NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell Warns Clubs About Illegal Hits

by Josh Kirkendall on Oct 21, 2010 10:51 AM EDT

PHILADELPHIA - OCTOBER 17: DeSean Jackson #10 of the Philadelphia Eagles is laid out by Dunta Robinson #23 of the Atlanta Falcons during their game at Lincoln Financial Field on October 17 2010 in Philadelphia Pennsylvania. Both players were injured on the play and had to be helped off the field. (Photo by Al Bello/Getty Images)

The NFL's biggest haymaker in the news this week is the increased discipline for helmet-to-helmet hits with the league suggesting that certain flagrant hits could lead to suspensions. Last week the league fined Brandon Meriweather, James Harrison and Dunta Robinson for a combined total of $175,000 in fines for helmet-to-helmet collisions (which includes the neck and not just the helmet) in their continuing effort to protect players by addressing massive hits in fear of losing players to nasty injuries, specifically head trauma.

The hilarious part in all of this is James Harrison, who claimed that the league is changing and therefore he's considering retirement. Head coach Mike Tomlin excused the attention-grabbing martyr from practice on Wednesday to think it over. My response to Harrison? You need the NFL, the NFL doesn't need you. One Steelers fan in conflicted while another, in a round about way, blames the players that were hit for not getting up saying "Harrison's problems began when the two players in question, Josh Cribbs and then Mohamed Massaquoi, failed to get up after the play."

Much like the conflicted Steelers fan, I can't point in one direction to say that is my view. On one hand, the hit from Robinson, by most experts and players, was deemed as a legal hit. That's goddamn football, son. Yet, Robinson was fined, drawing reaction at the new ceiling of consequence the NFL will hand out for a legal hit. On the other hand, because of that hit, Robinson and DeSean Jackson suffered concussions and are both likely out this week. As powerful as the collision was, it's actually fortunate that both players weren't severely hurt more. Protecting players from avoidable injuries by threatening massive fines and suspensions is a proactive step to at least hope that concussions, and serious head trauma, can be hopefully reduced.

Last year, Carson Palmer participated in a (sort of) roundtable with Peter King hosting other quarterbacks in Ben Roethlisberger, Matt Ryan, Tony Romo and Aaron Rodgers. At the time Palmer caused many people to take pause when he said, "The truth of the matter is ... somebody is going to die here in the NFL. It's going to happen.'' No one else at the roundtable disputed him.

“Guys are getting so big, so fast, so explosive,” Palmer said. “The game’s so violent. Now that they’re cutting out the wedge deal on kickoff returns, those guys [are] coming free, and at some point somebody is going to die in football. And I hope it’s not anyone at this table, and I hope it doesn’t happen, obviously. Everyone talks about the good old days, when guys were tough and quarterbacks got crushed all the time, but back in the day, there weren't defensive ends that were like Mario Williams; 6-7, 300 pounds, 10 percent body fat, running a 4.7 40.

On Wednesday, Palmer was asked about the NFL's proactive measure to increase consequences for helmet-to-helmet hits:

“Obviously they’re (the NFL) trying to put a stop to it. The best way to do that is to be harsh early, and they’re obviously being harsh with two $50,000 fines and a $75,000 fine. So they’re trying to take care of the problem early and kind of set a precedent for the rest of the season and seasons in the future.”

NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell sent a message to head coaches, who in turn were instructed to provide a video a message to their players. Goodell's message is as follows:

One of our highest priorities is player safety. We all know that football is a tough game that includes hard contact. But that carries with it an obligation to do all that we can to protect all players from unnecessary injury caused by dangerous techniques from those who play outside the rules.

The video shown today shows what kind of hits are against the rules, but also makes clear that you can play a hard, physical game within the rules.

Violations of the playing rules that unreasonably put the safety of another player in jeopardy have no place in the game, and that is especially true in the case of hits to the head and neck. Accordingly, from this point forward, you should be clear on the following points:

Players are expected to play within the rules. Those who do not will face increased discipline,including suspensions, starting with the first offense.

