NFL to running backs: keep your head up

NFL rules committee proposing making it a personal foul for a running back to lead with his helmet outside the tackle box.

http://slam.canoe.ca/Slam/Football/NFL/2013/03/14/20655776.html?cid=rsssportsnfl

They should just hand out the flags and belts and be done with it.

 

I think of all the ways you worry about players getting head injuries in a NFL game, I think running backs leading with their heads would be pretty far down the list. I'd be a lot more worried about the defensive players hurting the backs than I would the running backs hurting the defenders unless it becomes an open field situation.

 

Sweetness is rolling over in his grave.

 

How about banning them from ducking their heads at the last instant before contact?
A lot of these "illegal hits" to the head are legal until the last .0001 seconds, when the running back or receiver decides to brace for impact by tucking his head against his shoulder. Instead of hitting the guy in the shoulder or chest, the defensive player instead ends up going helmet to helmet.
The play Stevan Ridley got concussed on in last year's AFC championship game is a textbook example of this.

 

The NFL is trying to legislate instinct. It's impossible, and it will probably lead to more injuries. Running backs, like all skill players, are interested in self-preservation, and the way they play the game has evolved accordingly. Asking players not to do things that come natural is a sure way to put them in harm's way.

 

This times 1,000,000. Anybody who has played tackle football on any level lowers their head to absorb the hit. there's a difference between lowering your head and leading with your head. Some of the guys in the NFL have been doing this for 20+ years, good luck teaching them not to do it.

 

These are the kind of rule suggestions that serve as a reminder that the game will never be safe. It just can't be safe and remain tackle football. Just a choice for everyone whether they want to play it.

 

What if a running back is near the sidelines, sees the first down marker and a tackler right in front of him. He can't try to bull the guy over to get the first down?

 

If you are telling the defense not to tackle with their heads it's a good offset to also tell the RB's not to lead with theirs.

I'm sure that the rules committee had the Ridley / Pollard hit in mind.

Here is the video:

If you watch it a few times you will see that Pollard is set up in perfect "hit " position and his aiming point is "the numbers" . It only becomes "head to head when Ridley lowers his head.

What really changes is that RB's are going to get less positive yardage and that extra foot for a first down will be harder to come by. Probably some more rib injuries also.

 

The NFL should penalize any player who makes a "football move" while bending at the waist.

 

"runs too high" may no longer be a negative.

 

I'm trying to think of running backs who missed time because of concussions last year...

Daniel Thomas and Fred Jackson immediately come to mind... I'm sure there are more...

I know there were a couple other running backs who were injured on special teams, where injuries are more common... Andre Brown comes to mind...

It just seems like the players most likely to sustain a concussion are the quarterbacks, receivers, linebackers and defensive backs/safeties...

You don't see a ton of concussions with offensive and defensive linemen or running backs...

That's certainly not to say they don't happen or you shouldn't do something that could protect them, but I think defensive players going helmet-to-helmet usually on a WR or QB where they can get some speed before the hit comes is where most of the injuries happen...