NFL: Helmet to Helmet

This Wednesday the NFL will announce that players will be suspended from games if they commit “devastating hits and head shots” in a game against another player. There are many mixed thoughts about this new rule floating around in the NFL. Some people think that it is very necessary to have stiff penalties on players who commit one of these hits.  Other people think that the new rule is ridiculous because hitting hard is part of the game.

It is hard for me to really choose a definite side on this argument because I think that both sides have very valid points. I definitely think that intentionally hitting a player in the head should be penalized. There are too many players having to sit out of games with concussions due to being hit hard in the helmet.  I think that most of the time hitting a player in the head is completely avoidable and unnecessary. Players have been getting fined lately for these hits, but for a player that makes millions of dollars per year doesn’t really care about a 15,000 dollar fine. Players need to be suspended if the NFL really wants players to follow the rules.

On the other hand, football is a game, a tough game. This new rule is going to hit defensive players very hard. A defensive player has one objective, hit the player who has the ball. But now that you cant lead into a hit with your head, defensive players will have to think a lot more about how they hit some one. I think this is going to cause way more broken tackles and I think that defensive players are going to have a really tough time with this new rule.