Coaches are expected to teach playing within the rules. Failure to do so will subject both the coach and the employing club to discipline.

Game officials have been directed to emphasize protecting players from illegal and dangerous hits, and particularly from hits to the head and neck. In appropriate cases, they have the authority to eject players from a game.

ROGER GOODELL
Commissioner

Whether or not players agree with this, the point is that the players really don't have a choice. As we said before, players need the NFL. Not the other way around.

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Comments

carson ...well said!

and kudos to goodell for taking action in advance of the tragedy. how uncorporate of him. bud selig and steroids. bp and deep horizon. toyota and accelerators. etc… what a rarity. a ceo who has integrity and foresight.
      the daryl stingley story disturbed me as a kid. i can’t watch the replays of any of these recent hits. it is a total downer watching some guy lie prone on the field. who likes this stuff? mike vick is a criminal for torturing dogs but sadistic football fans are addicted to punishing hits. as they gobble dpwn a bacon cheeseburger of tortured cow and pig.
      my favorite plays of the season. carsons tds to to. my fave play of all time, collinsworth catching a kenny anderson pass in the superbowl over the top of his head. or isaac curtis catching a kenny anderson bomb against the jets in 1976 at she stadium. most amazing plays this year. randy moss and garcon one handing catches.
      my least favorite play… two redskins crushing mike vick’s ribcage at the end of a brilliant run that would be called back for holding.
       least favorite players. ray lewis and heinz ward.

by andyfrombrooklyn on Oct 21, 2010 11:44 AM EDT reply actions

I can understand one person being conflicted over the entire hypocrisy of the situation

(Selling photos of the hits as well as videos highlighting the hits while trying to punish for them is essentially contradiction).

I can’t understand blaming the Browns players for their reactions. If Cribbs and Massoquoi don’t play this week because they had concussions, you should feel bad for being the team that did that to them. You should feel bad for being the team that affected a player’s health in such a way that it prevented them from playing. You should not blame them for your player’s actions. That’s like blaming the kid you just sucker punched for your punishment.

I mean, I agree with the conflicted fan. I’m conflicted too. On the one hand, I don’t want to see my guys getting hit like this frequently. I don’t want to watch my players get taken out of games because someone trucked them too hard and gave them a concussion. But simultaneously, the NFL set this up. They made this a pass-first league and so defenses and defenders gear more towards the pass—including the violent hits that need to be strong enough to cause the receiver to lose his grip on the ball to prevent a catch. And I really don’t want to see Maualuga ever get hit with a fine this large for simply trying to defend the pass. It’s essentially a catch-22 here that the NFL has set up and I really dislike it.

So who knows. I mean, while I don’t want to see my guys taking out other guys ever, I have to admit I’d love the intensity of it, that’s something this defense has lacked over its start and it really needs that fire back.

by Doc Scratch on Oct 21, 2010 11:47 AM EDT reply actions

Well the NFL didn’t actually sell those photos. An independent company which paid for the license to distribute those photos did, and nobody at the NFL offices thought to tell them not to sell those photos before they got out. Fortunately, that situation will not reoccur. Or at least so they claim. I guess we’ll see.

As for the players, I’m all for hard hits that are legal. But when the blow is to the head in any fashion whatsoever, it’s either not legal or shouldn’t be legal. And if it happens, even completely by accident, then tough luck, it still should be punished enough until it goes away. I don’t like Randal Gay, for example, because I think he’s a terrible cornerback. But I didn’t want to see him get hurt, and he’s now on IR with lingering concussion symptoms from a hard hit to his head back in week 2. I don’t like Dunta Robinson either, but I’d prefer he wasn’t hurt. And if he’d hit DJax legally, he wouldn’t be, and neither would DJax. The dirty (in the sense of illegal, not necessarily intent) hits need to go, by any means necessary.

by FriarBob on Oct 21, 2010 1:01 PM EDT up reply actions

goodel is leading. he is taking action on a dangerous situation.

