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New helmet rule could make NFL unrecognizable

Carr Bombed said:
Well I guess there's only one thing to do.. hit them where it hurts, their pocketbook.

Lower ratings..means lower TV contract revenue.. Lower TV contract revenue..means lower profits for the owners.. Lower profits for the owners..means rule changes and no contract extension for Goodell in 2021. Kills two birds with one stone.
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Well knock yourself out with a boycott.

I've been listening since the 70s how every rule change is going to be the death of football and they might as well wear skirts. I still see plenty of big hits & enjoy the game. I can't begrudge any industry trying to be safer. It's still a mad violent sport with tons of injuries, including career ending, each week, hell in practice. There's a difference between career ending and person ending. These head injury rules are about more than a career. They're about lives and families.

And let's not go too "back in the day." Football from peewee on up has always been taught not to lead with the head. This rule is attempting to enforce fundamentals. May need some wrinkles worked out but the purpose is both old & new.
 
infantrycak said:
Well knock yourself out with a boycott.

I've been listening since the 70s how every rule change is going to be the death of football and they might as well wear skirts. I still see plenty of big hits & enjoy the game. I can't begrudge any industry trying to be safer. It's still a mad violent sport with tons of injuries, including career ending, each week, hell in practice. There's a difference between career ending and person ending. These head injury rules are about more than a career. They're about lives and families.

And let's not go too "back in the day." Football from peewee on up has always been taught not to lead with the head. This rule is attempting to enforce fundamentals. May need some wrinkles worked out but the purpose is both old & new.
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I'm not saying they should lead with the helmet.. Did you even watch the game tonight? The problem I have is they threw flags on absolute text book legal plays/tackles..stuff they teach in peewee. That's the issue.

This isn't about a rule to protect the QB..that's something you can actually change with rules. Here's something you can't change with rules... It's IMPOSSIBLE to rule away contact in a contact sport! It goes against all laws of physics. These guys are very fast massive human beings. What are they supposed to do?
 
Carr Bombed said:
I'm not saying they should lead with the helmet.. Did you even watch the game tonight? The problem I have is they threw flags on absolute text book legal plays/tackles..stuff they teach in peewee. That's the issue.

This isn't about a rule to protect the QB..that's something you can actually change with rules. Here's something you can't change with rules... It's IMPOSSIBLE to rule away contact in a contact sport! It goes against all laws of physics. These guys are very fast massive human beings. What are they supposed to do?
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In fairness, those flags were thrown because the tackler lowered his head and led with the crown of the helmet.
 
JB said:
In fairness, those flags were thrown because the tackler lowered his head and led with the crown of the helmet.
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On the tackle.. the defender got his helmet across the receiver's body.. their own expert official even commented on the plays after the game and said that play shouldn't of been flagged.

On the play in the end zone the defender never lowered his head..his helmet simply made contact with the TE. Again shouldn't of drawn a flag.

The expert official did say though that he thinks the refs have been told to throw a flag on everything questionable this preseason so they can go back later and review all the film and come up with a consensus of what should be called and what shouldn't.

Let's just say, they better get this crap cleaned up before the season starts or the kneeling for the national anthem will be the least of their worries when coaches and players start lashing out if/when this costs them ball games and possible jobs.
 
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OK , don’t often make my way over to NFL, but after posting on this rule change in the training camp thread, did finally find it discussed here.

Bad! And I agree will impact the outcome of games.
 
So far, this rule change, despite a few wrinkles, has done what it is supposed to do and I give the NFL credit for making a meaningful change despite the backlash they knew would come. Everyone should appreciate the onus of the rules being on what players can control. Players, both offensive and defensive, can control rather they lead with the crown of the helmet and or lower their head for contact. IMO, if this new rule goes well the NFL may be able to get rid of the helmet to helmet rule and defenseless player rules, which are not in the full control of the player being penalized. Maybe football will get back to being more about tackling than hitting.
 
