Tag: competition committee

The new NFL ban on the hip-drop tackle gives defenses a grim outlook

The NFL is playing a very dangerous game by outlawing the hip-drop tackle.

It was announced Monday that the NFL officially banned the hip-drop tackle via a unanimous vote by the competition committee.

This comes after several players have suffered serious foot and ankle injuries over the last handful of years due to that style of tackle. Tennessee Titans running back Tony Pollard suffered a fractured leg and high ankle sprain against the San Francisco 49ers in the divisional round of the NFC playoffs in 2023. Baltimore Ravens tight end Mark Andrews also suffered a serious ankle injury as the result of a hip-drop tackle in Week 11 of the 2023 season, which caused him to miss the rest of the regular season.

Several players have voiced their displeasures with the new rule change. Pittsburgh Steelers linebacker Patrick Queen said via X that the league will be “2 hand touch” next.

Miami Dolphins safety Jevon Holland also weighed in on X, saying that tackling was now banned.

Defenders are angry, and rightfully so. The deck was already heavily stacked against them in terms of the rules, and the penalties that are handcuffed to them. If defenders make a play on the receiver who is seen as defenseless, they are penalized for unnecessary roughness simply for playing football and trying to break up a pass. Instead of a play like that being an incomplete pass and a fourth down, though, it is 15 yards and an automatic first down.

Pass rushers can’t land with all of their body weight on the quarterback when making a sack, which caused a loud outcry after several awful judgement calls on the rule. Specifically, Dolphins edge rusher Jaelan Phillips was flagged in 2022 against the Chargers after sacking Justin Herbert.

And of course there is the constantly-debated pass interference- the most frequently called defensive penalty that is always the subject of debate. If a defender is flagged for pass interference, it’s an automatic first down and spot of the foul penalty. However, if there is a call for offensive pass interference, the offensive player is flagged for only 10 yards from the previous spot.

And now there is this new hip-drop rule, which is incredibly subjective. The NFL is asking players to defy the laws of physics. If a player is running away from a defender, what else would the NFL like them to do besides grab them and pull them to the ground using their body weight? Well, I’ll tell you what they are going to do- there is going to be a lot more hits to the knee. If guys know that they’ll be penalized for wrapping a guy and dropping their body weight to make a tackle, they’ll avoid the penalty by simply diving at their opponents’ knees, which result in even more injuries. And then in two years, the NFL will ban hits to the knee, and the deck will be stacked against defenders even more.

This a dangerous game the NFL is playing. It’s one thing to want to eliminate shots to the head and neck. Everyone is for making the game safer in that regard. However, when the league continually refuses to remove field turf from the game and make all 32 stadiums have natural grass fields, which players have long called for, it’s hard to take them completely seriously when talking about player safety when they haven’t listened to their players about that nagging that has caused far more injuries than hip-drop tackles have.

This still football at the end of the day. No matter what happens, injuries are unfortunately a part of the game, and they can’t be completely eliminated. It’s a physical, contact sport. At least it was.

NFL’s Competition Committee recommends banning hip-drop tackle

The NFL’s Competition Committee recommends banning the hip-drop tackle and making it a 15-yard penalty.

Each year, the NFL Competition Committee discusses potential changes to the game. Sometimes things end up working out for the best, while other changes flop, most notably making pass interference reviewable.

This year, the biggest focus is on the hip-drop tackle. The committee has recommended that it be banned and be penalized as a 15-yard personal foul.

A hip-drop tackle is defined by the committee as such:

  • Grabs the runner with both hands or wraps the runner with both arms; and
  • Unweights himself by swiveling and dropping his hips and/or lower body, landing on and trapping the runner’s leg(s) at or below the knee.

The reason the NFL wants this out of the game is the injuries suffered during hip-drop tackles last season. One of the more notable ones was Baltimore Ravens tight end Mark Andrews suffering an ankle injury in Week 11 and not playing again until the AFC Championship Game over two months later.

Will this be a successful rule change? It certainly would make playing defense that much harder. However, if it does help eliminate injuries, it won’t be called a failure.

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LOOK: NFL teams approve 0 jersey number, one preseason cut day among new changes

Take a look at the new changes, including jersey number 0 and more, to come out of the NFL owners meetings in Phoenix.

