Is The NFL Really Concerned With Player Safety?

they continue with Thursday night games says alot about how much they really care. Brutal sport to begin with,a week in between is barely enough as the season progresses, so lets play again on Thursday...

These hits were celebrated in the past and part of the game. Now they are being reviewed and with all the rules changes about defenseless players, hits below the knee, helmet to helmet, I think they certainly are trying to protect players.

That doesn't mean guys aren't going to get hit and get hurt. It's still very fast and large men running into each other with a lot of force. The Mason Rudolph hit I didn't think was dirty at all. You see Rudolph pull up to throw, and Thomas is in pursuit and has to adjust his direction, an instant before contact with Rudolph, and when he hits him, he turns his head sideways, and looks to me he's trying to hit him with his shoulder. It was just one of those weird plays, and part of the force of the hit was Rudolph's awkward position as he's running east and west, and his jaw collides with the side of Thomas running north and south.

I don't think it was an intentional hit to injure Rudolph, just one of those things that are going to unfortunately happen.

not sure about the rest of the team as much

the players all you want but hits to the head are many times unavoidable, not intentional and will continue to happen as long as you allow hitting in the game. Sorry but these guys know the deal, if you dont want to risk concussions, dont play the game

In comment 14618899 mfsd said:

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not sure about the rest of the team as much

You are spot on! They don't want start qb's like Brady, Rodgers, or Brees injured, people are not going to buy tickets to see Haskins or Kyler Murray!

I was surprised Bethea wasn't flagged against the Vikings. He lead with his head and made contact with a WR's side of the helmet.

It seems to not be a point of emphasis anymore like it was last pre-season. These games are already flag fests, and it seems with the point of emphasis on PI this year they forgot about leading with the head.

was intentionally dirty, but in the college game, there's no hesitation to toss a player if it looks even close to be targeting. The intention being to eliminate hitting with the helmet, but yet each game in the NFL, players are still leading with their helmets. We saw it on the Gallman hit. We saw it in the SF game last night.

A lot of those hits aren't even flagged and yet the players on the receiving end are missing time due to the mandatory concussion protocol. Shouldn't there be a similar time out that a defender delivering the blow gets?

Clay Matthews is getting flagged for hitting with his shoulder, but guys diving at a ballcarrier head first aren't.

it's about covering their collective asses.

The concern is building the most viable legal defense when accused of not being concerned with player safety.

players for ducking their head. Lots of these guys on offense are using their helmets as weapons. Look at that fullback hit on JJ. On defense they are at least trying to lead with the shoulder for the most part.

punishment. If a dirty/illegal head to head hit puts a player out for a couple weeks, the player making the hit sits too. Has to be reviewed by the office because some hits are just bad luck. Back in the goon days of the NHL I would have loved for a rule like that to have existed. Philly would have been without players.
But otherwise adopt the NCAA targeting rule. Sometimes it is questionable, most times it is correct.

And end Thursday Night Football.

Is so far ahead of the NFL on all levels of officiating it isn't funny.

Just take their model and implement it to the NFL. Targeting/Ejections/Replay

All of it!

player safety and have done a lot of work to improve player safety.

Does that mean player safety is their top priority? Of course not. The bottom line is their top priority.

you want him to do. Rudolph got killed because if you noticed he had his mouth wide open. I think people forget that you wear mouth guards in football to help protect against concussions, but QBs are exempt from this rule.

Was for challenging everything ,while that might be extreme I think they should be able to challenge these helmet to helmet hits as well ......

In comment 14618917 BlueHurricane said:

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Is so far ahead of the NFL on all levels of officiating it isn't funny. Just take their model and implement it to the NFL. Targeting/Ejections/Replay All of it!

I think the college game has gone too far and it's a lot worse.

In comment 14618899 mfsd said:

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not sure about the rest of the team as much

This.

In comment 14618919 Zeke's Alibi said:

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you want him to do. Rudolph got killed because if you noticed he had his mouth wide open. I think people forget that you wear mouth guards in football to help protect against concussions, but QBs are exempt from this rule.

Do the other players have to wear them? I thought nobody did. It's a good point, maybe they should make everyone have them.

...to ignoring concussions. That's been proven.

After finally realizing they needed to address it, I think they are absolutely trying to.

But playing games on Thursday nights is absolutely ridiculous. The only part of the game that benefits is the money trail.

Thursday Night games - both from a health perspective and competitive perspective - is the worst part of the NFL right now IMO.

It would go a long way to finally end them.

In comment 14618963 BillKo said:

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...to ignoring concussions. That's been proven. After finally realizing they needed to address it, I think they are absolutely trying to. But playing games on Thursday nights is absolutely ridiculous. The only part of the game that benefits is the money trail. Thursday Night games - both from a health perspective and competitive perspective - is the worst part of the NFL right now IMO. It would go a long way to finally end them.

Goodell is a moron. TNF is a hot mess, less is more.

and fines against defenders trying to do their jobs.

Every year they overreact to some incident and then over-enforce a rule. This year it's pass interference last year it was helmet contact before that it was holding catches to a ridiculously high standard.

In comment 14618984 Sneakers O'toole said:

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and fines against defenders trying to do their jobs.

I think this is in the officials minds....They cant figure out what is or isnt PI they cant say what is and isn't a catch, and now you'd give them this burden. I think its a good idea with tit for tat but the problem is these officials will get half the calls wrong.

The issue is, these players are a lot faster and bigger than they were. Concussions happened in the past but have accelerated and will continue to do so. its a brutal sport bottom line.

It's sorta irrelevant if they really care so long as they behave like they do from fear of liability. Safety is improving so...

