Rule Changes (Tuck Rule gone. RBs can't use crown of helmet)

[Khatmandude]

Pittsburgh opposed the tuck rule:

http://msn.foxsports.com/nfl/story/tuck-rule-eliminated-initial-helmet-contact-now-illegal-032013

 

Think of how many times Ben pump fakes, it's smart of them to.  Dalton will be effected by this rule as I recall he loses the ball on the forward motion a fair bit when he's forced to hold back on a throw.  Or that could be my anti Dalton bias remembering things that haven't happened. 

 

Hell no; this will be another selectively-enforced personal foul just like "defenseless receivers". Player safety is great but vague rules suck. What's really bothersome is that they don't really give a shit about reducing injuries. What they're trying to reduce is their own liability.

 

The problem with these sorts of rules where you leave interpretation to the official is that outcome of games can be changed.  The margin is so small in the NFL that a defenseless receiver 15 yd penalty on 3rd and 11 in a close game could effectively determine the outcome or have a huge role in the outcome; at the least, of the game. 

[Bleeds Orange]

2. Fields must be maintained up to NFL standards, and the league can require clubs to maintain their fields up to the league’s high standards, at the club’s expense.

 

Will the Stealers still play at Heinz Field?

[sparky151]

If they can keep a decent grass field in Green Bay, they can do it anywhere else. I think the problem in Pittsburgh is overuse by highschools, colleges, and the NFL.

[|OneHeartBeat|]

I continue to think the RB rule is overblown.  They aren't going to flag guys every time they dip their head, they're just trying to get spearing by RB's out of the game and blantant uses of the helmet.  

 

 

Emmitt Smith, one of my all time favorites, was on the DP show yesterday talking about how they're taught from Pop Warner not to lead with their helmet, and then in another vein is complaining about the rule.  If they're not taught to lead with their helmet, then it shouldn't be an issue.

You may be correct, but the refs will find ways to fuck it up and it will cost teams games. I can see a RB breaking a long run and has one man to beat to get in the endzone. He lowers his head to plow through the defender for the TD. Flag thrown, no TD, game over. Sounds like something that would happen to us against a big market team.

[Bengals1181]

You may be correct, but the refs will find ways to fuck it up and it will cost teams games. I can see a RB breaking a long run and has one man to beat to get in the endzone. He lowers his head to plow through the defender for the TD. Flag thrown, no TD, game over. Sounds like something that would happen to us against a big market team.

 

 

if a RB busts a long one and has to spear a guy off to his side, he doesn't deserve to score.  

 

 

The rule is merely to prevent RB's from using their helmet as a weapon.  A very sensible rule.

[Oldcat]

You may be correct, but the refs will find ways to fuck it up and it will cost teams games. I can see a RB breaking a long run and has one man to beat to get in the endzone. He lowers his head to plow through the defender for the TD. Flag thrown, no TD, game over. Sounds like something that would happen to us against a big market team.

 

Even in that case it would be first down on the 15 yard line, not a total play nullification.

[|Bunghole|]

I was just sitting around thinking what the league needed was more hard to determine rules and if they get it wrong we can sit around for 10 minutes while they watch on video.

How is it hard to determine? It only affects ballcarriers outside the tackle box, so inside runs, like most goal line plays for instance, will remain unaffected.

[|Bunghole|]

I think the only issue with this new RB rule is that it isn't reviewable. There really needs to be a provision for overturning a bad call if, for instance, it can be shown that the runner used his shoulder pad instead of his helmet and the ref tossed the flag because he had a bad angle and didn't clearly see what happened.

[Oldcat]

I think the only issue with this new RB rule is that it isn't reviewable. There really needs to be a provision for overturning a bad call if, for instance, it can be shown that the runner used his shoulder pad instead of his helmet and the ref tossed the flag because he had a bad angle and didn't clearly see what happened.

 

That's probably next year's change.  They are trying to say that it would not slow down the game by having lots of reviews of it.  If there are too many errors, look to it becoming reviewable.

[Bengals1181]

I think the only issue with this new RB rule is that it isn't reviewable. There really needs to be a provision for overturning a bad call if, for instance, it can be shown that the runner used his shoulder pad instead of his helmet and the ref tossed the flag because he had a bad angle and didn't clearly see what happened.

 

 

I think it helps that the league is emphasizing that the officials get together and confer on the call though.

[|Bunghole|]

That's probably next year's change.  They are trying to say that it would not slow down the game by having lots of reviews of it.  If there are too many errors, look to it becoming reviewable.

