Attacking another human being is not easy. A good little league coach teaches a step-by-step approach of lifting the mask, chest-to-chest contact, wrapping up, grabbing a rag, and driving. However, a living running back does not stand still. In order to combat fully geared running backs who sprint, slide, spin, and shake, coaches typically ask players to do their best to lower their pad level, roll up, and head to the outside. NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell wants to add one more caveat: No sliding is allowed. If a player falls off the body of an opposing player and continues to play on a lower part, this is called the famous “hip tackle”.
During Goodell’s press conference Wednesday at the league’s owners’ meetings, he addressed what is considered a dangerous play. Judging by his own words, NFL defenders will have to be ready to drop ball carriers in a split second in 2024.
“We should all work to eliminate this from the game,” Goodell said. during a press conference. “You see it’s intensified in the number of times it’s happened this season. The injury can be very devastating. We saw it too. This doesn’t just happen at the NFL level. This happens at other levels as well. (It’s) something that I feel like we have to work really hard to get removed this spring.
For the commissioner to express this strong opinion at league ownership meetings, defensive position coaches had better start running minicamp drills that will prepare players for the change. Plus, AJ Brown is poised to lead the NFL in yards after contact because no bad cornerback is going to be able to bring him down without sliding.
When the NFL banned collar tackling in 2005, it was done amid widespread protests. A defender’s job is to bring the offensive player to the ground. If that requires snatching a player from behind the shoulder pads, so be it.
It’s been 18 years since this rule was put in place, and these days a fight will start over a blatant tackle to a horse’s collar. The NFL says it has data showing injuries are 25 times more likely when a player is knocked down by a hip tackle.
Society may be less opinionated about football in 2023 than it was in 2005, but this potential rule change seems extreme. This will leave defenders with no room for error when attempting one of the most essential acts in sport: the tackle. Without this aspect of the game, football would not be entertaining enough to dominate television audiences as it currently does.
That being said, the healthier the stars are on the field come playoff time, the better for viewers, investors, and participants. Moreover, these athletes are professionals. They are regularly asked to perform astonishing feats with their bodies and are paid handsomely for their work.
For all the different opinions on hip-drop tackling, only one matters: Goodell’s. He made it clear he wanted to get rid of the piece. Next season, defensive players will most likely have to learn how to avoid tackles if they lose their grip, or allow themselves to be drawn into a 15-yard penalty.
