I've thought that this is a penalty that should be automatically reviewable, along with PI (though that would be much more difficult, because of the arbitrary nature of the call).

The thing is that players have gotten away from the fundamentals of tackling, because the NFL and ESPN glorified the big hit.

This problem was created by the NFL and they are now trying to reverse field.

Back when they played on real grass that had real dirt/mud instead of X-Box turf....

I will care more about player safety when the players start caring more about player safety.

No. and I don't care about replay & all that is associated with "the perfect officiating" of football.

Give me good refs that are going to make mistakes now and then and give me a football game where players can go all out FTW.

yep
absolutely

Meh, I don't mind the new turf. As shitty as fields look today I think they should all change to turf now.

Back on point though, just watching the old superbowls on NFL network yesterday reminded me just how much the game has changed and how nobody really tackles anymore. Of course, a lot of those tackles would be illegal now but shit, it was so much more interesting back then.

Yes, I care about player safety. Big time.

I care about Bountygate because I think it absolutely sucks that Brett Favre couldn't play in the last drive of a playoff game. Players who intentionally try to hurt a player are cheating, in my opinion.

I care because I hate watching any game where you have a neutered backup to a star player. I want to see the best players on the field. And I don't like watching careers get cut short.

I care because the solution shouldn't be this hard. Teach players to wrap up instead of going for kill shots.

I care about the big shit. Facemasks chop block horse collars (to a lesser extent). But at some point, high salary should offset risk. There is a much higher chance of death while I'm on the job than a football player, and they make a ****load more money than I do. This whole safety thing is quite ridiculous.

I care about the big shit. Facemasks chop block horse collars (to a lesser extent). But at some point, high salary should offset risk. There is a much higher chance of death while I'm on the job than a football player, and they make a ****load more money than I do. This whole safety thing is quite ridiculous.

I care about the concussion issue a lot, and I think they need to continue to research and develop ways to help with that (if there are ways). Things like horseshoe collars and chop blocks and so on, as well, where guys can get injured by unprofessional behavior.

I do not, however, care for or about the way the quarterback position is treated. They might as well just put a 3 foot halo around them and be done with it. And that has nothing at all to do with player safety, that has to do with owner security, and the risk of losing hundreds of millions if their guy goes down. And I do mean hundreds, it involves a lot more money than just the contract.

I love the way QBs are treated.

It doesn't just have to do with owner security. It has to do with competitive advantage. Without rules, it would be easy to Tonya Harding the QB. If you need extra rules in place, fine. I absolutely hate watching QBs get injured, because I love watching the best players play. I hate watching a good team become uncompetitive because their star player is out.

We pay these people to entertain us. So no.

but they are not gladiators....

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Bring back gladiators!!!!!

I think the players are risking minimizing the public's empathy towards player safety issues when they use concussions, post-concussion issues, etc. as a lawsuit ATM to get $$$.

Louie Aguiar, former Chiefs punter is Exhibit A of this. He is one of the plaintiffs in the lawsuit suing the NFL for damages relating to concussions.

Aguiar barely got touched in his NFL career as a punter... much less received consistent direct hits to the head.

They should protect them the way they protect every other player. You want to prevent flagrant hits. You don't want to completely prevent hits altogether. Part of the game for everyone is playing through pain, and part of the game is injury. That's just the way it is. Players get hurt, and it doesn't have to have anything to do with tackling. Hell, we've seen qbs break fingers and hands because they hit a guy's helmet on a follow through. Uh oh, that dastardly defensive player got his head in the way!

There are far too many flags for plays that aren't even remotely flagrant.