OT Is the NFL now the NFFL?

[DaBoltsNIsles]

I understand wanting to cut down on concussions. However Football is a violent sport. That's one of the reasons it's so appealing to fans everywhere.

Do you feel the enforcement policy will change the league into the National Flag Football League?

My opinion is defenses already have so many things stacked against them with the current rules. This will only make it more difficult to stop offenses.

 

[The Q stache]

I understand wanting to cut down on concussions. However Football is a violent sport. That's one of the reasons it's so appealing to fans everywhere.

Do you feel the enforcement policy will change the league into the National Flag Football League?

My opinion is defenses already have so many things stacked against them with the current rules. This will only make it more difficult to stop offenses.

if I was a defensive player I would retire, these rules are getting ridciulous

 

[IPostedWhat]

With the way the Bills play on defense, you would think they already stopped players from hitting and tackling already.

 

[sbb122]

Jack Lambert made the comment this comment in 1978!

(paraphrasing) "If we aren't allowed to hit the quarterback, the league should make them wear skirts."

Nothing has changed, football is a violent sport and people are going to get hurt. The rules protecting the offensive players are sickening. A defender has a split second to pull up from a hit cause some pussy wide receiver drops a ball. Come on.

/A linebacker swatting at a ball just released by a qb and his arm grazes his helmet, 15 yard personal foul for a blow to the head. they call it every time.

 

[sabresfaninthesouth]

Yeah, why on Earth would we want to stop the players from ending up with brain damage

Over the last 5-10 years, the understanding of concussions on the long term health of an athlete has jumped in leaps and bounds.

And having your best players out of the lineup with knee/ankle/whatever injuries isn't good for the sport. Nobody tunes in to watch two backup QBs and third string RBs going head-to-head.

 

[dare2be]

Yeah, why on Earth would we want to stop the players from ending up with brain damage

Over the last 5-10 years, the understanding of concussions on the long term health of an athlete has jumped in leaps and bounds.

That all makes sense, except when you consider this:

Marcellus Wiley was on Mike and Mike this morning and said he was going to expose the under-belly of the NFL in terms of it being a business.

"The NFL is pay to play." He pointed out Nike versus Reebok in example of this . "You gotta wear this brand hat here, this brand jersey there, etc." He went on to say, "I wore the same helmet from pop warner through college and into the NFL, the air pump helmet." Marcellus went on informing the Mikes that he was in on the Concussion Summit "I sat there, open mouthed, for presentations about new helmets that reduce concusions and impacts that were never introduced into the NFL because the company couldn't afford to pay the NFL the licensing fee that the League required a company to pay to allow players to use their products."

They are putting saftey equipment in the same category as jerseys, shoes, and socks!

----so the answer to the question as to why they wouldn't want to stop the players from getting brain damage: MONEY

 

[Comeds]

Its a tough situation. The league wants to protect the players, yet the hard hitting and violence is what makes the game fun to watch.

 

[ELYEAH82]

Yeah, why on Earth would we want to stop the players from ending up with brain damage

Over the last 5-10 years, the understanding of concussions on the long term health of an athlete has jumped in leaps and bounds.

And having your best players out of the lineup with knee/ankle/whatever injuries isn't good for the sport. Nobody tunes in to watch two backup QBs and third string RBs going head-to-head.

The Steelers sold out every game since the 70s even when backup QBs and RBs were in. Some people prefer to watch defense. Those who dont are just pussies

 

[Winged_Wheel88]

Yeah, why on Earth would we want to stop the players from ending up with brain damage

Over the last 5-10 years, the understanding of concussions on the long term health of an athlete has jumped in leaps and bounds.

And having your best players out of the lineup with knee/ankle/whatever injuries isn't good for the sport. Nobody tunes in to watch two backup QBs and third string RBs going head-to-head.

Don't know about anyone else, but flag football does not interest me.

Football is a dangerous, dangerous game. I don't see how anything can make it less so.

My old man came up with the idea to make players play both sides of the ball...offense and defense. Old school. They'll be no 350 lb linemen then, that's for sure. I don't see that happening though.

 

[ELYEAH82]

The Fridge played both sides of the ball...

 

[JustAsking]

I'm not sure who I heard say this, but it made a lot of sense to me. No doubt the players are bigger, stronger, and faster than ever before. An important aspect to the game is closing speed... always was, and always will be.... so, as the players became stronger and faster, a result is faster closing speed...less time to diagnose the play and less time for receivers to position themselves for a hit... What to do, what to do?... Increase the dimensions of the field. The field right now was designed for slower players.

 

[JustAsking]

12 more players fined by the NFL or plays last weekend.

Minnesota Vikings' Ray Edwards fined $20K by league - ESPN

 

[Comeds]

The NFLPA has to get on this.