What do you know?........some common sense.
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Quarterback sneaks won’t violate the new helmet rule
August 17, 2018, 4:26 PM EDT

The new rule against lowering the helmet and initiating contact with an opponent applies anywhere and everywhere on the football field. With one important exception.

Quarterbacks who drop their helmets and ram forward on a sneak play will not be subject to punishment.

NFL senior V.P. of officiating Al Riveron explained during a Friday visit to #PFTPM that the Competition Committee decided that, in such situations, the quarterback is bracing for impact from the moment he starts to move forward. That may or may not mesh with the plain language of the rule, given that quarterbacks who deliberately plunge forward, with their heads lowered, may indeed initiate contact with an opponent.

Regardless, the decision has been made that the rule won’t apply to quarterbacks executing a sneak, based on the notion that they are always protecting/bracing when trying to “sneak” the ball forward, into an (ideally) empty “A” gap. Keep that in mind as the games that count approach.
 
So will RBs doing a goal line or one-yd plunge get this same exemption?
Doesn't seem fair if they don't
 
Titans, Eagles lead NFL with most lowering-head penalties
AP Aug 19, 2018 at 5:22p ET


Tennessee Titans wide receiver Nick Williams (14) loses his helmet as he tries to bring down Tampa Bay Buccaneers running back Shaun Wilson, right, in the second half of a preseason NFL football game Saturday, Aug. 18, 2018, in Nashville, Tenn. (AP Photo/James Kenney)

" class="gallery-image-placeholder" style="-x-ignore: 1">
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — The NFL tapped Titans coach Mike Vrabel to narrate a video detailing the new rule on lowering the head to initiate contact, hoping the man who played 14 years as a linebacker in the league could more easily explain how players should adapt.

Now Vrabel’s own Titans (0-2) find themselves tied with defending champion Philadelphia for the most lowering-the-head penalties through two preseason games with five apiece. Tennessee was flagged three times for the new rule in an opening loss in Green Bay , and the Titans added two more in Saturday night’s 30-14 loss to Tampa Bay .

Getting it right matters because any player initiating contact with his helmet could be ejected after an in-game video review decided in New York.

THE REST OF THE STORY
 
Head is attached to shoulder and helmet is attached to head.

How the hell does one tackle without in some way or form not lead with the helmet.

Every tackle can be argued as leading with the helmet.

This rule cannot be enforced in a fair manner.


Prime example

Ravens guy with ball jumps in to the air
Colts guy cant tackle him his arse, his package or his foot. He only has head and arms to tackle
Refs throws flag for leading with helmet
I cried "WTF!" then turned off the game


UNWATCHABLE
 
dwight pugoy said:
Head is attached to shoulder and helmet is attached to head.

How the hell does one tackle without in some way or form not lead with the helmet.

Every tackle can be argued as leading with the helmet.

This rule cannot be enforced in a fair manner.


Prime example

Ravens guy with ball jumps in to the air
Colts guy cant tackle him his arse, his package or his foot. He only has head and arms to tackle
Refs throws flag for leading with helmet
I cried "WTF!" then turned off the game


UNWATCHABLE
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There are going to be many more fans like you.

I will still keep up with all things Texans, but wont be watching as much NFL football as I did last yr and I watched less NFL football last yr than I did the yr before.
 
dwight pugoy said:
Head is attached to shoulder and helmet is attached to head.

How the hell does one tackle without in some way or form not lead with the helmet.

Every tackle can be argued as leading with the helmet.

This rule cannot be enforced in a fair manner.


Prime example

Ravens guy with ball jumps in to the air
Colts guy cant tackle him his arse, his package or his foot. He only has head and arms to tackle
Refs throws flag for leading with helmet
I cried "WTF!" then turned off the game


UNWATCHABLE
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This brings to mind a play from the Browns/Bills preseason game. I was watching Hard Knocks and this play was shown 2 or 3 times. Not because of the helmet rule, but because the ball carrier is one of the guys being followed closely on the Browns. TE for the Browns, Cajuste (last name), catches pass from Mayfield. Turns up field and is motoring. A DB is coming at him from an angle. TE sees him coming and begins to lower his head in anticipation of contact. DB coming at him from an angle, so it'd be easy for him to have his shoulder lead the contact. But when TE lowers head, DB slams the dude in the shoulder, neck, helmet area. Helmet to helmet contact. No flag thrown.

