Quick Overview of the Events:

In the last two weeks (weeks 5 and 6) of the 2010 NFL season there have been 6 players injured (Mohamed Massaquoi, Joshua Cribbs, Jordan Shipley, Todd Heap, DeSean Jackson, and Dunta Robinson) due to illegal hits, either helmet to helmet or defenseless receivers.  The NFL and its owners have said that this is unacceptable and they will be cracking down.  5 of 6 players that received concussions were in week 6.  On Tuesday Oct. 19^th Commissioner Roger Goodell issued 175 thousand dollars in fines to the three defenders that were responsible for the hard hits delivered in week 6.  These fines were much harsher than in the past and the commissioner is making a statement that the NFL will not stand for it.

 

Problem 1: Defenseless Receiver

The first problem I have with this controversy is with the NFL’s rule of a defenseless receiver.  The rule was created at the NFL owners’ meeting after the 2008 season.  It was intended to protect the receivers from injury.  The problem is that the rule itself is not enforced regularly enough or consistently enough to make it effective.  The result is that fans and players alike are left questioning what the rule is for defenseless receiver.  The rule states, “Initial contact to the head of a defenseless receiver will draw a 15-yard penalty.”  While watching the NFL games these last two weeks, my friends and I were constantly discussing what a defenseless receiver was.  We were confident a defenseless receiver ruling was due to the defender leading with his head.  I even heard ESPN sports analysts saying if defenders knew there would be steeper fines, they would not lead with their head.  It has nothing to do with leading with their head; it has everything to do with where you hit the receiver and when you hit him.  A common misconception is that a defenseless receiver is helmet-to-helmet.  In actuality, in order to avoid the penalty, a defender must hit the receiver chest and below or wait until he has established possession of the ball.  The NFL and refereeing officials need to do a better job to make sure that hard hits to the receiver’s head right after the catch and before the receiver takes 1-2 steps will always be called for a penalty.  As it stands right now I believe that most players do not think that they will actually be called for it.

 

Problem 2: The NFL’s Contradictions

The second problem I have with the NFL cracking down on hard hits is that they have been sending mixed signals to the players for years.  They are now making a huge deal about this, acting like they are outraged, and like they can’t believe these players would be hitting like this.  For the record I am not in favor of players getting injured or hurt.  It just irritates me when I see so many people acting like they were against brutal hits from the start.  Which defensive plays make the ESPN top ten list?  Are they the ones where the defender made the safe tackle or the ones that the offensive player was absolutely devastated?  They are always the ones where the receiver or quarterback gets destroyed.  The media and the NFL praise players for playing tough and hitting hard; but when they injure someone, all of sudden those same hardworking defensive players are jerks and animals.  What did these people think was going to happen when you asked someone to play and hit that hard?  Hard hits sell tickets and no professional organization is better at making money than the NFL.  For years they have praised defensive stars, like Ray Lewis; but now that players are getting hurt more often, they are turning against them.  This is not the players fault.  This is a natural progression resulting from players being put in a culture where they are told to be as ruthless as possible and praised for it when they succeed.  The NFL is shocked and outraged that players would do something like that.  It is a big joke to me.  One of my friends made a great point: if the NFL really wanted to cut down on injuries, they would just mandate that all tackles should be rap ups like in Rugby.  This would make games way more boring, but the NFL will never make this rule, even though it would protect the players on the field.

On a side note: if the NFL also wants to crack down on reducing the hard hit, it should take action and prevent players from taking steroids.  Everyone knows that there are countless NFL players on steroids, but no one cares.  If no one in football were on steroids, it would go a long way in reducing the force behind some of these hits.   In my opinion the NFL could not care less about the players.  They only care that “high-value” players are getting hurt by “low-value” players.

Please feel free to read more of  my blogs by clicking Ford Jordan’s Blogs and please leave a comment and let me know your thought about this article.

Article’s I found helpful:

• NFL Tackling Rules a Step in the Right Direction
• Owners pass four rules in an attempt to make the game safer