NFL owners approved a proposed rule to ban the hip-drop spin tackle, the league announced Monday.
The violation will result in a 15-yard penalty if called during games, but Troy Vincent, the NFL’s executive vice president of football operations, strongly hinted last week that it is likely to be applied similarly to the ” helmet use,” which typically leads to warning letters and fines in the week after the game, rather than flags during the game.
The proposed ban on the hip-drop spin tackle was written to address only a subset of the rugby style of tackling that has spread across the NFL in recent years, competition committee chairman Rich McKay said last week. .
The tackling technique often leads to lower body injuries. The rule requires officials to take note of two actions: if a defender “grabs the runner with both hands or wraps him with both arms” and also “relieves himself of weight by twisting and dropping his hips and/or lower body , landing and catching the runner, leg(s) at or below the knee.”
On Monday, McKay clarified that Monday’s rule change does not eliminate the hip-drop tackle, only the “spinning technique that is not used very often.”
“When it’s used, it’s incredibly damaging to the running back; the running back is completely defenseless. I’ve heard defenders say before and I hear them, ‘Hey, you’re putting me in a really tough situation. You say I can’t hit here, and what?’ what I do?’ My response, as always, has been, ‘Well, you can’t do that.’ That’s only because the guy you’re hitting is defenseless and has no way to protect himself,” McKay said, according to NFL.com.
“So, we have to protect it. You have to come up with other ways and you know what, yes they do. Yes, we prohibit the hip drop, but what you can think of is the drag from behind, where it falls into… that’s still a tackle “This is just that tackle where the player goes up in the air and then lands on his legs.”
Ravens tight end Mark Andrews suffered a significant leg injury during a hip-drop spin tackle on the Bengals’ Logan Wilson last season. Tommy Gilligan-USA TODAY Sports
NFL executive vice president Jeff Miller said there were 230 instances of the tackle during a game last season and, as a result, 15 players missed time for the season.
The league played video during a news conference to show six specific plays in which the hip-drop tackle was used in games, with tight end Drew Sample, running back Tony Pollard, receiver Tyler Boyd, quarterback field Geno Smith and quarterback Ryan Tannehill all taking the hit that is now illegal.
NFL teams will continue to receive videos showing illegal hits and ways to make tackles within the rules.
“It’s a new rule, so you won’t have seen it,” McKay said of penalizing the foul. “This is never practiced; no one does this in practice. There is never a player who is going to use this tactic on a player on his own team in practice, so you will never see it. You will only see it in the game. We will tell you: ‘Listen, this is a penalty on the books. You can call it. You have to see the three elements of what’s happening here. You have to see him grab it. You have to see him control it. You have to see him spin up in the air and you have to see him. without weight. If you don’t see it, don’t charge it.
“We’re going to take all these tapes that you’ve seen…we’re going to take them all to the clubs and show them: This is what we don’t want. This is what a foul looks like.”
The NFL Players Association (NFLPA) joined many current and former players in opposing the proposal last week. In a statement posted on social media, the NFLPA said the rule would cause confusion among players, coaches, officials and fans.
On Monday, former player JJ Watt was among those who expressed displeasure with the owners’ vote on tackling, posting on X, “Just fast forward to the flag belts…”
Current players also weighed in on X, including DJ Reader of the Detroit Lions, Darius Slay of the Philadelphia Eagles and Jevon Holland of the Miami Dolphins:
McKay said Monday that owners did not vote on the proposal to modify the kickoff; however, a vote could still take place on Tuesday.
McKay said it is urgent to vote on the complicated new kickoff rule this week because it could affect how teams select players next month in the NFL draft.
“I like to vote it sooner rather than later because there’s no question that bringing back the play, we had 1,970 touchbacks last season, so if you call back the play, let’s say 1,200 of them become returners, the person we’re going to have as a returner will be more important,” McKay said. “And we have a draft ahead of us. And we have college free agency ahead of us. So, I think the personnel people need to know if this play is going to be in or out, and that would lead me to want to have the vote sooner rather than later.”
The competition committee’s proposal would move most kicking and returning teams downfield to minimize high-speed collisions.
The kicker would continue kicking from the 35-yard line, but the other 10 players would line up at the receiving team’s 40-yard line. At least nine members of the return team would line up in a “staging zone” between the 35-yard line and the 30-yard line. Up to two returners may line up in a “landing zone” between the goal line and the goal line. 20 yards. No one other than the kicker and returner may move until the ball touches the ground or hits a player inside the landing zone. Touchbacks would be marked at the 30-yard line and no free receptions would be allowed.
“This is our chance to keep special teams in the game,” McKay said. “Special teams has been a part of the game forever. And, if you lose the kickoff, in our opinion, you pretty much eliminate the special teams and put them on a punt play. And that’s what we’re trying to accomplish, get the pass and find out if we can get to 24 votes.
All rule proposals require 24 of 32 votes for approval.
ESPN’s Kevin Seifert and The Associated Press contributed to this report.
2024-03-25 20:39:10
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