Helmet Hits Warrant Fines, Suspensions
by phelpsboltusa on Nov 6, 2010 6:17 PM CDT
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PrintLet’s stop the whining and crying about how the National Football League is being to comforting of injured players, and too strict on head hunters. Yes, this goes out to Troy Polamalu, James Harrison and countless others.
Dirty players should get smacked with heavy fines. PERIOD. No further discussion needed. A helmet hit is not needed to perform the abilities as a defender. Every player, in the NFL especially, should know how to hit the correct way (with their shoulder pads).
Its not impossible to see when a player is aiming to "down" a guy by using their helmet as a weapon. The NFL is not targeting players simply due to their popularity. Defenders are being punished the same, whether a rookie or a veteran.
Most flak from the side of defenders has been from the Steelers.
Pittsburgh Steelers linebacker James Harrison has been the most vocal about the new "strict" rules. Harrison even contemplated retirement. Give us a break Mr. Harrison. Most fans in the league don’t like you or your tendencies. Not every fan is one of your fans or that of the Pittsburgh Steelers.
Retire and rid every the NFL of your mouth.
This year, NFL viewers have seen talented players floored by irreprehensible, skull-crushing helmet hits. The Philadelphia Eagles are thanking the heavens for having Jeremy Maclin, after losing DeSean Jackson to a hit by Atlanta Falcons cornerback Dunta Robinson. Jackson says the hit he sustained "felt like a car accident."
The Baltimore Ravens star tight end Todd Heap was lucky to continue playing a week after New England Patriots safety Brandon Meriweather blasted him. And Cleveland Browns second-year wide receiver Mohamed Massaquoi was one of James Harrison’s biggest victims.
The injuries sustained in each case stemmed from the dirty play of "tough" defenders.
Head Hunting does not make you tough. Some of the best defensive players in National Football League history did not make names for themselves as unsportsmanlike head hunters. Legends like Reggie White, Lester Hayes, Paul Krause, Rod Woodson, Deion Sanders, Jack Tatum, Derrick Thomas, Lawrence Taylor, Steve Atwater, and many other current and future Hall of Famers.
Receivers are defenseless to the mack truck they are hit with. The excruciatingly painful, bell-rocking hits many times come out of nowhere. A player cannot protect their head from these shots, and it is not their responsibility to do so. This is why the NFL has taken the appropriate action to lower the amount of injuries sustained by unnecessary hits.
Injuries happen all the time in the National Football League, but the injuries should not be added to by the unethical play of some.
Careers can be ended on any given play, and everybody should take this fact seriously. Fans do not enjoy the sight of a player limping , dazed and confused off the field; or even worse being carted off the field on a stretcher.
Fines for helmet hits are not near enough to put a dent in a player’s wallet. Thousands of dollars have very little impact on a player pulling in millions.
Receivers like DeSean Jackson and Todd Heap are lifelines for their franchise and the loss of them hurts their respective team tremendously. But the star status of the injured player is not the most important thing to look at.
Players are people. Each athlete is a human being who deserves respect and fair play. Nothing warrants the blatant outlandish play highlighted by helmet-to-helmet hits. These victims are fathers, husbands, brothers; they are living, breathing creations.
Defenders need to check themselves before walking on to the field. Play the right way, or don’t play at all.
Unlike the injured players, the dirty players will not be missed.
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Personally
I’m tired of discussing this topic. The rule is set in place, and as long as the NFL sees “violations” it’s not gonna change anything. Fines will be handed out every week.
As a former NFL Player
My uncle said he understands why they do this.
Its to protect the teams investment. ie keep realing in money
"Its like a bear, if you run it'll chase you. But if you stand still, it'll still chase you" ice0ne
True
But it is nice to get the opinions of other fans. And yes, fines will be levied each and every week for all the rule breaking players
by phelpsboltusa on Nov 8, 2010 8:05 AM CST up reply actions
Is that a complement or sarcasm?
