New rule on lowering helmet will be hard to enforce

[Ronin]

NFL tries to clarify the helmet rule that nobody seems to like

https://sports.yahoo.com/nfl-tries-clarify-helmet-rule-nobody-seems-like-180258450.html

 

[overseascardfan]

I heard on Doug & Wolf yesterday morning that the reason Roquan Smith still hasn’t signed is because CHI is trying to put clauses in his contract to where if he misses games due to suspension for violating new helmet rule they will recoup guaranteed bonus money. This comes after the fallout of the players meeting with officials to go over new rule change and clear answers could not be given by officials on how the rule would be enforced.

 

[Ronin]

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[Shane]

I heard on Doug & Wolf yesterday morning that the reason Roquan Smith still hasn’t signed is because CHI is trying to put clauses in his contract to where if he misses games due to suspension for violating new helmet rule they will recoup guaranteed bonus money. This comes after the fallout of the players meeting with officials to go over new rule change and clear answers could not be given by officials on how the rule would be enforced.

Yep and some of the rookies have the language in their contract(Chubb) and some don't (Barkley) All up to the player and agent and what they are willing to accept.

 

[SoCal Cardfan]

Pretty soon this game should be about as hazardous as being a burger flipper at In-N-out.
Fine with me if the league minimum is around $12-$15 an hour..... and ticket prices are $5 to $10.

Leave it alone already!!! Yes the game is dangerous, but making a roster automatically pays you far more than any Soldier, Fireman.. LEO... etc...etc.....

It's not conscription.... if you don't want to take the risk for the big bucks..... There are literally millions of kids willing to step up and roll the dice.

 

[Bert]

My personal opinion is that this rule is targeted at RB's who are in the open field, see a defender in front of them and just lower their helmet and apply those brutal H2H hit's we've all seen.

Same goes for DB's and LB's who just lower their heads and dive into a scrum.


I agree it will be tough to enforce but at the same time I agree with them discouraging this type of technique. I mean they need to get to the general rule where it's; Stop using your head as a weapon.

 

[Ronin]

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[Ronin]

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[Ronin]

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[LoyaltyisaCurse]

That's is weak stuff by CHI...

 

[NJCardFan]

The NFL doesn't get it. They want the games to progress faster and yet want to throw more flags. One of the reasons why people are turning the game off is too many flags. This ain't gonna help matters. I saw a PF leading with the helmet call the other night where the tackler led with his shoulder. These games are going to be 5 hours long if they're going to ticky tack this.

 

[vince56]

The NFL doesn't get it. They want the games to progress faster and yet want to throw more flags. One of the reasons why people are turning the game off is too many flags. This ain't gonna help matters. I saw a PF leading with the helmet call the other night where the tackler led with his shoulder. These games are going to be 5 hours long if they're going to ticky tack this.

NFL officials over-officiate pre-season games to send a message. If they don't back off when the season starts, games will become more boring and the NFL will lose viewership. They won't let that happen.

Besides, this rule wasn't put in place for player safety, it was clearly put in place to allow officials more power to fix games through arbitrary calls.

 

[Ronin]

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[MadCardDisease]

Ok this new rule is not being called correctly. If it is it totally sucks!

 

[Jetstream Green]

Ok this new rule is not being called correctly. If it is it totally sucks!

What is the rule is the problem, because I have no idea with the way it's being called. The NFL has done something which goes against all since of order, they have implemented a rule which appears to be subjective which can happen every play of the game at the most important part of the play. The prior rule, a personal foul, was fine before but this rule which is based on paranoia for a sport which is not meant to be safe by its very nature, will open Pandora's Box for any 'rigging the game' conspiracies... the players are simply too big and fast now to control the circumstances and the new rules basically fit like oil and water

 

[THESMEL]

I get they're trying to prevent spinal compression injuries, but wouldn't this increase the chance of more neck injuries with the head being forced back - I don't know what it's technically called, but a whiplash type injury. Unless they're going to make everyone wear those devices to try to prevent that.

NFLPA might have something to say about this.


The Brady example is a bit extreme. The intent, i think, is to not use the head as a weapon. Currently, that's the spearing rule, right or similar? This just turns that into an ejection.

It's more along the lines of what Gronk did last year to the Buffalo player on the ground.

Looks like they prefer defensive player injuries over offensive player injuries from what I seen - clinical computerized football is what the want - but football ain’t built that way -

 

[BullheadCardFan]

The problem is how the refs are going to call it. They again can influence the game by making key calls against teams and not make them against the other team. Like when teams have to go to Dallas or NE and we seem to notice the one sided calls. This will make it worse.

 

[GatorAZ]

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[overseascardfan]

The two penalties that I saw ARZ call for last night were a joke. The first one that was for hitting a defenseless player when the dude had turned around and taken 2 steps and the one in the 3rd quarter for lowering the helmet when the ARZ defender hit him more with his shoulder was an ominous preview of a very controversial season ahead.

