I'm sure you also remember that Smith was suspended 1 game and fined 50K for that hit. Obviously player safety is the "concern" here but this is about that 18 game season. They could care less about the players health longterm, they just want them be healthy enough for those 2 extra money makers. For the record I think Steve Young is absolutely correct, how many of those plays stem from a QB leading a guy too far across the middle leaving him vulnerable. I don't like the proposed rule change one bit. I don't wanna see guys get hurt but obviously the game is so fast and being played by such amazing athletes that guys are going to get hurt. It's just part of the game. If a guy goes Chuck Cecil on somebody I understand but how do you determine if a guy has intent or not? Under this rule Eric Smith likely would have been suspended for his hit on Welker in week 2 even though Welker sold it quite well.
Agree. If they start suspending players for viciously hard, but clean hits, I might stop watching. I have better things to do with my time than watch a sissified version of football.
Great so basically every hard hit will be a penalty now. This should now be a reviewable call IE the Jim Leonard hit. If you go head hunting I definately agree you should be penalized and suspended but it seems like they want to eliminate HARD HITS in general. This is bad for the league...... I'd have to agree with Cris Carter on this, make the field wider. I guarentee we're actually going to see more season ending injuries now with these new rules. Players are going to be afraid to hit high so look for a lot of broken legs and shattered knees.
This has probably already been said but fuck suspensions...the "offending" player should just be ejected from the game. The ref should make the call, the booth should review to see if it was helmet to helmet and then the player should be ejected.
The problem is as Harrison said the other night, fines or getting tossed from a game mean nothing. These guys make millions and laugh at 50k fines. The only thing that ever got his attention was the threat of suspensions and losing game checks that are in the hundreds of thousands of dollars. Suspensions are the only thing that will stop it.
IMHO, suspensions will not stop it. A healthy dose of ego and adrenaline will usually result in a big hit.
how 'bout we start seeing better form tackles? D. Robinson delivered a knockout blow on sunday. A solid form tackle would have worked better. Neither player would have been concussed and Robinson still may have jarred the ball loose from Jackson.
this league is becoming a joke...half the hits their crying about were legal non-headshots...just because someone was hit so hard that head snapped back does not automatically make it a headshot.
This league is built on young stars like DeSean Jackson and to see a player like that out for an extended period of time when it can be avoided is never a good thing. They are doing the right thing here IMO. There's no reason to be leading with your helmet ever.
He was doing what he was taught to do - try and separate the ball from the receiver. While a solid tackle may have had the same result, it's hard to argue it would have had the same chance of doing so.
No you won't. You won't stop watching football no matter how they change the rules. And neither will anybody else. The League should crack down on the cheap shots. It's long over due.
Seriously, I might. I can't remember the last time I've watched a flag football game. That's an extreme case of course but I honestly believe fans have limits too.