Honestly I ask due to the criticism recieved thus far on my articles. If it is a complement, I thank you.
by phelpsboltusa on Nov 8, 2010 8:06 AM CST up reply actions
wait
Harrison needs to cut the crap? how bout YOU gimme a break. if this were about player safety, something would have been done years ago. make no mistake, this is all about the benjamins. big hits to the head are nothing new. the NFL covered up a hit that lead to the death of a player (I forget whether it was either Mel Blount or Jack Tatum), one of the most famous hits of all time is the Chuck Bednarik hit that nearly broke the poor guy in half. on top of that, the NFL has put out segments like Jacked Up and Moment of Impact and profited off this stuff. stop being so naive, Goodell may want to protect the players, but he also wants to make lots and lots of money.
offer an alternative; go for the legs? then watch career ending knee injuries skyrocket. if you’ve ever played football, you would know that it’s almost impossible to move your head in a fraction of a second to avoid going helmet to helmet when a receiver inevitably lowers their head at the moment of impact. sometimes you get lucky, most of the time you’re going to end up banging heads. when you lower your shoulder, your head lowers with it, that’s just the facts. I’ve played and still play football today. in fact, I just finished the last game of our season. my ACL was shredded on a play where, guess what? the other guy was going low and got my knee. get real.
make a “real form tackle”? there’s a reason you never see players doing that, it’s because the amount of time you have to set up to form tackle is about half a second. give me a human being that can break down, put their head to the correct side, wrap up, and drive their legs in enough time to stop a full speed runningback. now, divide that time in half when you get to the NFL, and you have literally no chance. suppose the back makes a cut? fat chance.
I’m not saying that I enjoy seeing players severely hurt, it’s the worst to see a guy go down hard. however, I am saying that we need to stop penalizing hits like that. sometimes it’s just unavoidable, so we should probably just stop being pricks about it. Harrison’s a dirty player, but so was Rodney Harrison, so were tons of other great players. In fact, if you’re a Titans fan (which I assume you are considering that you’re writing on this site) then you’ll know that Cortland Finnegan, a fan favorite, was voted the dirtiest player in the NFL. I know that I would sure as hell miss him if he were to retire today. these players aren’t “victims” as you claim them to be, they know the risks when they throw on those pads, it’s their job. if they were all in favor of something like this, they probably would’ve complained long ago and actually supported this crap that’s just come up.
since when is Todd Heap a lifeline to his team?
this isn’t anything personal, I just feel like I need to go off on something like this and how stupid it really is.
Straight cash homey
Pro Football South
"smoke weed, eat yogurt"
to clarify
it wasn’t Blount or Tatum that died, it was the dude they lit up
Straight cash homey
Pro Football South
"smoke weed, eat yogurt"
by danielreese05 on Nov 6, 2010 11:51 PM CDT up reply actions
finally
I happen to like James Harrison a lot for standing up to the NFL.good for him for injecting some sense into the matter.
Straight cash homey
Pro Football South
"smoke weed, eat yogurt"
by danielreese05 on Nov 6, 2010 11:53 PM CDT up reply actions
i dont know why its so hard for football players to understand that there is contact
without launching yourself head first, or targetting a guys head. i dont care if its for money or safety, its for the good of the game and players. EVERY hit harrison makes he launches himself head first at a guy and uses his helmet as a weapon. learn to hit with your shoulder, or gtfo of professional football
because generally when you lower your shoulder, your head goes with it
why are we just noticing something like this if it’s for the good of the game? if they weren’t gonna jump on it when it became a problem, there’s no reason to get anal about it now. flagrant, intentional spearing should be penalized, but the stuff that Harrison does shouldn’t be. Cribbs lead with his head on that play too, the other guys whose name no one can spell lead with his head too. who’s to blame in something like this?
Straight cash homey
Pro Football South
"smoke weed, eat yogurt"
by danielreese05 on Nov 7, 2010 2:20 PM CST up reply actions
whos to blame?
the defender that throws his head into another player. and if you lead with your shoulder you come in at another angle. look at any other contact sport, or look at any clean hit. theres no reason to launch your head at a guy. its dangerous for the hitter, the recipient, and isnt in line with the spirit of the game. football is meant to be players hitting players, not using rock hard weapons.
there certainly is hypocricy involved with when, how, and why the NFL is doing this. but quite frankly its to the benefit of the game and the players regardless. they should also look at re-engineering the helmets. as thats probably one of the biggest causes of injury.
its not that players cant get their head up in time is the issue
but like you say, leading with the helmet. when i played football, i was never taught to tackle with my helmet down. it was always keep the helmet and facemask up for safeties sake. tackling with the head down hurts the defensive player as much as it can hurt the guy getting smashed.
true, it may be possible to lift the head up in a split sec to avoid the helmet-to-helmet hit. but, as pros, these guys shouldnt have their head down to tackle to begin with.
True statement
A player should never have had his head down like that to begin with.
by phelpsboltusa on Nov 8, 2010 8:16 AM CST up reply actions
Awesome post!!
