Group 1 – The Crackdown on Football Safety directions

By JUDY BATTISTA

Anderson also said the competition committee could consider rules changes in the off-season to ban all hits using the helmet.

On Sunday, violent helmet hits sent Detroit Lions linebacker Zack Follett to the hospital on a backboard (he was released Monday) and caused Philadelphia Eagles receiver DeSean Jackson to forget the play on which he was injured. Pittsburgh Steelers linebacker James Harrison knocked two Cleveland Browns players out of the game with head injuries.

More egregious [shocking; awful] was the hit by New England safety Brandon Meriweather on Baltimore tight end Todd Heap. Meriweather launched himself into Heap, a clear violation of the rules (Meriweather was penalized). Anderson called that hit “agitating” to him.

“The way football is played, it’s going to be difficult, but it may be necessary,” Anderson said of banning all hits involving the helmet. “All things will be on the table as we evaluate and look at this. It’s critically important. It’s not just a career-threatening situation for a guy like DeSean Jackson. But maybe life-altering.

“Very frankly, we don’t want to see another Darryl Stingley on our watch,” Anderson continued, referring to the New England Patriots wide receiver who was paralyzed by a Jack Tatum hit in a 1978 preseason game and died in 2007.

The N.F.L. has focused on player safety with increasing urgency [the need to do something quickly, as though it was an emergency] in recent years, as study after study has indicated the long-term effects of head injuries. But with so many scary hits in such a short time, opinion seemed to coalesce [come together; unite] quickly for the first time Sunday that while the N.F.L.’s intent with the rules change clamping down on such hits was good, its follow-through needed to be stronger than fines to enact a sea change in a generation of players raised on highlight reels glorifying big hits. . .

John Mara, the Giants’ president and a member of the competition committee, said Monday that an attempt to write rules to eliminate all hits with the helmet might be extreme. Games are played with remarkable speed and ferocity, and each rules change demands that players and coaches modify the way they play.

Running backs like the Vikings’ Adrian Peterson lower their heads to deliver a blow as they are being tackled, and defensive players are taught from Pop Warner days to “explode” into their target. When members of the competition committee meet with current players at the scouting combine each February, players, most of them defenders, say that rules changes are making it impossible for them to do their jobs.

Mara said, “Our response is, we don’t think it’s impossible, and No. 2, if we have a choice between making it impossible to do your job and protecting somebody from a concussion or a serious neck injury, we’ll choose the latter.”

Mara said he, too, was troubled by the series of plays Sunday. He said that a few years ago, it seemed to him that leading with the head was becoming the preferred tackling technique, but that rules against launching at a player seem to have reduced the number. He also cautioned against overreacting, citing predictions that the injuries would increase this season after a spate of injuries in Week 1.

“These are bang-bang plays,” Mara said. “They have a fraction of a second to make a decision. I’m not sure I want to go crazy over what happened yesterday. I want to see at the end of the year. We look at tape of every single one of those hits. Then you have a good understanding of if there is a trend here.

“To me, it would be almost impossible to legislate it completely out of the game.”

Bill Polian, the president of the Colts and another member of the competition committee, said after viewing film that he thought defensive backs had altered their strike zones on receivers to avoid fouls.

In a game against Atlanta, Philadelphia’s Jackson was running across the middle of the field, preparing to catch a pass, when cornerback Dunta Robinson lowered his head and appeared to make contact with Jackson’s shoulder. Both players fell to the ground and remained there for several minutes before being helped off. Robinson received a 15-yard penalty. Jackson, who scored two touchdowns earlier in the game, said he remembered the touchdowns but not the hit that knocked him out.

But there are helmet-to-helmet hits that are still permissible, and those may eventually be banned, too. The one by the Giants’ Jason Pierre-Paul on Follett was not flagged because Follett was not a defenseless player.

James Harrison’s hit on Cleveland’s Josh Cribbs was allowable because Cribbs was a ball carrier and was not defenseless. But later, Harrison hit receiver Mohamed Massaquoi and was not penalized, a call that Anderson said the officiating crew missed. Both players hit by Harrison missed the rest of the game with head injuries. Even though he was not penalized, Harrison, like Meriweather, is likely to be disciplined by Anderson’s office for the hit.

After the game, Harrison, who is one of the best linebackers in football, offered insight into how difficult enacting a culture change would be. He explained to The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette that although he is not trying to injure anybody, he does not mind hurting them — a fine distinction that illuminates the N.F.L.’s conundrum [dilemma]. Nobody welcomes injuries. But hurting an opponent can create a competitive advantage.