Since the runner lowered in anticipation of contact the rule is no longer enforced, correct? But this could have been called easily. I think this rule is gonna screw up these screwed up refs (some of them) even worse.
 
I saw, on the NFLN crawl, that inadvertent contact is NOT supposed to be called. Question is, who decides what "inadvertent" means? How can a ref determine intent??
 
ObsiWan said:
I saw, on the NFLN crawl, that inadvertent contact is NOT supposed to be called. Question is, who decides what "inadvertent" means? How can a ref determine intent??
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This is kind of like the SCt said about obscenity, hard to write down a definition but you know it when you see it.

I think the lowering the head requirement is to try to get to intent.
 
ObsiWan said:
I saw, on the NFLN crawl, that inadvertent contact is NOT supposed to be called. Question is, who decides what "inadvertent" means? How can a ref determine intent??
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I think this tweak in the lettering of the rule was put in to give them a backdoor to not enforce a shitty rule without fully having to admit that the new rule they put in place was total crap to begin with.

Basically it allows them to avoid a catastrophe and save face.
 
VIDEO: Jets Rookie Fined Nearly Five Times What He's Made in the NFL After Big Hit
Billy Feola27 Aug 2018

Linebacker Frankie Luvu is living every kid's dream right now, as he went from an undrafted free agent out of Washington State to turning heads at New York Jets camp, but that has come at a hefty price. Luvu, who has reportedly only made around $4,300 this summer, was hit with a $20,054 fine by the NFL for a roughing the passer penalty during a preseason game against the Washington Redskins.

MUST READ THE REST OF THE STORY!

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A real hose job for the rookie!
 
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CloakNNNdagger said:
VIDEO: Jets Rookie Fined Nearly Five Times What He's Made in the NFL After Big Hit
Billy Feola27 Aug 2018

Linebacker Frankie Luvu is living every kid's dream right now, as he went from an undrafted free agent out of Washington State to turning heads at New York Jets camp, but that has come at a hefty price. Luvu, who has reportedly only made around $4,300 this summer, was hit with a $20,054 fine by the NFL for a roughing the passer penalty during a preseason game against the Washington Redskins.

MUST READ THE REST OF THE STORY!
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I don’t like that penalty personally. I don’t think it was late or illegal. He lead with his forearms and it was bang bang. Almost as soon as he released the ball he was there.

What if the QB pump fakes? Are defenders supposed to slow down when the qb is in their sights? Approach with caution?
 
CloakNNNdagger said:
VIDEO: Jets Rookie Fined Nearly Five Times What He's Made in the NFL After Big Hit
Billy Feola27 Aug 2018

Linebacker Frankie Luvu is living every kid's dream right now, as he went from an undrafted free agent out of Washington State to turning heads at New York Jets camp, but that has come at a hefty price. Luvu, who has reportedly only made around $4,300 this summer, was hit with a $20,054 fine by the NFL for a roughing the passer penalty during a preseason game against the Washington Redskins.

MUST READ THE REST OF THE STORY!

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A real hose job for the rookie!
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Okay.. clearly the fine system in the NFL needs to be changed. UDFAs or other players making under the NFL poverty line should only receive fines of a certain percentage of their salary.
 
Carr Bombed said:
Okay.. clearly the fine system in the NFL needs to be changed. UDFAs or other players making under the NFL poverty line should only receive fines of a certain percentage of their salary.
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There is a safety valve that they can't be fined more than 25% of their weekly check. But they aren't to their weekly checks yet.
 
