Sports on Draft

The NFL already has a huge issue with their definition of a catch, and now after the new targeting rule, no one will know what a tackle is either.

A couple years ago, Dez Bryant caught a key touchdown against the Green Bay Packers late in a playoff game, only to be overturned for ‘going to the ground’. Green Bay challenged the call and the rest is history, the refs basically stole my Cowboys a trip to the Super Bowl that year (2015).

According to the new rule change, “the league will penalize contact initiated with a lowered helmet and players will be ejected if the foul is a drastic measure.”

I can’t emphasize enough how detrimental this rule is for the defense, and for the game in general, for many reasons. When making a tackle, you HAVE to be lower than the opposing player.

Basically who ever gets lower, when making a tackle, always wins. If you’re a defender, you will at some point lower your head when making a play – it is simply apart of tackling.

Playing high school football, my coach always told me to go completely 100 percent whether it’s a game, or just practice. I thought this was just your typical “bust your ass” speech by the coaching staff, but learned it stood more for player safety.

High school football is a real ice-breaker for learning the game of football and philosophy of tackling, especially for those who have never played.

I remember doing tackle drills, and if you didn’t get up to the line quick enough, you would get rocked by your opposing teammate. A simple but sensible philosophy — who ever goes harder, whether it’s the player on offense or defense, they will be the punisher.

It’s ironic that now the NFL has released the targeting rule in emphasis for player safety, when really it could be the detriment to their safety.

When we thought it was bad enough that the league doesn’t know what a catch is, now no one will know what a damn tackle will be, including players. Thinking more and more, trying to avoid all the penalties when trying to make a simple play, will slow the player down.

Slowing the player down could actually make them more susceptible to getting hurt, this makes it almost completely unfair for the defense. The league already makes the game tailored for offensive players with the other rules in place.

This will definitely change the game of football, but will be a good change?

I think that with all of these rule changes, complicating the game, could ruin the NFL. The last thing NFL fans want to see is another another hour spent watching the refs in the replay booth, or having them define key moments in the game.

I might end up sticking with college football, or maybe even watching the XFL in future years, if more rules keep coming into play. We just want to watch the simple, physical game that we all know and love.

Photo By Keith Allison from Hanover, MD, USA (Dak Prescott) [CC BY-SA 2.0], via Wikimedia Commons