In comment 14618904 SterlingArcher said:

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In comment 14618899 mfsd said: Quote: not sure about the rest of the team as much You are spot on! They don't want start qb's like Brady, Rodgers, or Brees injured, people are not going to buy tickets to see Haskins or Kyler Murray!

I was obviously being a bit snarky. The NFL has actually done a decent job of legislating dangerous “kill” shots by defensive players out of the game.

Coaches deserve credit too for teaching safer tackling techniques...being done to protect the defensive player from the effects of vicious head shots as much as from the guy they’re tackling.

But it’s just really hard to take the physicality out of the game. Gallman and Shepard both got concussions against the Vikes, and I can’t think of a single play where you could say a Vikes defender took a cheap shot. They were simply playing good hard physical football.

If you want to change behavior,get the attention of the man in charge. Last I checked shit still runs down hill.

the booth should be able to flag the helmet to helmet.

they don't because they're worried about more stoppages and the flow of the game.

but you could solve the game flow issue by having more people watching every camera angle every play for helmet to helmet. they won't invest the resources to do so, therefore player safety is less a priority then they claim.

by missing so many tackles.

They want to expand the schedule to 18 games; and prefer more teams and games for the playoffs. That tells you right there where their heads are for safety.

Then toss in the horrific Thursday and London products - with short weeks and crazy travel into European time zones - and the lack of safety concern grows even bigger. There is absolutely nothing interesting about the Thursday and London games. Zero. Almost every fan I know dreads their team playing in either situation. They were developed solely for the humongous cash opportunity.

And now the NFL has obviously instructed their referees to throw more flags rather than less to appear to side on the caution of safety. But too many times they get it wrong or are inexplicably inconsistent.

I like the idea of suspending players for these helmet hits. College does a similar thing. Or make it like getting a red card in soccer. It's clear that the game is still being taught in many circles to use the helmet as a weapon despite these programs like "Heads Up" to change the culture.

Sorry, it's just not working - yet. Teams/coaches still see value in the big hit and knocking a player out of the game.

and one thing only. Lining their pockets with maximum profit. Not even an ounce of anything else. The players are disposable depreciating assets and the fans are suckers to milked and bilked for every cent they can squeeze out of them.

To combat obesity? Many of their players struggle post career. And there is the added risk of African Americans face due to type 2 diabetes, hypertension which lead to huge health issues compromising quality of life and life expectancy I’d say they care about looking like they care.

In comment 14619151 arniefez said:

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and one thing only. Lining their pockets with maximum profit. Not even an ounce of anything else. The players are disposable depreciating assets and the fans are suckers to milked and bilked for every cent they can squeeze out of them.

Indeed. And the players are somewhat complicit for nearly 25 years by accepting this cap system that drives the NFL business model. How they continuously get hoodwinked by renewing the deal - or most it - every time is a real testament to how much smarter than owners are compared to their "depreciating assets".

Worst union in sports - by far. The NFLPA.

and the players are all replaceable. If the NFL were serious about player safety ALL games would be played outdoors on grass. Natural grass and the elements playing outdoors will slow players down and reduce odds of an injury. Right now playing indoors on turf have juiced the conditions. Owners don't care at all. Next year they will draft somebody that looks just like you.

In comment 14619180 averagejoe said:

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Next year they will draft somebody that looks just like you.

Highly unlikely in my case.

pillow-top helmets

Because one of the things that seems clear to me on helmet to helmet impacts is that

1/ helmets need to be smaller
2/ the face guard needs to be recessed instead of protruding
3/ eventually helmets cannot be hard. they have to be dense and super hard foam that can compress.

In comment 14619180 averagejoe said:

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and the players are all replaceable. If the NFL were serious about player safety ALL games would be played outdoors on grass. Natural grass and the elements playing outdoors will slow players down and reduce odds of an injury. Right now playing indoors on turf have juiced the conditions. Owners don't care at all. Next year they will draft somebody that looks just like you.

here's what the NFL doesnt get because they are too short sighted.


It makes a lot more sense based on the "future" of the sport in terms of youth participation rates to simply admit that playing football for prolonged periods will ahve serious deleterious effects on your quality of life down the road.

they just need to get out there and admit it. The sooner this happens, when society accepts this as a norm, football secures its future as a spectator sport. But if they keep suppressing the knowledge of CTE, and knee replacements the greater fear they foment in the parents of these young children looking to play football.

No. The NFL only cares about $.

Honestly, it's unclear at this point. Once the league approves the 18-game schedule, maybe then the sample size will be large enough to collect some data.

Don’t care at all? As in, haha, I don’t give a shit not care?

And equipment have been introduced to make the game safer but the reality is as long as tackling is a core part of the game and you have elite athletes crashing into each other at top speed there is an element of risk and danger that will always exist. Same with rugby or Aussie rules football

and that is MONEY....

if thats possible because sometimes a player hits a QB simply because he can't stop in time and there was no intent involved, officials have to be smart enough to see the difference..

They care about offense. Otherwise, the would let the defense grab the receivers more like they used to and that would slow the game down and make for better football. Mahomes is gonna break every record in the book the way this garbage is going.

That has a lot to do with it.

In comment 14618960 Lines of Scrimmage said:

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In comment 14618919 Zeke's Alibi said: Quote: you want him to do. Rudolph got killed because if you noticed he had his mouth wide open. I think people forget that you wear mouth guards in football to help protect against concussions, but QBs are exempt from this rule. Do the other players have to wear them? I thought nobody did. It's a good point, maybe they should make everyone have them.

There is no mandatory mouthguard rule in the NFL. They also do little to nothing to prevent concussions.