screw loose' or something. They are handslapping or encouraging each other, all the time to keep each other playing at the highest level... Defense is more reaction football and offense is more assignment football.. I BRING ALL THAT UP to say that it might be a far reaching expectation to think a defender is going to think to shift his weight one way or another so that a QB, RB, or WR is not driven into the ground on a sack or any tackle.. Or that they should be thrown out when a RB or WR moves their body in a split second, causing helmet to helmet contact.. They are amped anyways and a big hit is a culmination of all that emotion and intelligence in reading a play...
I just think the rule has to be revisited and some stipulations need to be put in place as to what determines intent to harm vs. incidental.... It is subjective and places a lot of weight on refs in situations.. I get it.. But there needs to be a common sense approach to this as well as protection of the players.. How to accomplish that?? I dont have the answer but it has to have a better solution than what we have now.
Now, it comes into question(I admit that I watched BTN yesterday on this) of how to call targeting.. In the NFL, the Vikings got called for a couple of questionable fouls and the hit by Clay Matthews on Kirk Cousins cost the Packers the ballgame against the Vikings, IMO.. I thought every one of them were terrible calls EVEN AS A HUGE VIKINGS FAN.
The whole thing of rules against putting body weight and pushing the QB into the ground is even tough for me... What if you are playing a QB like Cam Newton or Ben Roethlisberger?? Those guys are built like TEs.. I agree to protect the head but the body weight rule of driving a QB into the ground has to go, IMO..How is a defensive linemen suppose to get a sack??? The refs are making subjective calls on this. Do you want something like this to determine a game if it is close?? There are some great athletes at the QB position where you have to hit them hard to get a sack.
The other is the turning of the body by offensive players like RBs and WRs while having the ball... These are 'bang-bang' situations where bodies duck and dodge while changing angles in a split second.. I am not sure that all helmet to helmet contact can be avoided because of the speed of the game.. Defenders are fighting through blocks and ball carriers are twisting and turning to get that extra yard.. It is almost impossible to avoid even if you have been taught the best technique for tackling and avoiding the head injury... I am just not sure it is practical to expect the defenders to avoid all helmet to helmet contact. Throwing them out of the game may be a bit extreme.
The other factor is how defensive players are wired.. TRUST ME, there is a difference between how fans look at defenses vs. what is going on, on the field.. Minnesota Gophers used to be a great example.
EXAMPLE SITUATIONS: Minnesota Gophers don't cover some receiver from the opposition and the opponent misfires on the pass that clearly would have been a huge gain, had the pass been completed.. MINNESOTA DEFENDERS ARE HIGH FIVING EACH OTHER... Then Minnesota gives up a 25-30+ yard play and after the Gopher tackle, the Gopher defenders are hand slapping each other.
1. FAN PERSPECTIVE ON THE SITUATIONS: "Look you bunch of a**holes, you shouldn't be 'high fiving' because you would have been torched had they completed the pass.. You did nothing to stop it so QUIT CONGRATULATING EACH OTHER!!!".... Or " You dumba**es, you just gave up a 30 yard play. You should be ashamed and not handslapping each other"
2. PLAYER PERSPECTIVE ON THE SITUATIONS: Defense is all about emotion.. Those defensive guys are amped going into the game like no other. They have to do all they can do to remain positive, even in difficult circumstances like giving up big gains... If you go on most campuses, the guys raising the most hell on a football team, on or off the field, are defensive guys.. That is just how they are wired.. Perhaps a 'screw loose' or something. They are handslapping or encouraging each other, all the time to keep each other playing at the highest level... Defense is more reaction football and offense is more assignment football.. I BRING ALL THAT UP to say that it might be a far reaching expectation to think a defender is going to think to shift his weight one way or another so that a QB, RB, or WR is not driven into the ground on a sack or any tackle.. Or that they should be thrown out when a RB or WR moves their body in a split second, causing helmet to helmet contact.. They are amped anyways and a big hit is a culmination of all that emotion and intelligence in reading a play...
I just think the rule has to be revisited and some stipulations need to be put in place as to what determines intent to harm vs. incidental.... It is subjective and places a lot of weight on refs in situations.. I get it.. But there needs to be a common sense approach to this as well as protection of the players.. How to accomplish that?? I dont have the answer but it has to have a better solution than what we have now.
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