Perhaps there could be some change in equipment that could lessen some of the impacts, like softer pads instead of the hard shell ones. I dont want to see anyone seriously injured no matter what team they play for but I like the rough game it is. I dont want to see defensive players let a player catch a ball then tackle them because they dont want to risk penalties and or fines. I dont want players to be asked to stop in mid air to avoid a hit because the player he was after moved or dropped the ball.

The league is safer than it ever has been. Recognizing concussions is done better than ever before and players are being kept out until better after getting one. Its never going to completely go away and its never going to be a 100% safe sport.

I am still bemused that offensive players with the ball can "stiff arm' defenders often hitting them in the head and face mask and no one complains about that.

 

[Destroydacre]

You've got to protect the players. If it gets to the point where all the big players are out with concussions, then who is left to play? Who would grow up wanting to play?

The biggest thing here is hits to the head and other dangerous hits (i.e. horse collars). Everyone knows how dangerous these hits can be. Probably 99% of hits to the head can be avoided. You don't need to lead with your head into the opponents head to make a tackle. That contact is not necessary. A lot of times the helmet to helmet contact is intentional. Now the NFL is saying they won't tolerate it. It needed to happen because like I said too many players are getting injured. There's still going to be bone crunching hits. That's not gonna change. Football is still the sport that everyone loves. It's just now that when a defenseless wide receiver comes down with a pass thrown over the middle of the field, he won't have to worry about getting lambasted in the head. And that's the way it should be.

 

[ELYEAH82]

You've got to protect the players. If it gets to the point where all the big players are out with concussions, then who is left to play? Who would grow up wanting to play?

The biggest thing here is hits to the head and other dangerous hits (i.e. horse collars). Everyone knows how dangerous these hits can be. Probably 99% of hits to the head can be avoided. You don't need to lead with your head into the opponents head to make a tackle. That contact is not necessary. A lot of times the helmet to helmet contact is intentional. Now the NFL is saying they won't tolerate it. It needed to happen because like I said too many players are getting injured. There's still going to be bone crunching hits. That's not gonna change. Football is still the sport that everyone loves. It's just now that when a defenseless wide receiver comes down with a pass thrown over the middle of the field, he won't have to worry about getting lambasted in the head. And that's the way it should be.

Go watch golf...

 

[Destroydacre]

Go watch golf...

No thanks. I'm right.



/On somewhat of a related note I thought it was hilarious how James Harrison was talking about how he was gonna retire. What a fucking drama queen. Shut your fat mouth and go play football and quit hitting people in the head.

 

[ELYEAH82]

You've got to protect the players. If it gets to the point where all the big players are out with concussions, then who is left to play? Who would grow up wanting to play?

The biggest thing here is hits to the head and other dangerous hits (i.e. horse collars). Everyone knows how dangerous these hits can be. Probably 99% of hits to the head can be avoided. You don't need to lead with your head into the opponents head to make a tackle. That contact is not necessary. A lot of times the helmet to helmet contact is intentional. Now the NFL is saying they won't tolerate it. It needed to happen because like I said too many players are getting injured. There's still going to be bone crunching hits. That's not gonna change. Football is still the sport that everyone loves. It's just now that when a defenseless wide receiver comes down with a pass thrown over the middle of the field, he won't have to worry about getting lambasted in the head. And that's the way it should be.

This is where you should lose every Football purist. WR should be scared to catch a pass over the middle. It is part of the game, the idea that people should focus on tackles vs hit is a terrible debate. A tackle gives the players the yardage, where a hit can knock the ball lose. It is and should be part of the game.

 

[Comeds]

This is where you should lose every Football purist. WR should be scared to catch a pass over the middle. It is part of the game, the idea that people should focus on tackles vs hit is a terrible debate. A tackle gives the players the yardage, where a hit can knock the ball lose. It is and should be part of the game.

Ronnie Lott was a favorite of mine for years. If you were going to catch a ball across the middle against a team he was on, you were going to pay a price. That got him all the way to the hall of fame. In interviews when asked about his hard hitting ways he would answer that on the play you hit them as hard as you could, then after the whistle extend your hand and help them up and maybe a pat on the back. Hard hits weren't mean, or dirty, just the way he thought the game should be played.

Destroydacre, I do agree that a tackler leading the helmet which has been banned should be. However I don't think its that easy to eliminate hits to the head. A number of penalties I have seen for hits to the head have been cases where the player either running or catching the ball has gone low to make the catch or to avoid the tackle. Suddenly a defender who a half second before was aimed a the players mid section is now aimed at his head.

The defenseless receiver penalty basically means that when a receiver jumps up and stretches to make a catch the defender has to watch and wait for them to come down. I say basically because at times that is called, at other times it is not.