I apologize for the Popsicle headache as you get your mid-week underway this morning, but the talk of the preseason needs some table setting to be understood. The topic, of course, is the new ‘Use of Helmet’ rules instituted by the NFL, and the many flags that have followed as it has been implemented for the first time this August.
The website at operations.nfl.com states the new rule and its conditions as follows:
“The most significant change for 2018 is the new Use of Helmet rule. The rule states that it is a foul if a player lowers his head to initiate and make contact with his helmet against an opponent. This rule pertains to all players on the field, and to all areas of the field.”
The officiating standards for the Use of Helmet rule are:
- Lowering the head (not to include bracing for contact)
- Initiating contact with the helmet to any part of an opponent. Contact does not have to be to an opponent’s head or neck area—lowering the head and initiating contact to an opponent’s torso, hips, and lower body, is also a foul.
- Making contact on an opponent (both offense and defense)
Players can be ejected for use of helmet fouls, and all ejections will be reviewed by senior officials in Art McNally GameDay Central in New York. The standards for ejection are, if:
- The player lowers his helmet to establish a linear body posture prior to initiating and making contact with the helmet;
- The player delivering the blow had an unobstructed path to his opponent, and if
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- The contact was clearly avoidable
If that reads like a recipe for disaster, that’s because it is. In the name of player safety, the league has introduced something that is going to drive those involved absolutely wild, which is to be expected when something that is a ‘football play’ for decades results in a personal foul that could cost a team a game.
Does this mean the end of the quarterback sneak in short yardage situations? Consider this staple of third or fourth and short in the Patriots offense under Tom Brady—under center, hard count, snap, and dive forward to convert.
That entire sequence after the snap is a player lowering his head, leading with his helmet, and in those close quarters, definitely making contact with an opponent. He is bracing for contact, but isn’t he also initiating?
Bracing for contact is another issue entirely, which fans saw on Thursday night in the Patriots second preseason game versus the Eagles. Philadelphia was repeatedly flagged for finishing a play in which the player on offense has braced for contact by lowering his head, and the tackler ended up contacting him there, by no virtue of wanting to or having any sort of malicious intent. He’s making a tackle.
In that same broadcast, Patriots colorman Scott Zolak noted that in pregame meetings with the league, the teams were informed that there were going to be a lot of these types of calls, in order to get the new rule on film. These instances will be reviewed by the league in order to confirm what is and is not in violation of the new measure.
I’m not a dinosaur, and I understand that player safety is a priority in the league today with new information on how concussions affect the brain, and the many players who have suffered physically and endured untimely deaths after their playing careers concluded. After numerous lawsuits, the league has acted in players interests, but at some point, you reach a point of over-correction.
Yet this is the same league that endorses Thursday night games on a short week and has a strict concussion protocol policy, unless it’s a star quarterback that goes down, late in a close game like Cam Newton or Russell Wilson.
The way the game is played now—with the biggest and strongest athletes in recorded history—results in these men colliding with extremely violent force. Inertia is Inertia. Can we fight against it and still have football? Is there a consented risk in taking the field in 2018, knowing what we know about the brain, and the dangers of pro football?
This latest point of emphasis is sure to be the number one topic entering the season, and with all of the talent on the field across this country, the fact that we’re talking about a rules change is something the league needs to be concerned over.
In the end, I think this becomes such an issue that it will slowly be policed out behind the scenes, much like when a key player should enter the concussion protocol. It’s a sad reality we have to accept for football to be football. Some things are not safe. Just ask Stanford graduate, four-time Pro Bowler, and Super Bowl Champion Richard Sherman—who as an active player in the defensive backfield—said it best on his official Twitter account.
To all those ppl including those who made the rule. I want a video of YOU running full speed and being lead by anything but your head while also attempting to bring down a moving target. You will soon realize it’s impossible. https://t.co/QFyENU6LKf
— Richard Sherman (@RSherman_25) August 19, 2018
There is no “make adjustment” to the way you tackle. Even in a perfect form tackle the body is led by the head. The rule is idiotic And should be dismissed immediately. When you watch rugby players tackle they are still lead by their head. Will be flag football soon.
— Richard Sherman (@RSherman_25) August 19, 2018