The thing to me is that the "it slows the game down!" argument is kinda bullshit. Don't make it a booth review, make it a challengeable call. Coaches only get two of those a game and won't burn one carelessly unless its pretty clear the ref fucked up (unless your name is Marvin Lewis, of course).

[|Bunghole|]

I think it helps that the league is emphasizing that the officials get together and confer on the call though.

Well that's good at least. Perhaps instead of circling the wagons refs will be like "hey man, we all saw one thing and you saw another and tossed the flag...pick it up"

[oldschooler]

NFL Network‏@nflnetwork19m
VIDEO: @Andrea_Kremer is joined by @Bengals HC Marvin Lewis and other NFL personnel to discuss "crown of head" rule http://on.nfl.com/Y0oA4b
 

[T-Dub]

 
Think of how many times Ben pump fakes

Those aren't really pump-fakes, y'know. He's trying to throw the ball but sometimes it takes him a couple of tries before he remembers to let go.

He's an inspiration, truly.

[scharm]

How is it hard to determine? It only affects ballcarriers outside the tackle box, so inside runs, like most goal line plays for instance, will remain unaffected.

Ref has to judge intent

[oldschooler]

Mike Brown voted against helmet rule because it’s hard to officiate

Posted by Michael David Smith on March 20, 2013, 5:22 PM EDT

Bengals owner Mike Brown, the only one of the league’s 32 owners to vote against the new rule against initiating contact with the top of the helmet, says he did so because he believes the rule will be too tough for the officials to enforce properly on collisions that happen in the blink of an eye.

 

“It’s a very controversial change,” Brown told reporters on Tuesday, via the Cincinnati Enquirer. “I view it as difficult if not impossible play to call. We had a lot of this with the secondary plays last year. I didn’t think those calls were always right. These plays happen in a flash. They’re just a reaction to people: Did he hit him with his shoulder pad? Did he hit him with his helmet?

 

Was it intended? That’s difficult to sort out. I’m not confident we should add another discretionary call. We’re asking an awful lot of our referees to make those kind of calls.”

 

Brown said he understands the intent behind the rules change, but he would like to see some solid evidence that the new rule will prevent injuries before he’s on board with it.

 

“We’re all for safety and make it as safe as we can devise,” Brown said. “The issue on this one is hard to measure. Just how much of an impact does it have on safety? There are no statistics in front of us as far as injuries. It makes me wonder if we have properly quantified it to make a decision on it now. In the past we have actions that have crept into the game that have been taken out. In the old days we had the clothesline and then the head slap. They crept into the game and then they were removed and it was good. In this case I don’t know if we are talking about anything that has crept into the game at all. It is something football has had as long as I remember.”

 

But it’s something football won’t have anymore.

 

 

 

 

http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2013/03/20/mike-brown-voted-against-helmet-rule-because-its-hard-to-officiate/

[|OneHeartBeat|]

I agree with MB.  It seems like it's not going to be long before there's no kickoffs or punts, and two hand tap for QB's, RB's and WR's. There has to be better technology that can make these helmets more resistant to concussion type injuries.

[Oldcat]

I agree with MB.  It seems like it's not going to be long before there's no kickoffs or punts, and two hand tap for QB's, RB's and WR's. There has to be better technology that can make these helmets more resistant to concussion type injuries.

 

Airbags that go off when a collision happens...

[|SF2|]

The tuck rule was garbage to begin with.

RB helmet rule is stupid. How many players did RBs hurt doing that last year?

The low block rule is a significant rule change. Guess we are going to need a fullback for passing downs now.

[|SF2|]

 
Airbags that go off when a collision happens...

Rey will need to strap one on his ass since it collides with the ground so much.

[|Lucid|]

I don't have a problem with the crown rule depending on implementation.  In general I support the rules trying to eliminate the helmet as a weapon, and not in favor of ambiguous "defensless player" rules.  I think if striking with the helmet draws a flag for a defender it should do the same when an offensive player does it.

[JC]

I feel like I've seen so many blundered judgement calls by referees to want to see any more judgement calls implemented into the game..

[scharm]

The NFL rule book is all judgement.     There are so many rules that have qualifications it is ridiculous.   

 

You can go on and on about each and every rule.   Catches aren't catches unless they make football move.  Fumbles?  If you can fit a fly's ass between a knee and the ground and the ball look like it moved it's a fumble.   But God damn if that blade of turf is touching the dangling thread of the uniform he's down. 

 

You can chuck a WR up to 5 yards, then at some point it goes to holding then to PI.   If you grab a facemask it can be 5 yards but if you really grab it is 15 yards.   There is running into the kicker and roughing the kicker.

 

Intention grounding isn't intention grounding if the QB is outside the tackle box. 

