New Helmet Rule Makes NFL Almost Unwatchable

[Visionman]

I guess I gotta turn in my man card. I never watched football for the vicious hits.

Big hits are nice, but usually there are several big whiffs as a defender recklessly dives at runners looking for that highlight before it happens

 

[BearDownTexas]

I suppose if they changed the rules without telling him about it.

#thewhininggetsdumberanddumber

Killer hashtag.

 

[Asswipe Johnson]

So earlier this week there was an article about PHI players not having a clue about the new helmet rule. But no big deal, the refs said:
The refs told the players that they watched six games and found only three instances in which the new rule would come into play. Still, there is concern from some players that the policy will both slow the game down and hit them in the pocket.


So tonight 4 of them called. Two, one by each team, complete bullshit. This rule is a knee jerk clusterfuck with games going to be decided by refs that can't agree on the interpretation.

They better fix this fast or fan disinterest will come quickly.

I've got one foot out the door.

I have been a diehard fan since the early eighties. I could probably count on two hands the number of Bears games I have missed since then. When the '84 Cubs broke my heart, the '85 Bears swooped in and locked me down for life. But these last few years have been tough, starting with the Trestman debacle, and stoked by the many rule changes/controversies the league is dealing with lately. Almost unwatchable sums it up nicely. Some of my friends have already bailed, be it the anthem crap ( which I couldn't care less about ) or off the field crap, or the crap product itself being the cause. I doubt I can or will stop watching Bears games, but the fact that I would even consider that was unthinkable just a few years ago...

 

[Toast88]

“Don’t intentionally lead with the crown of the helmet” seems like a pretty straightforward rule to me, although I acknowledge that at game speed, it’s easier said than done.

But the problem isn’t necessarily the rule, but rather the people calling it.

 

[xer0h0ur]

it was insanely inconsistent tonight. it just seems like something the refs can call whenever they want to, which is problematic.

Like holding

You can call holding on nearly any given NFL play except the refs only call it as they see fit and usually only when its egregious.

 

[xer0h0ur]

Maybe every player should have a sensor in their helmet. If the g-forces go beyond a certain level due to a hit, a siren will be activated through the PA system and the offending tackler will be beaten to death.

I laughed way too much at this :lmao:

 

[xer0h0ur]

Oh no. we can't have this! YOU are not running around with your hair on fire screaming: THE LEAGUE IS DEAD!!! THEY KILLED FOOTBALLL!!

You must not be a true fan.

The league noticed that, because of the all the news of CTE and the continued, unabated head shots that were happening, parents were telling their kids to find another sport.

THAT, would really be the death of football....

I'll just go ahead and address the elephant in the room. The day that we run out of broke black people with a chip on their shoulder or the day becoming a rapper or athlete isn't their dream is the day that well dries up. So in other words never.

 

[iueyedoc]

What is really stupid is that a human body is not meant to contort in the way they are suggesting. At the moment of impact when you lower your shoulder your head has to follow to create a linear spinal position. The key is impacting the target with the shoulder as the point of emphasis. What they are suggesting is likely more dangerous than what was practiced just last year. But it sounds good and as if they are concerned so that is all that matters.

This is now correct:

and this is wrong:

There is like 60 yards in penalties here:

 

[xer0h0ur]

That first picture looks like spinal injuries in the making. Not to mention just looks wrong.

 

[Visionman]

So you're saying the phrase, "see what you hit" is physically impossible? Interesting....

 

[bearmuff]

I want to remove the pads, go back to leather helmets to stop bad cuts on top of head. Would stop people from using their pads as weapons.

 

[iueyedoc]

I's funny how they just dismiss Ditka's idea of removing the facemask. Replace the facemask with a hockey type eye shield and I think this problem solves itself.
No one wants to do a post game interview looking like this:

or this:

 

[Tjodalv]

I want to remove the pads, go back to leather helmets to stop bad cuts on top of head. Would stop people from using their pads as weapons.

So, rugby?

 

[Spunky Porkstacker]

Saturdays game vs the broncos, we saw some classic examples of flags being thrown for the new helmet rule. The tackler on Shaheen's injury play was called as was K Fuller on another play. Maybe those were flagged as the rule is worded but are those the kind of plays the owners want to stop? This rule needs some tweaking, and it probably won't happen. Bernstein was blasting it today on his show, said the league rule makers have no intention of changing a thing. The kneeling, which IDGAF about, doesn't effect the play on the field, but implementing this helmet rule will just add to the joy of the already flag happy officiating crews and could really have unintended results for the NFL owners that voted this garbage in.


“The rule is idiotic And should be dismissed immediately,” cornerback Richard Sherman tweeted Sunday.

Minnesota Vikings head coach Mike Zimmer thinks there will be dire consequences to the NFL's new helmet rule.
"It's going to cost some people some jobs," Zimmer said, per Jon Krawczynski of The Athletic. "Playoffs, jobs, the whole bit, I guess."

 

[ruprecht]

It will be a shitshow, period. And it will affect outcomes.

 

[dweebs19]

has this rule been called on an offensive player yet? If anything, on the one that Fuller got called for, it should have been called on the ballcarrier

 

[Tjodalv]

has this rule been called on an offensive player yet? If anything, on the one that Fuller got called for, it should have been called on the ballcarrier

I haven't seen it, and was wondering the same thing. Every time a RB hits a tight hole/pile they always try to get low and their head drops right along with their shoulders.

The real entertaining thing about this is how often it will be called on DBs out in the flat trying to submarine TEs. I mean, if they don't get down to thigh level they're going to get absolutely bulldozed constantly -- and the only way to get that low is to dive head first...

Not real sure how the competition committee always comes up with these rules with seemingly no consideration of the real-world implementation.

 

[xer0h0ur]

I haven't seen it, and was wondering the same thing. Every time a RB hits a tight hole/pile they always try to get low and their head drops right along with their shoulders.

The real entertaining thing about this is how often it will be called on DBs out in the flat trying to submarine TEs. I mean, if they don't get down to thigh level they're going to get absolutely bulldozed constantly -- and the only way to get that low is to dive head first...

Not real sure how the competition committee always comes up with these rules with seemingly no consideration of the real-world implementation.

Who makes up the competition committee? Are they a bunch of old farts that never played or coached football. It would make sense if that is it.

 

[gilder121]

Who makes up the competition committee? Are they a bunch of old farts that never played or coached football. It would make sense if that is it.

The NFL commissioner selects the members of the Competition Committee, which currently consists of two owners, two club presidents, two general managers and two head coaches:

Rich McKay (chairman) – president, Atlanta Falcons
John Mara – owner, New York Giants
Stephen Jones – owner, Dallas Cowboys
Mark Murphy – president, Green Bay Packers
Ozzie Newsome – general manager, Baltimore Ravens
Mike Tomlin – head coach, Pittsburgh Steelers
John Elway – general manager, Denver Broncos
Sean Payton – head coach, New Orleans Saints

 

[Toast88]

I's funny how they just dismiss Ditka's idea of removing the facemask. Replace the facemask with a hockey type eye shield and I think this problem solves itself.
No one wants to do a post game interview looking like this:

or this:

I don't know enough about what studies say on such things, so I'm not necessarily for or against the idea. But such suggestions are a waste of time to even discuss because it will literally never happen. They're not going to get rid of helmets ever. It's just not going to happen.

Might they go to softer helmets, or helmets that aren't literally a big hard shell? Possibly, as technology increases decades down the line.

I could see that in, like, 50 years (if football still exists), the NFL having helmets made up of a material that's hard on the outside, but shifts its form when put under distress. Doesn't necessarily help us today, but kind of interesting.