There needs to be a reinforced emphasis on spearing. It's been a foul for quite some time, but like many rules it gets passed, and the problem sort of abates, then the call stops getting made. (In one of our games prior to last week, Edwards got hit while in the air to catch a pass, yet no call was made.) It seems as though each person has an opinion on the two Harrison plays, and if you go back some say the first is clean, others the second, so clearly it's fairly subjective. I saw both plays in R/T and they both looked like he was leading with the head. A second spearing call in any contest should be immediate ejection, and if any spearing call results an an injury the offending player should be out as long as the injured player.... Simple as that. In one of our games last week, Edwards got hit while in the air to catch a pass, yet no call was made.
I think the rule should be either if you leave your feet and lead with your head, its a penalty, or if you leave your feet and make contact with the ball carriers head, even if you lead with your shoulder, its a penalty. Stay on your feet, keep your head up and wrap up.
The main emphasis for infractions should be on hits that are above the chest without wrapping the arms. When players fail to form tackle, (which always involves wrapping) they tend to gather their arms and elbows up and form themselves into a battering ram. This should be unacceptable if the hit is above the chest. The form tackle has devolved over the last 20 years into what we have now, which is being practiced mostly by DB's and safeties operating in increasing space.
Form tackle would have worked. Really? At the :46 mark it sure looks like he is leading with his head. [YOUTUBE]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vqgyXVtihsA[/YOUTUBE]
So it will be up to the officials to eject a player if they feel the hit was "egregious"? What happens when you get terrible officials who give someone like Leonard a penalty that he didn't deserve? I just don't see this as a good thing for the NFL. You aren't going to stop a player from going all out to make the tackle.
You don't know that is the case. I will rewatch. It looked to me like his shoulder hit first when I watched it earlier. And that's part of the problem. It's questionable, and people may wind up getting suspended for hits that were violent but legal.
I forget what show I was watching, but one of the former players brought up a good point, I think it was Cris Carter. What if this causes guys to start tackling lower? more knee injuries, much worse I think. This is a good move for complaining moms at a PTA meeting, but not a good move for what we watch football for, and i dont mean killer hits. This is going to change other aspects of the game in a bad way, more so than the good it is going to do.
I know it's Ray Lewis but, I've seen Lewis blow up many receptions with a form tackle. he hits Jackson with his shoulder and helmet. It's close though
I'm all for this. I think it's a good call not having refs eject players on the spot simply because things happen so fast on the field, but it's the type of thing where you know what deserves a suspension once you see it on a replay. James Harrison's hit on Welker a few years back, Merriweather's hit on Todd Heap on Sunday, that hit on Jackson the other day, are all I think completely unnecessary and without a doubt will reduce lifespans and increase things like CTE if they are allowed to go unchecked in the NFL. Keep the 15 yard penalties but let the NFL review plays for a few days and decide which hits are over the line and deserve suspension, I don't think the line is necessarily that hard to draw.
I believe his thinking was that knee injuries are easier inflicted than are the types of injuries they are trying to prevent with this new policy. I tend to agree with that.
These excuses not to form tackle are ridiculous. I know you guys love the big hits and get off on it, but these receivers can easily be brought down or deterred from catching the ball in other ways besides making oneself a missile. To tell you the truth, I get off much more on watching a guy get super low, tackle with perfect form, lift someone up in the air, drive through and and dump them then trying to make them a vegetable. Have these guys play a game of tackle with their helmets off and see if these punks try the same tactics.
If and when this happens, I think we will find the NFL league office will review this case by case and only suspend those in gross and obvious violation of the rule. Cases like the Leohnard hit are obviously not applicable when you replay it a few times. But the Jackson hit and repeat offenders like Harrison will be subject to hefty penalties and if it takes some of the punkass out of the league that's fine with me. Guys should be form tackling anyway,which appears to be a lost art in itself.
ESPN just announced Merriweather fined 50k for two H to H hits this past weekend. Harrison - 75k, Robinson - 50k.
Appropriate. And Robinson's is worse because the idiot knocked himself silly and is questionable for next weeks game.
People mention the speed of the game and late movement on somebody's part for why we get hits like the one Eric Smith put on Anquan Boldin. Now these same people think that players who otherwise would have hit a guy in the head are going to change direction in a split second and take aim at someone's knees.:rofl:
