The new enforcement of the NFL's hit policy seems to have every player up in arms about how it is changing the game, or how they need to retire. I feel that it is not as big as a game changer as it appears to be in the media and throughout NFL locker rooms.
For starters, this rule has been in place for some time now. It's not like the NFL is changing the rulebook with regards to hits on players. This is simply a way for the NFL to ensure it will not be held liable the day that somebody dies from a vicious hit on the field.
With recent incidents such as Rutgers' player Eric LeGrand being paralyzed from the neck down due to a helmet-to-helmet hit and James Harrison's rampage against Cleveland, the NFL had to do something to cover its legal tracks.
You can look at it like this: baseball denied any knowledge of steroids in the sport, and now we have players in front of Congress testifying whether or not they were juicing back in the '90s the way everyone knew they were. In the event that a player dies on the field, the NFL can say, We made those hits illegal a long time ago. We have been enforcing and condemning that style of play for years
even if it turns right around and sells pictures of Harrison's brutal hit on Mohamed Massaquoi or a DVD titled Moment of Impact.
And as far as the players go, specifically James Harrison, stop whining. James Harrison threatened retirement, and while no one in their right mind actually believed him, it still made headlines on SportsCenter every single day. Harrison never would walk away from millions of dollars just because he can't take a cheap shot on a defenseless wide receiver crossing the field. It was insanity that this claim actually was taken seriously by the media.
The players need to just play. The fines will work themselves out, and I firmly believe they won't be enforced nearly as strictly as everyone believes, nor will it change the nature of the game built around crushing hits or concussions. 4
Opinion
Andrew Cluxton