 

 

I would rather have a simple rule book and live with the imperfections vs. trying to create rules that have to get the outcome of each play perfect. 

 

 

Hopefully somebody soon wakes up at the NFL office and realizes what a red tape mess they've created. 

[The PatternMaster]

I agree with MB.  It seems like it's not going to be long before there's no kickoffs or punts, and two hand tap for QB's, RB's and WR's. There has to be better technology that can make these helmets more resistant to concussion type injuries.

 

The technology exist and NFL is aware of it but they are in bed with Riddell, who is a co-defendent in the class action lawsuit from former players, and Riddell doesn't make these helmets so they change the rules of the game instead adapting better technology that would actually fix the problem and keep the quality of the game at a standard that most fans love and expect from the NFL.

 

Here is a good read on the reason why the new helmets aren't used in the NFL..http://www.popsci.com/science/article/2012-12/helmet-wars-and-new-helmet-could-protect-us-all

Athletes in the U.S. suffer 3.8 million sports-related concussions each year. While helmet makers dither with small improvements, Swedish scientists have built something that could protect us all.

 

On August 19, 2012, in week two of the NFL preseason, Indianapolis Colts wide receiver Austin Collie ran 17 yards out from the line of scrimmage, cut right toward the center of the field, caught a pass, and was immediately tackled by Pittsburgh Steelers cornerback Ike Taylor. As Taylor came in for the hit, his helmet appeared to glance off the left side of Collie’s helmet. Then the cornerback wrapped his arm around Collie’s neck and jerked the receiver’s head to the right. An instant later, Steelers linebacker Larry Foote came barreling in from the opposite side and slammed his elbow into the right side of Collie’s helmet. As the receiver fell to the ground, his helmet first hit Foote’s knee and then struck the ground face-first.

 

Collie sat up, dazed, and had to be helped off the field a minute later. He didn’t return to play for three weeks. The diagnosis: concussion. It wasn’t the first time Collie had suffered what’s clinically called a traumatic brain injury. On November 7, 2010, he spent nearly 10 minutes lying motionless on the 34-yard line after being hit in the head almost simultaneously by two Philadelphia Eagles players. Medics carried him off the field on a stretcher. In his first game back, two weeks later, he left in the first quarter with another concussion. He missed three more games, only to suffer yet another concussion on December 19, which ended his season.

 

Professional football players receive as many as 1,500 hits to the head in a single season, depending on their position. That’s 15,000 in a 10-year playing career, not to mention any blows they received in college, high school, and peewee football. And those hits have consequences: concussions and, according to recent research, permanent brain damage. It’s not just football, either. Hockey, lacrosse, and even sports like cycling and snowboarding are contributing to a growing epidemic of traumatic brain injuries. The CDC estimates that as many as 3.8 million sports-related concussions occur in the U.S. each year. That number includes not only professionals but amateurs of all levels, including children. Perhaps most troubling, the number isn’t going down.

 

In the past two years, the outrage surrounding sports-related concussions has mounted. In January 2011, Senator Tom Udall (D-NM) called for a Federal Trade Commission investigation of the football helmet industry for “misleading safety claims and deceptive practices,” which the agency is currently pursuing. In June 2012, more than 2,000 former NFL players filed a class-action suit against the league as well as Riddell, the largest football-helmet manufacturer and an official NFL partner, accusing them of obfuscating the science of brain trauma. The litigation could drag on for years and cost billions of dollars.

 

The real issue is that lives are at stake. In 2006, this fact became tragically clear when former Philadelphia Eagles star Andre Waters committed suicide by shooting himself. Subsequent studies of his brain indicated that he suffered from chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE), a form of brain damage that results in dementia and is caused by repeated blows to the head. A sickening drumbeat of NFL suicides has followed, including former stars Dave Duerson, Ray Easterling, and Junior Seau, who by one estimate suffered as many as 1,500 concussions in his career.

 

For equipment manufacturers, the demand for protective headgear has never been greater. Leading companies, as well as an army of upstarts, have responded by developing a number of new helmet designs, each claiming to offer unprecedented safety. The trouble is that behind them all lie reams of conflicting research, much of it paid for, either directly or indirectly, by the helmet manufacturers or the league.

 

For players or coaches or the concerned parents of young athletes, it’s hard to know whom to believe. And despite all the research and development, and the public outcry, the injuries just keep coming. What makes the situation even more tragic is that a helmet technology already exists that could turn the concussion epidemic around.

[Bengals1181]

Ross Tucker ‏@RossTuckerNFL1m

I kind of like that Bengals owner Mike Brown is his own man & thinks for himself on all these votes