Sportsbozos Looks at the NFL’s New Helmet Rule

Sportsbozos Looks at the NFL’s New Confusing Helmet Rule

Somewhat quietly in March, in a rushed attempt to reduce injuries resulting from head on collisions, the NFL owners voted to approve Article 8 of the Rulebook, now known as the Helmet Contact Rule. The NFL, after relatively recent connections relating tackle football to helmet-to-helmet contact to concussions and CTE, is attempting to make the game safer, however the rollout, identification and enforcement of the new penalty is already confusing and controversial to the League, the Referees, the Broadcasters, the fans, and more importantly, the Coaches and players themselves. Following the debacle of the NFL still trying to define what a catch is, now they face even more uncertainty trying to explain and enforce this rule.

Here’s the Rule: “It is a foul if a player lowers his head to initiate and make contact with his helmet against an opponent. Contact does not have to be to an opponent’s head or neck area – lowering the head and initiating contact to an opponent’s torso, hips, and lower body, is also a foul.”

“Violations of the rule will be easier to see and officiate when they occur in open space – as opposed to close line play – but this rule applies anywhere on the field at any time.”

A violation of the rule results in a 15-yard penalty. If it’s committed by the defense, it’s an automatic first down. If this rule is applied rigidly then the effect on the game would be enormous. Obviously it is instinctive for football players to lower their helmets to protect themselves using their equipment. This is the way they have been coached since Pee-wee football. One of the key words is “initiate”. To begin contact with your helmet. Not Helmet-to-helmet, helmet to anyplace on the body. Now I’ve been watching football for a very long time and I would estimate that about a third of all contact in the trenches starts with the helmet. Players are in a three or four point stance lunge out at the opponent at the snap. The Offense surges forward head down on most running plays and the Defensive line springs forward to attain leverage almost every play to get the jump on the other guy. Have you ever seen a Quarterback sneak? Want to see Brady do that with his head held high? Every game there will be dozens of examples of helmet initiated contact, it’s virtually unavoidable. When a receiver catches a pass and is immediately expecting to get blasted, they naturally lower their head to protect themselves. They don’t want their midsection exposed to injury. The pace of the game is way too fast to expect defensive players to be able to regulate themselves and pull their helmet up immediately before making contact with a receiver. If they do they would foolishly and dangerously leave themselves unprotected. A player who now tries not to initiate contact with his helmet may now raise his head or chin and be subjected to a far worse neck injury himself. The predisposition to self preservation will always counter leaving yourself open to harm. If one even tries to keep one’s head up, there is no support for the neck, it’ll snap back! You can come up with numerous examples yourself. What was considered a textbook or perfectly coached tackle may now be illegal. As for the Officials, the speed of the game and of these players make it far too subjective and basically impossible for the Ref’s to determine in a second or two what is and what is not a foul.

If every time a player lowers his head and initiates contact a penalty is called, then the sport will cease to be playable, much less watchable. So, okay, they won’t call it every time, but when? You know it’s coming because it happens almost every play. Is it called when your team scores? In the last minute of the game? In OT? Referee Roulette! Is it reviewable? Answer: Only if there is an ejection. Okay, what warrants an ejection? This answer you won’t believe-“If a player lowers his helmet to establish a linear body position prior to initiating and making contact with the helmet, has an unobstructed path to his opponent and the contact was clearly avoidable and the player delivering the blow had other options.” Linear body position! WTF! Other options? Hmmm, I’m flying down the field at 30 mph trying to stop a TD, let me think, what are my other options? The NFL Brain trust is certainly expecting these young guys to make a hell of a lot of correct decisions in a split second.

The NFL said it doesn’t think the pace of the game will be slowed down much. Ha! Modern technology and the NYC Command Center should be able to wrap up the ejection review process quickly. Are you freakin’ kidding me? These idiots are under the damn hood for 10 minutes sometimes and we don’t even know what they’re looking at. Command Center, gimme a break, these guys are 50-50 at best, a committee of near sighted old dudes who can’t agree on what socks to wear.

A former Ref said he was surprised the language didn’t include ‘forcible’ or ‘punishing’. Maybe violently or unnecessarily should have been considered. The rule will be applied differently for each game, according to how that game’s Ref interprets it. Great! Consistency out the window!

Watch for more grabbing and missed tackles. Guys like Marshawn Lynch and Todd Gurley shrugging off DBs will result in a dramatic increase in the all-important “Yards after Contact” category. This obviously will lead to more sloppy looking defensive play and ultimately more scoring. The Stiff Arm is sure to be an even more valuable tool, you’ll see!

The Rule is not even going to have its own penalty, it’ll be called under “Unnecessary Roughness” and the Ref is supposed to say “personal foul, lowering the helmet to the head to initiate contact.” When I saw it called, the Ref just said “use of the helmet”. They don’t even have what they need to say down pat, much less how to determine the call.

Look, I get the Helmet-to Helmet call and the launching and leading with the forearm to the neck and head stuff, but this is going to be interesting and problematic to watch, at least at first. Look, I get it, The NFL is under a lot of pressure to reduce potentially serious head trauma and neck injuries and are caught between a rock and a hard place, so their predicament is understandable. The game has to become less physical. I’m a believer that football is a major cause of CTE. How can it not be? It’s really difficult to segregate the love of football the way we know it with watching the effects of the game on retired players with CTE, dementia, depression, and those who have committed suicide.

Skepticism abounds with the application of the new Helmet Rule and we’ll just have to wait and see like everyone else. I join the players and Coaches in being hopeful but not optimistic at this point. It’ll be a work in progress and we’ll also hope the flow of the already over-interrupted game is not affected more severely.

I’m trying not to project into the future too much but one has to think that this could be the beginning of the end of the NFL we’ve known for all these years. The obvious links to concussion and CTE cannot be denied. Parents are subjecting their little darlings to the physical abuse of tackle football at a dramatically decreased rate. Soccer is the new kids’ game. Former NFL-ers and college players who couldn’t make the cut are already playing televised Flag football. What’s next for the NFL? Two-hand touch in 2025? Frisbee Football in 2030? Hey, anyone up for Shirts and Skins?

-HB