Even Steve Young said it on ESPN. It is not impossible to play with the new rules…Just find a different way to hit. Love the enthusiam at the end.
by phelpsboltusa on Nov 8, 2010 8:14 AM CST up reply actions
this is what my uncle said, its really about the money
Teams want to protect their investment in young players
"Its like a bear, if you run it'll chase you. But if you stand still, it'll still chase you" ice0ne
Such heart showed in your post! WOW!!
The issue involved here has little to do with simply collecting money, considering the fines levied are miniscule in relation to player salary.
And by the way, Heap (when healthy) is a large contributing factor to the success of the Ravens.
by phelpsboltusa on Nov 8, 2010 8:11 AM CST up reply actions
look
all I’m saying is that prior to the tinderbox of death that was week 6, no one gave helmet shots a second thought. now we know that they’re actually worse than AIDS and will kill you.
boom, welcome to two-hand touch nerfball.
Straight cash homey
Pro Football South
"smoke weed, eat yogurt"
by danielreese05 on Nov 8, 2010 9:19 AM CST up reply actions
Actually a lot of people gave them a second thought
And I would not expect a reaction like this from someone who actually played, man.
You haven’t been coached to “tackle” like James Harrison does, have you? I know I wasn’t. Harrison is just a roided out lazy no talent low life. That crap is not football.
Official MCM Hater!
"Straight Cash Homey!"
My uncle Played as a DE in the NFL
and he said that it is good about what they are doin now, these concussions are nothing to be upset about when someone is fined.
This is protecting someone’s life.
The players sacrifice their body, for our entertainment.
even the smallest injurys hurt, like turf toe and broken fingernails.
My uncle played 7 years in the NFL and has told me about everything he had to go through, from his rookie year, to his injuries.
and the H-t-H hits are no joke
"Its like a bear, if you run it'll chase you. But if you stand still, it'll still chase you" ice0ne
Ken Johnson
he played late 70’s- mid 80’s, woulda played more but missed his plane to seattle
"Its like a bear, if you run it'll chase you. But if you stand still, it'll still chase you" ice0ne
I can't say I was taught
totally the opposite. in fact, I try to avoid stuff like that when I play, but the thing I’ve come to realize is that H-t-H just sometimes happens. not out of spite or maliciousness, but just because you’re flying around at a million miles an hour and you both happen to make a very slight change in the angle of your helmet, then boom.
also, it was totally glorified! you remember Jacked Up right? that was all about huge, dangerous hits and how “awesome” they were.
I know Harrison’s not a great example, that’s for sure, but I feel like he’s taken an unnecessary amount of flak for this and that Goodell has made him his scapegoat. that being said, he does fit the description that you put out there. he’s kind of an ass, but even a broken clock is right twice a day and the way he said that there’s a difference between hurting and injuring someone really stuck with me.
Straight cash homey
Pro Football South
"smoke weed, eat yogurt"
by danielreese05 on Nov 8, 2010 4:14 PM CST up reply actions
now on the hit that just occured in teh colts game
i didnt have a problem with that hit. you have to call a penalty because it was head to head, but it wasnt intentional. he tried to hit him with his shouldenr, but their heads met. he didnt launch himself at him head first. theres a huge difference.
that's not even what happened
the dude tackled collie, shoulder to shoulder, and the impact from the hit pushed collie into #42 behind, who was not even making a hit, and collie’s helmet hit his. Complete and total accident. Yes it sucks that Collie got hurt, but there was absolutely no penalty.
its a penalty when you hit a players head
unintentional or not. i have no idea what the ‘defenceless receiver’ thing was about, that was dumb. however you cant hit a head, thats a penalty by any definition in the rule book. if your stick gets caught between another players legs in hockey, thats a tripping penalty, regardless of the context. its the same thing here. often that will result in unfair penalization like on that hit, but its still a penalty. it was a clean, accidental hit though and i dont think he should be fined or suspended
then the penalty should be on collie
because it was his head that hit the guy that wasn’t hitting him
now that hit just now by collins is exactly what they want to get rid of
completely unecessary. its like guys have zero respect for the other guy. thats dirty, and should result in the first suspension under the new guidelines. led with the helmet, to the helmet, of a defencless receiver, and it was completely independent of making a play.
thanks for copying my profile pic phelps
I’m an early bird and a night owl. So I’m wise and I have worms.
BOOM! You've been pharmacisted!
Right because its totally the same.
Seriously. R U kidding me. Looks nothing alike. But thanks for playing.
by phelpsboltusa on Nov 8, 2010 10:14 PM CST up reply actions
what are we playing?
so your saying a flaming thumbtack does not look like a flaming thumbtack?
I’m an early bird and a night owl. So I’m wise and I have worms.
BOOM! You've been pharmacisted!
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