“That was a good, clean, legal hit,” Harrison said of the Massaquoi hit. “I put my head across the bow. To be honest, I laid off him a little bit. I could have put a lot more into him.”

Anderson concluded: “You know, times have changed. If we’ve got to face the backlash from those saying we’re making the game too soft, then so be it.”

1. (You may have to search elsewhere and/or use personal knowledge to answer this one.) Why is leading with the head on a tackle often the preferred method? In other words, what’s the advantage of tackling this way? Compare to other methods of tackling. *For extra insight on this, read Denver Bronco Nate Jackson’s editorial that defends these tackling techniques: http://www.nytimes.com/2010/10/24/opinion/24jackson.html

2. The end of the article states, “. . . there are helmet-to-helmet hits that are still permissible, and those may eventually be banned, too. The one by the Giants’ Jason Pierre-Paul on Follett was not flagged because Follett was not a defenseless player.” Explain this to someone who is not very knowledgeable about football. In other words, explain how one type of helmet-to-helmet hit is considered legal, while another will earn a player a fine and a suspension.

3. Why was Brandon Meriweather’s hit on Todd Heap considered “a clear violation of the rules”? Explain this in your own words (and consider using this example for your powerpoint presentation).

4. Ray Anderson said of the rule changes, “Very frankly, we don’t want to see another Darryl Stingley on our watch.” You might need to look this up elsewhere, but who’s Darryl Stingley, and what happened to him?

5. The article states, “Games are played with remarkable speed and ferocity, and each rules change demands that players and coaches modify the way they play.” How is this true? In other words, how might these helmet-to-helmet penalties (or any other rule changes) affect the way the game is played? Do you think these changes would be positive or negative? Why or why not? Read the paragraph after this quote for insight into this question.

6. In describing the culture of violence that is inherent in football, linebacker James Harrison explained that “although he is not trying to injure anybody, he does not mind hurting them — a fine distinction that illuminates the N.F.L.’s conundrum [dilemma]. Nobody welcomes injuries. But hurting an opponent can create a competitive advantage.” Can there be a difference between injuring someone and hurting them? If yes, how? If no, what does this suggest about the nature of football? What do you think of Harrison’s statement?

October 19, 2010

Available: http://www.nytimes.com/2010/10/20/sports/football/20hits.html
N.F.L. Fines Players for Hits to Head

By JUDY BATTISTA

A day after saying it would consider suspending players for helmet-to-helmet hits, the N.F.L. decided Tuesday to fine three players involved in a string of injurious collisions last Sunday. . .

James Harrison, the Pittsburgh Steelers linebacker who knocked two Cleveland Browns out of their game with helmet-to-helmet hits — one was within the rules; the other was a penalty the officials missed, the league said — was fined the most, $75,000, because of previous trouble. Earlier this season, he was fined $5,000 for slamming Tennessee Titans quarterback Vince Young to the ground while sacking him. . .

New England Patriots safety Brandon Meriweather, who committed the most egregious [shocking; awful] foul when he launched himself into Baltimore Ravens tight end Todd Heap as Heap tried to make a catch, was fined $50,000. And Atlanta Falcons cornerback Dunta Robinson, who hit Philadelphia Eagles receiver DeSean Jackson so violently that both were concussed, was fined $50,000. . .

Seattle Seahawks linebacker Aaron Curry called the fines “absolutely crazy” on his Twitter feed Tuesday, and he took exception to the fine for Harrison. “His hit happen every play!” Curry wrote. “He jus happen to knock somebody out!”

Earlier Tuesday, Patriots Coach Bill Belichick raised an issue that also complicates the N.F.L.’s crackdown — the inconsistency of officiating. Harrison’s hit on Browns receiver Mohamed Massoquoi was a foul, Anderson said Monday, but it was not flagged.

“You just have to understand how the game is being officiated and what the calls mean — what’s a block in the back, what isn’t a block in the back; what’s illegal contact, what isn’t illegal contact, what’s pass interference, what isn’t pass interference, what’s holding, what isn’t holding,” Belichick said. “There are a lot of gray areas in all those calls, so we have to learn what those are and hope that the officials call them consistently from week to week, which, that’s an issue, too.”

“N.F.L. Fines Players for Hits to the Head” READING GUIDE

1. What were the punishments for Harrison, Meriweather, and Robinson’s hits?