The NFL owners meetings represent an opportunity for all 32 clubs to meet and lay out the boundaries for how their version of pro football will be carried out during the 17-game season.

On Tuesday, the league announced there were nine approved changes to the playing rules, three changes to the bylaws, and three changes to the resolutions.

One of the big changes that fans will readily see is the jersey number change. The number zero has been added to the available jersey numbers, and Jacksonville Jaguars receiver Calvin Ridley has already embraced it.

Here is a look at all of the changes for 2023.

Los Angeles Rams propose to have roughing the passer penalties reviewed

The Los Angeles Rams have proposed to have all roughing the passer calls reviewed but does it have any support?

The NFL is a quarterback-friendly league and has been known to go to extreme lengths to protect players at this position. With quarterbacks being the most valuable and often highest-paid players on their teams, the league has added several rules to prevent them from being hit too hard or too low by defensive players.

Regardless of how you feel about these rules, they are designed to help reduce the risk of injury to quarterbacks and keep them on the field.

One of the most heavily scrutinized rules that protect the quarterbacks is the “roughing the passer” penalty, which by official league standards is:

“Any physical acts against a player who is in a passing posture (i.e. before, during, or after a pass) which, in the Referee’s judgment, are unwarranted by the circumstances of the play will be called as fouls.”

This rule has left many players and fans scratching their heads, but according to Mark Maske of the Washington Post, the rule may be subject to review.

According to Judy Battista, the Los Angeles Rams were the team who proposed making all roughing-the-passer calls reviewable.

It’s too early to know if the NFL Owners would approve this new proposal, but it according to Maske it appears as if the competition committee doesn’t appear to be in favor of the change.

We’ve often seen teams obtain a second chance on a crucial drive or even a game-winning drive because of these penalties. Teams may now have the opportunity to review and have them overturned.

One thing to note about this rule and the potential proposal is that in the NFL’s Rule Summary, it’s truly subjective and up to the referee’s judgment.

“When in doubt about a roughness call or potentially dangerous tactic against the quarterback, the Referee should always call roughing the passer”

One thing that could put pressure on the NFL to make a change is the XFL allowing anything to be reviewed once per game. They also give access to the replay booth with the head of officiating Dean Blandino.

While the goal of the replay system is to make accurate calls and ensure fairness on the field, it has been plagued by controversies. Time will tell if this proposal gets approved, but if it does, it will probably just add more frustration to an already broken system, which is the NFL Replay system

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NFL’s taunting rule isn’t working as it was advertised, says Saints coach Sean Payton

NFL’s emphasis on the taunting rule isn’t working as it was advertised, says ex-competition committee member Sean Payton

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There probably aren’t many coaches less pleased with the state of NFL officiating right now than Sean Payton. Beyond the Super Bowl berth a botched pass interference call helped take from his team a few years ago, league referees’ public rebellion to his proposed rule change intended to clean up their mistakes, and the game-changing interception his defense lost to a bogus roughing the passer foul last Sunday, he’s got little positive things to say about the zebras taking up too much time on game broadcasts each week.

“Everyone watching and participating deserves better,” Payton said during a Thursday appearance on the Dan Patrick Show. He added that he still can’t understand why no referees and the members of their officiating crews are full-time NFL employees, a point he’s railed about for years. When they aren’t deciding how a billion-dollar industry is unfolding, they’re busy in the offseason working day jobs as high school teachers and managing their dentistry practices instead of brushing up on the rulebook and getting better at their craft.

In particular, Payton expressed frustration with how the NFL’s new emphasis on its taunting rule has played out. He recently stepped down from the league’s competition committee, declining to elaborate on his reasons at the time so that he wouldn’t draw a fine from the NFL head office. But he may have tipped his hand in this Dan Patrick Show interview.

“I think it’s being over-officiated. I sat in on the discussion, and I don’t think any of us who discussed it saw it going where it is now,” Payton said, reflecting on the presentations used to sell him and other competition committee members on approving the new point of emphasis against taunting. “If you and I watch a game and we, say, sit next to each other and turn to each other and say ‘taunting,’ (after a play) that’s a taunting foul. And we would see it and can say that’s too much, you can’t do that.”

