Owners approve new rules changes
Updated May 24, 2011 2:12 PM ET
INDIANAPOLIS
One of the rules changes unanimously approved Tuesday at an NFL owners meeting could have a chilling effect on defensive players.
The most significant rule deals with “launching” to level a defenseless player (i.e. leaving both feet prior to contact to spring forward and upward into an opponent or using any part of the helmet to initiate forcible contact against any part of the opponent’s body). Not only will there be a 15-yard unnecessary roughness penalty, but the launching defender can be ejected from the game if the action is judged flagrant by the officiating crew.
The league also further defined what constitutes a “defenseless position” for players with an eight-point list:
* A player in the act of or just after throwing a pass.
* A receiver attempting to catch a pass or one who has not completed a catch and hasn’t had time to protect himself or hasn’t clearly become a runner. If the receiver/runner is capable of avoiding or warding off the impending contact of an opponent, he is no longer a defenseless player.
* A runner whose forward progress has been stopped and is already in the grasp of a tackler.
* A kickoff or punt returner attempting to field a kick in the air.
* A player on the ground at the end of a play.
* A kicker/punter during the kick or return.
* A quarterback any time after a change of possession (i.e. turnover).
* A player who receives a “blindside” block when the blocker is moving toward his own end-line and approaches the opponent from behind or the side.
Prohibited contact against a player in a defenseless position was further defined as “forcibly hitting the neck or head area with the helmet, facemask, forearm or shoulder regardless of whether the defensive player also uses his arms to tackle the defenseless player by encircling or grasping him.” It is also illegal to lower the head and make forcible contact with the top/crown or forehead/”hairline” parts of the helmet against any part of the defenseless player’s body.
The latter provision does not prohibit incidental contact by the mask or helmet in the course of a conventional tackle.
The third approved change clarified the rule regarding protection of the quarterback. Hits to the head of a passer by an opponent’s hands, arms or other parts of the body will not be fouls unless they are forcible blows.
These rule changes were tabled at a March owners meeting because some teams were unhappy with the wording that was presented by the NFL’s competition committee.
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Originally Posted by DemonGeminiX