 

[GatorAZ]

The two penalties that I saw ARZ call for last night were a joke. The first one that was for hitting a defenseless player when the dude had turned around and taken 2 steps and the one in the 3rd quarter for lowering the helmet when the ARZ defender hit him more with his shoulder was an ominous preview of a very controversial season ahead.

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[overseascardfan]

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Can these plays be reviewed and overturned? The lowered helmet rule too? I don't think they can so that opens the door for a lot of bad calls.

 

[Brian in Mesa]

NFL must rewrite the new helmet rule, now

https://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2018/08/12/nfl-must-rewrite-the-new-helmet-rule-now/

The new helmet rules continue to be applied as written. Which will continue to make football something other than football.

In Saturday night’s game between the Chargers and Cardinals, a pair of fouls were called on Arizona players. One, a penalty called on safety A.J. Howard, wiped out a fumble that the Cardinals had recovered.

It was called an illegal hit on a defenseless receiver, but Chargers tight end Sean Culkin surely had the ball long enough to no longer be defenseless (indeed, he had the ball long enough to complete the process of making the catch). The far more likely reality is that Howard was flagged for lowering his helmet to initiate contact, which is precisely what he did.

But here’s the problem: What else could he have done? Howard tries to execute a form tackle in real time and at full speed. But he misses the mark and his helmet hits Culkin. As the rule is written, it should be a penalty every time.

It happened again, in the same game. Cardinals safety Travell Dixon, while apparently attempting to execute a form tackle, lowered his helmet and made contact with Chargers receiver Geremy Davis. The flag was thrown. Again, as the rule is written, it’s a foul.

Yes, referee Brad Allen has said that more of these fouls will be called during the preseason. But the rule says what it says, and the rule is being applied properly. The problem is that the non-football players who crafted the 21-word rule made it so broad that it will attempt to correct behavior that is, as a practical matter, uncorrectable within the confines of the way the game has been played, for decades.

Coaches should be concerned. Owners should be concerned. Executives should be concerned. The Commissioner should be concerned.

 

[BigRedRage]

NFL officials over-officiate pre-season games to send a message. If they don't back off when the season starts, games will become more boring and the NFL will lose viewership. They won't let that happen.

Besides, this rule wasn't put in place for player safety, it was clearly put in place to allow officials more power to fix games through arbitrary calls.

Lol

I love a good conspiracy

Sent from my LG-LS993 using Tapatalk

 

[MadCardDisease]

http://www.nfl.com/news/story/0ap30...ng-camp-narratives-separating-hype-from-truth

1) The new helmet rule will cause chaos, confusion, exasperation and enmity out of the gate:

The catch rule has been tweaked -- thank you, football gods, if you truly exist (do you?) -- but football watchers were given new material to freak over with the league's newfangled helmet rule. The Hall of Fame Game saw officials toss a flock of yellow cloth over hits that, in years past, would have gone unmarked.

"It is a foul if a player lowers his head to initiate and make contact with his helmet against an opponent," the new rule states.

As my man Will Brinson from CBS Sports pointed out, "the problem for the NFL is players are lowering their helmets constantly, in all different situations."

A pair of eyebrow-raising flags were called around the rule in this past weekend's Chargers-Cardinals game. Both calls generated reaction for this reason: The penalized hits appeared kosher to the untrained eye -- and to former players. Ex-NFL fullback Ron Wolfley, calling the game for Arizona, was nonplussed after seeing replays of Cardinals safety A.J. Howard draw a flag for unnecessary roughness on Sean Culkin, screaming of the Los Angeles tight end: "Look! He's put the ball away. He's become a runner. The hat was right on the ball!"

On a subsequent flag thrown against Travell Dixon -- in which the Cardinals safety appeared to make a clean tackle but was pegged for leading with the helmet -- Wolfley went berserk, wailing, "Come on! Come on! ... He didn't go linear! He didn't duck his helmet, that's not the way it was explained. If you keep your head up ... man!"

The common retort is that zebras are pouring it on heavy in the preseason to make a clear statement to players and coaches about the new rules. The problem, either way, is that these August calls have mystified viewers and participants.

The onus now falls on teams to tutor players on how to avoid these flags -- essentially changing the way many have played the game since Pop Warner -- but any new rule requires clarity. That's what's missing in some instances, and the NFL has an issue on its hands as it rightfully aims to reduce head injuries and dangerous collisions.

 

[Ouchie-Z-Clown]

So on the play where the cardinals were flagged for leading with the helmet, the New Orleans RB lead with his head too. I thought they made a big deal in the offseason that the rule was going to apply to ALL players. If they want this rule to work they need to apply it consistency (although that would realistically mean a penalty every other play). After the penalty I started watching specifically for leading with the head. It’s in virtually every play from a defender or RB or WR. This is going to be an awful rule because it’s going to be called in a completely arbitrary manner that will likely impact multiple games throughout the season.