But he pointed out there’s the problem — a breakdown in communication between various officiating crews across the league, where some flag-throwers are fouling players for picking fights while others see a player glance at the opposing sideline and call it a penalty. As with the roughing the passer foul, Payton reasoned, there’s no consistency in how the taunting rule is being applied. Making officials full-time employees and focusing their attention at doing their jobs well could help fix that.

This is something the NFL could correct, but it’s choosing not to. The league could very easily take a fraction of the billions in profits it rakes in every year and make everyone refereeing a game a full-time employee, then send them to months of film study and workshops in the offseason to get more consistency out of their very important decisions. They could listen to the suggestion from Payton and his peers across the league who have called for a “sky judge” to be implemented as another official who could double-check those calls and non-calls.

But the NFL is cheap, and also lazy, or at best complacent. It starts at the top with league commissioner Roger Goodell who has said before that he and NFL ownership value the human element their referees’ mistakes bring to the game, saying that “The game is not officiated by robots. It’s not going to be.”

Goodell has also said that, “Our officials work incredibly hard, and the reality is they do a great job. But they’re going to miss calls,” and that’s just something fans and coaches and players have to live with. There’s no will at the top of the organization to fix the problems with officiating; if anything, Goodell and the people signing his paycheck are willfully ignorant about the situation. So all fans can do is complain online, and all Payton and his frustrated peers can do is complain to the media.

Sean Payton says it was the right time to leave competition committee

Sean Payton says it was ‘the right time’ to leave competition committee: ‘I’ll leave it at that so I don’t get fined’

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The NFL competition committee was shaken up this week with a few longtime members stepping down and others taking their place, and one of the departures included New Orleans Saints coach Sean Payton, who said Friday that it was “the right time” for him to exit the influential group.

Still, Payton had time for a parting shot before changing the subject, adding: “I’ll leave it at that so I don’t get fined.”

It makes sense for Payton to distance himself from the competition committee. Made up of active team owners, head coaches, general managers, and personnel executives around the NFL, they’re also the ones responsible for the new and very unpopular emphasis on the taunting rule, which has resulted in more unsolicited airtime for the league’s referees and some game-changing decisions in emotional, high-stakes situations.

Maybe Payton was not as eager to embrace the change in emphasis as his peers, which results in a 15-yard penalty and potential fine for each instance. Earlier this season he likened the rule’s inconsistent usage across the league to other fouls, saying, “It’s kind of like roughing the passer, I don’t think all 17 crews are on the same page,” but he has otherwise declined to take a public stance on the issue. Whatever his reasons, he clearly feels strongly about his decision to step down.

For the curious, Payton was one of three executives to leave the committee along with Packers president/CEO Mark Murphy and Broncos president of football operations John Elway. They were replaced by Titans coach Mike Vrabel, Colts coach Frank Reich, Dolphins general manager Chris Grier, as well as Bengals executive vice president Katie Blackburn.

They now join a group that includes Falcons president Rich McKay (also the committee chairman), Cowboys executive vice president/CEO Stephen Jones, Giants owner John Mara, Ravens executive vice president Ozzie Newsome, Washington coach Ron Rivera, and Steelers coach Mike Tomlin.

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Boston’s Brad Stevens part of committee guiding return to play

Boston Celtics head coach Brad Stevens is part of the committee guiding a return to play for the NBA as it deals with the coronavirus pandemic.

Boston Celtics head coach Brad Stevens is part of an advisory committee on when and how the NBA should resume league activities regarding the remainder of the suspended 2019-20 NBA season, and the 2020-21 season to come, reports ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski.

That committee, the competition committee, includes owners, general managers and coaches and has long had influence over the direction of the NBA on critical issues.

It has since become an advisory panel on when returning to play would be feasible, and Stevens is already a recognized voice within it, weighing in on issues like the expected timetable of restarting training camps with his own estimates.

The panel has as tall an order as any group has had in the history of sport, as their decisions could literally cost lives if they make a mistake, and massive sums of money hang in the balance not just this season, but in coming seasons that could feel a ripple effect of any choices made in the present.

For now, it is far too soon to assess the job that they are doing, but all signs from NBA commissioner Adam Silver and the league more generally point to a justifiably cautious approach going forward.

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