Found this while responding to another post.

Owners adopt four safety-related rule changes
By Tom Silverstein of the Journal Sentinel
March 24, 2009


Dana Point, Calif. -- It's nothing akin to the introduction of instant replay or the "K" ball, but the NFL owners have approved four minor rule changes submitted by the league's competition committee.

All four rules were made with the safety of players in mind.

Rule Change No. 1: No blindside blocks in which there is contact to the player's head.
It will now be a 15-yard penalty if "the initial force of the contact by a blocker's helmet, forearm or shoulder is to the head or neck area" if the blocker is moving toward his own endline and he approaches the opponent from behind or the side.

In simple terms, no crackback blocks to the head. Examples are receivers blocking down on linebackers and defenders blocking back on interception or fumble returns. Under this rule, it still appears that Warren Sapp's block on Chad Clifton was legal, but I'll check later with vice president of officiating Mike Pereira when he has his officiating seminar later today.

Rule Change No. 2: No more kickoff wedges.
It will be a 15-yard penalty if players intentionally form a wedge of three or more players on a kickoff return. No more than two receiving team players can join together shoulder-to-shoulder within 2 yards of each other and block for the returner.

Rule Change No. 3: Unnecessary roughness has been expanded to include shots to a defenseless receiver's head.
The amendment states, a penalty will be called "If the initial force of the contact by a defender's helmet, forearm, or shoulder is to the head or neck area of a defenseless receiver who is catching or attempting to catch a pass."

This would presumably cover the hit Steelers safety Ryan Grant had on Baltimore running back Willis McGahee in the AFC Championship game.

Rule Change No. 4: No bunch formations on kickoffs.
There must be at least four players on each side of the kicker and at least three of those must be lined up between the hash mark and the out of bounds line, one of which must be outside the yard-line number.

What the rule does is prevent teams from bunching up players on onsides kicks.

Look for an update to this story later in which I"ll have remarks from Pereira.

http://www.jsonline.com/blogs/archiv...ate=03-31-2009

The call was correct. Rant about the rule all you want, the refs got it right.

Actually, you are wrong. Watch the hit again. Page does not come in contact the receiver's head or neck area.

Nothing you bolded in that post took place during the tackle.

It wasn't even the worst call in the league yesterday...

WHERES THE GIF

Nobody said it was. Bad calls go for you and against you. I was pointing how orange was wrong.

No, I'm right. Completely. That is EXACTLY what happened - shoulder to neck area.

http://www.nfl.com/videos/kansas-cit...efs-highlights

At the 35 second mark.

I saw it. The ref saw it.
Even Deion and Haley saw it - they just don't know the rule. They both think it was legal because Page used his shoulder....

... Oh, yeah. And the penalty was marched off. Refs 1 - Chiefs Homers 0.


orange was right.

I've seen it too. Nothing to the neck. Perfect form tackle. You don't know what you're talking about.

Rant on.

LMAO Dude, are you ****ing blind? The announcers during the game and EVERY postgame show I saw showed the SAME 2 clips and they ALL said it was a bad call. There was NO contact to the head or neck area.

I could really give a shit what the announcers said - as I mentioned above, they don't even know the rule.

And I just linked the video. Look at it all you want. The penalty yardage still stands - and it's Chiefs Homers who've posted at least two threads about it. I'm not the one ranting. I'm LMAO.

How many times would you guess in this very thread someone has said it was legal because (1) Page used his shoulder and (2) he didn't hit Smith in the head?

He has donkeyvision, and should be ignored in general when it comes to just about anything. Pam on the jersey's, funny, not cheating, breaking the salary cap, eh... etc. etc.

I watched the video there a few times now and there is no way anyone could see a penalty.

Jarrad Page nails Steve Smith shoulder to collarbone
 

15 yards, 1st Down Giants!

Sadly we will never hear if their is an apology letter from the NFL, but people often slide down from the neck to the elbow on a hard hit, lol!!!

:LOL: "elbow"

WRONG!!! I recorded the game and watched the play multiple times. Page's helmet didn't touch any part of his head or body. It was a clean hit shoulder to shoulder. Even after commercial break, the guy in the booth admitted he was wrong and the hit was clean.