The NFL is Too Soft: Yay or Nay

Look at film of the NFL in the 60s and early 70s the kind of guided missle hit popular in our era was rare then. There was more emphasis on technique and things like wrapping up. I believe the recent emphasis on hitting has more to do with defenses being limited by rule changes and the modern passing game. Defenses have turned to intimidation, and don't kid yourself injuring a quarterback, running back, wide receiver who can change a game is often the real goal.

If you're talking about the way guys like Jack Tatum played the game, then yes, today's NFL is soft. But then again, it's all relative. You couldn't pay me to get out there on that field and take a hit from James Harrison. I would instantly die.

So I voted for option two (concussions). I find the NFL far from soft, despite the new rules. Is it completely unfair to the defensive players who charge full speed at the QB and have absolutely no chance in stopping their momentum in order to avoid a ticky-tack flag? Yes, definitely. But I understand why the league wants to protect their most important investments i.e. the QB position.

It's a very complex question that I think goes slightly beyond what I can provide in a quick post. But I do remember hearing on NFL red zone earlier this year that concussion numbers are way up this season. Also, I think you have to consider how much money the NFL thinks it lost because of Tom Brady's knee injury in 2008. They must have quantified that it was enough to make this rule change. Or maybe I'm giving them too much credit.

And I think a rule or law that is about protecting people is always going to look bad. We only see the ticky tack flags that should have never been thrown. We don't see or will never get to know just how many players avoided injury because of this rule. I dunno. Just talking out loud here. Maybe we will get to know the answer to this in a few years if the stats show QB injuries are way down.

But I definitely don't think the NFL's soft now.

If football doesn't continue to evolve, it will go the way of boxing. Yeah, some of the rules are instinctively unfair-but I don't want to watch a bunch of games with 3rd and 4th string QBs either. Plus, wrong or right, the NFL and the vast majority of the football audience want offense.

The league is talking out of both sides of its mouth. On one hand it says they are concerned about the players, and have put in "rules" to protect them, but at the same time are pushing for an 18 game regular season. I don't think any player intentionally leads with their head, as if you've ever played you know it hurts to have your neck bent back or compressed on impact. Trying to regulate the hits at this point is like trying to stop evolution. The players are much bigger, faster, and stronger than they were even 20 years ago.

If they are going to attempt to regulate the hitting there needs to be well communicated standards with examples of what is and isn't an illegal hit sent to every team and referree right not it doesn't appear anyone understands the rule. Some hits aren't flagged during the game but players are fined, and the reverse is happening as well. Let the players union determine the best solution, they are the ones who are impacted by this, not the league or the owners.

The helmet is definitely a weapon, there's no question. I believe some commentators actually debated this when the new helmet2helmet rules took place a few weeks ago.

The guys who wrote the book

Freakonomics actually did a radio podcast on this about a month ago. It's on iTunes.

For the most part-but it's highly competitive and lucrative. If some players see an advantage to launching themselves recklessly, they'll do it, and other players would follow suit to keep up. There are helmets available that are extremely effective at reducing the risk of concussions-but they look funny and no one will wear them. And the league of course doesn't care as much about concussions as they pretend to, or they'd mandate use of the safest equipment.

No defensive player intends to hit with their helmet, they want to hit with their shoulder pads. Unfortunately when you launch you can't always adjust mid-air where impact will be on a moving target.

Iacas is right, the pads and helmet do give players a false sense of security and makes them fearless. I notice the helmet is used more as a weapon by running backs and tight ends who lower their helmet into oncoming defensive players, but that almost is never called or fined.

He interviewed a cornerback or two and the cornerback basically said that yeah, they do use helmets as weapons and if you took helmets and pads away the game would be safer. But the cornerback said that to him it wouldn't be worth it because it would be less fun.

They also talked with some sort of employee with either the NFL or Riddell and they said that with helmet composition it's a sort of tradeoff between concussion protection and skull protection.

Colt McCoy would be out of a job then.

I voted Option #2-Concussions.

These players are getting too strong and too powerful to allow the type of hits players have been dishing out the past few seasons.

I do agree though that QB's are protected way-yyyyy too much. You obviosley need to give them a little bit more protection than other players because you don't want them coming and going in a 5 or 6 year period like RB's but c'mon. As previousley posted, they might as well be wearing a flag.

Definately not too soft. Plenty of violent clean hits in every game.

The important part of this reasoning is that the players feel invincible, certainly the equipment protects better than in the past, but the equipment can't overcome using the head as a weapon, it hasn't improved that much.

Plays LAUNCHING themselves at other players and leading with their helmets is dangerous to both the hitter and the guy being hit. I don't think all the fines have been fair, but I think the NFL is doing the right thing.

I think the NFL is getting WAY too soft. It's professional football for crying out loud, and things were just fine the way they were. I love to see big hits, and half the players in the league are scared to even try them now because a fine will be coming their way. It's hard to remember a good hit without seeing a flag after the play. Honestly, the college game lets the players play more than the NFL, and that's pretty sad.

The No Fun League is definitely a watered-down product of what the NFL used to be.