NFL not cracking down on lowering the helmet
Posted by Michael David Smith on October 13, 2018, 7:37 AM EDT

During the offseason, the NFL told everyone that the new rule against lowering the helmet to initiate contact would be a major change that would result in players getting regularly flagged and fined, and sometimes ejected and suspended. It hasn’t worked out that way.

In fact, the penalty has only been called four times all season, and on three of those occasions the player who committed the penalty wasn’t even fined after the league office reviewed the hit. Only one player, Jaguars defensive end Malik Jackson, has been flagged on the field for lowering the helmet and then fined after the league reviewed the video.

The helmet rule has only been flagged four times all season, after officials were calling it 1.5 times a game early in the preseason. And according to Jonathan Jones of SI.com, only four players have been fined for violating the helmet rule — and those weren’t the same four players who were fined, other than Jackson.

Cincinnati safety Shawn Williams, Jacksonville linebacker Telvin Smith and Minnesota defensive tackle Linval Joseph are the three players who have been penalized for the rule, other than Jackson. But the NFL reviewed those hits and decided not to fine them for lowering the helmet. Meanwhile, three players — Kansas City running back Kareem Hunt, Arizona linebacker Haason Reddick and Baltimore linebacker Patrick Onwuasor — have been fined even though the officials didn’t call the penalty.

So this rule change, which was supposedly going to drastically alter the way the game is played, has resulted in exactly one play all season that was flagrant enough for the officials on the field and the league office reviewing the video to both agree that it deserved sanction. The rule against lowering the helmet has turned into a big nothing.
 
NFL: Pass rushers can put “minimal” body weight on a QB
Posted by Michael David Smith on October 13, 2018, 10:40 AM EDT

The NFL’s attempts to protect quarterbacks have been perhaps the biggest topic of discussion this season, and the latest explanation from the league office is likely to cause even more discussion.

NFL head of officiating Al Riveron distributed a video this week showing examples of legal hits from pass rushers on quarterbacks, and one of those showed Cardinals safety Antoine Bethea blitzing, hitting and landing on 49ers quarterback C.J. Beathard. According to Riveron, that was a legal hit, even though Bethea landed on Beathard, because Bethea put “No body weight on the quarterback, or minimal body weight on the quarterback.”

The NFL’s written guidelines, meanwhile, say that officials have been told to call penalties when “the defender used all or part of his body weight to land on the quarterback.”

So pass rushers are being told that they’ll be penalized if they land on a quarterback with “part” of their body weight, but not if they land on a quarterback with “minimal” body weight. It’s easy to see why defensive players think the rules are rigged against them, and impossible to follow.

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65 “warnings” issued for lowering the helmet violations
October 21, 2018, 8:23 AM EDT


Through six weeks, the NFL’s referees haven’t thrown many flags to enforce the new lowering-the-helmet rule. The NFL’s stenographers, however, have typed plenty of strongly-worded letters.

Per a league source, 65 warnings have been issued by the league this year in connection with the standard that prohibits lowering the helmet and initiating contact with an opponent.

Of those letters, the league sent 43 to defensive players, 15 to offensive players, and seven to special-teams players.

Seven penalties (six defensively, none offensively, one for special teams) were called through six weeks, and 11 fines (nine, one, and one) were issued.

Another source with knowledge of the manner in which the league enforces rules described the warning letters as unprecedented. And it could be that the league has opted for warning letters instead of fines to avoid having to essentially admit that a flag should have been thrown for the conduct prompting the warning and/or the official who failed to throw the flag should have been downgraded for missing the foul.

When a player receives a fine, a persuasive defense can arise if: (1) no foul was called; and (2) no downgrade was issued to the responsible official. The warning letters, then, likely are an effort to get the message through to the players (and to the officials) without resorting to fines (and downgrades).

The use of warnings implies that more stringent action will be taken, unless behavior changes. Which means that, in time, more flags will be thrown, more fines will be imposed, and more downgrades will be, um, downgraded.
 
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