one critique would be i would fine the coach not the player. suspend the player and fine the coach.

by andyfrombrooklyn on Oct 21, 2010 11:51 AM EDT reply actions

yeah i like the passing game. throwing and catching. not so into the hitting.

by andyfrombrooklyn on Oct 21, 2010 11:53 AM EDT reply actions

the concussed eagle was having a monster season

he was an up and coming star. now he is damaged. how about shipley? a real bright spot for the bengals. taken out on a ball that had passed over him. bummer plays. just bummers. that is it period.

by andyfrombrooklyn on Oct 21, 2010 11:57 AM EDT reply actions

jack tatum/daryl stingley 1976. all time bummer play.

by andyfrombrooklyn on Oct 21, 2010 12:01 PM EDT reply actions

Dunta's hit was NOT legal

I’m so sick of listening to media morons who can’t even read a rulebook trying to pretend his hit was legal. Dunta’s hit was not legal. I understand why Falcons morons want to pretend it was. He’s their guy, they want to excuse him and pretend he’s the martyr. Perfectly understandable. But still completely wrong.

“But he led with the shoulder, the head was purely accidental!” they say. “That’s legal!”. And they are correct. Yet still wrong. Why? Because DJax was a defenseless receiver. Go back and watch the replays of the event. The ball arrives and DJax is still considered defenseless because his second foot has not come down. His first foot comes down essentially as the ball arrives, so it’s debatable whether that even counts anyway, but if it does, the second foot touches basically as the blow occurs. That’s not legal. The rules require that the defenseless receiver must not be hit in even the NECK AREA, which can include just being CLOSE to the neck (which the top of the chest is, and that’s where he was initially hit). And the initial contact may not be with the helmet, forearm or even shoulder. So even IF Dunta’s helmet had never hit DJax’s helmet at all, it still would not have been a legal hit.

If you want to light up a player when they are trying to catch a pass, you need to hit them ONLY in the mid-to-low chest or in the stomach. The neck and head are simply not allowed. And Dunta didn’t follow those rules, the opinions of a million morons with media credentials notwithstanding.

by FriarBob on Oct 21, 2010 12:32 PM EDT reply actions

Not conflicted at all

How many people are bothering to separate the issues of blows to the head and “devastating hits?”

The league didn’t say “devastating hits to the head.” It mentioned blows to the head AND “devastating hits.” “Devastating” is a vague word of opinion. To go after players’ paychecks based on language like this smacks of dishonesty and manipulation. To juxtapose this vaguely worded concept with a specific, highly publicized issue on which there is increasingly general agreement further seems surreptitious and underhanded.

Is this in part another ploy to increase offensive output or a simple liability dodge? The owners just now figured out that football is a violent, dangerous game? Like Terrell Owens said, it’s contradictory for the league to promote itself before and during the season with images of violence and then in the middle of the season threaten the players for living up to that image to enthusiastically. I watched “Inside the NFL” last night and between Chris Collinsworth and Phil Simms maundering on piously about this, the promos for the show featured vivid close-up shots of guys not only getting smacked in the head but drilled in the face through the face-mask. Owens said used the term “contradict;” I say that it’s hypocritical, cowardly and maliciously illogical.

The owners couldn’t even bother themselves to develop a specific policy. They could have spelled out times, places and methods for approaching collisions, and taken a hard look at the rules to ensure reasonable competitive ballance. They could have had the guts to risk the bottom line by putting flags in the players pockets, changing the game to two-hand touch, or switching to a badminton league if they’d lost the stomach for the historically brutal game of football. They could have done anything above-board, specific and comprehensive.

Instead, they threw out deliberately vague, opinionated and compound policy throwing all the burden on the players by sheer caprice. It’s bullshit. Watching the NFL is a superfluous dalliance for me. I don’t expect to continue in it if they’re going to neuter the defenses – and dishonestly at that.

by fletchersmith on Oct 21, 2010 3:12 PM EDT reply actions