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Denver Native (Carol)
08-30-2011, 09:48 PM
Starting this year, players who are fined for certain types of on-field infractions ultimately will put their teams in line to pay fines, too.

Per a league source with knowledge of the situation, Commissioner Roger Goodell advised all teams in a memo dated August 11, 2011, of an expansion of the “Club Remittance Policy” to include 11 different on-field infractions.

The 11 specific infractions are: (1) striking/kicking/kneeing; (2) horse collar tackle; (3) facemask violations; (4) leg whip; (5) late hit; (6) spearing; (7) impermissible use of helmet; (8) hit on a defenseless player; (9) blindside block; (10) roughing the passer; and (11) chop block.

rest of article - http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2011/08/30/teams-face-fines-for-certain-on-field-infractions-by-players/

underrated29
08-30-2011, 09:51 PM
Man, goodell is...........He needs to go.

Canmore
08-30-2011, 09:52 PM
Really. Aren't things getting a little out of hand? I might be able to see a couple of the infractions but this is a game played at high speed with emotion. Things happen. :tsk:

Tned
08-30-2011, 10:02 PM
Man, goodell is...........He needs to go.

Not sure how much is Goodell alone and how much was pushed by De Smith and the player reps. Player safety was supposedly a issue for them.

pnbronco
08-30-2011, 10:24 PM
They said on The Fan maybe yesterday that $ 3 million have come in from fines each year the last couple of years. It will be interesting to see what happens to that # with this new rule.

The think the money use to go to a NFL supported charities, does anyone know if that is still the case?

Tned
08-30-2011, 10:28 PM
They said on The Fan maybe yesterday that $ 3 million have come in from fines each year the last couple of years. It will be interesting to see what happens to that # with this new rule.

The think the money use to go to a NFL supported charities, does anyone know if that is still the case?

Don't quote me, but I thought I saw a Tweet or article within the last couple days saying it was now going into the retirement fund. I'll see if I can find it.

Northman
08-30-2011, 10:43 PM
I hope Suh was paying attention. 4 major PF's in just a year and a preaseason game.

Denver Native (Carol)
08-30-2011, 10:48 PM
I hope Suh was paying attention. 4 major PF's in just a year and a preaseason game.

He might start paying attention when his team takes the amount they have to pay also out of his paycheck :D

sneakers
08-31-2011, 03:57 AM
Don't like your boss? Go play for the Canadian football league.

Lancane
08-31-2011, 08:17 AM
Don't like your boss? Go play for the Canadian football league.

At least they haven't wussified their league yet! :lol:

The Glue Factory
08-31-2011, 09:00 AM
At least they haven't wussified their league yet! :lol:

Can't wussify what was set up as a wussy game in the first place. :listen:

HORSEPOWER 56
08-31-2011, 01:35 PM
Not sure how much is Goodell alone and how much was pushed by De Smith and the player reps. Player safety was supposedly a issue for them.

Once again, if the players were so damned concerned with safety, then they wouldn't get all bent out of shape and trash Goodell in the media when he fines them for illegal shit. They keep talking out of both sides of their mouths.

They throw around the term "player safety" when it's convenient (ie, when they want to work less) such as when 2 a days or an 18 game season is brought up, but then they all cry when they get that fine letter in their locker on Monday because they knocked out a "defenseless" receiver.

These players need to understand that they can't have it both ways.

HORSEPOWER 56
08-31-2011, 01:38 PM
They said on The Fan maybe yesterday that $ 3 million have come in from fines each year the last couple of years. It will be interesting to see what happens to that # with this new rule.

The think the money use to go to a NFL supported charities, does anyone know if that is still the case?

I know a lot of the fines collected in previous years were donated to charity (typically the player's own foundation if they have one). I'm not sure how it will be this season.

JaxBroncoGirl
08-31-2011, 01:56 PM
No wonder the coach for Jacksonville Jaguars (Del Rio) said, "we have several players out because of a bump on the head", they call that a concussion, when I played (Del Rio), we played football with broken bones, head injuries all the time. Basically, he thinks the league has gone way too far when it comes to injuries, stating this is football and players are going to get hurt.

Joel
08-31-2011, 02:20 PM
One of the things I found perplexing and frustrating about the new rules (and heavy fines for) "leading with the helmet" last year was that "leading with the helmet" is basically just spearing, which I THOUGHT was already illegal. Until about a month ago (actually, 23 August; I was about 60 miles from Oslo at the time, so it's not a hard to recall the date) when I was on another site and saw a link to the following article in The Guardian (for those unaware, that's a major British paper, which was doing a story on the NFL):

http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/2011/jul/19/nfl-star-brain-injuries-destroyed

It in turn prompted me to finally google "spearing" to see if I could find an explanation of why they added new penalties and massive (to anyone but an NFL starter) fines associated with them, and why it's been so long since I last saw anyone called for spearing in the NFL. This is what I found:

http://bleacherreport.com/articles/495868-the-nfls-concussion-repercussion-helmet-to-helmet-hits-threatening-the-game

In particular, note this statement from the second article:

There used to be a penalty called “spearing” back in the day which prevented players from using their helmets as a weapon. The flag was usually thrown when someone launched themselves head-first into an opponent’s chest or back.

This penalty was dismissed years ago, and it seems there are coaches around the country who simply aren’t teaching our youth how to properly make a tackle.
Now, I never played organized football at any level, so I can't speak to that. But I've been racking my brains for a couple years now trying to remember the last time I saw an NFL player flagged for spearing, and even when I resorted to the internet this was the best I could find. Maybe my memory's going as I slip into my dotage and maybe I'm finally officially too old to know how to use the computers that entered the mainstream not long after I entered school. Seems to me though that it's like so many other things: We need to enforce all the rules we've got, consistently and impartially, rather than creating a bucket full of new ones that also aren't enforced. I like the passing game, but the old criticism that the NFL is the National Armball Leage is beginning to have merit as we've made it illegal to hit QBs low, or high, or the moment the ball leaves their hand (pulling up or not). It's practically illegal to hit QBs period; no wonder passing stats are through the roof.

That said, the larger problem here isn't Goodell (believe me, I'm no fan of his), it's the fact there IS a larger problem, one that has the League running scared and doing some heavy duty CYA, and not just in terms of (not insignificant) legal liability. There's a clear pattern of player suicides and loss of judgement and impulse control even among men who prided themselves on it before they took one (or a dozen) too many blows to the head. It's a pattern strong enough that major papers in other countries are doing stories about an American sport that's virtually irrelevant to them. One strong enough that there's a literal brain trust set up by former NFL players for the sole purpose of determining just what NFL careers were doing to players brains.

The second article argues (among other things) that coaches need to restore an emphasis on fundamentals and tackling with shoulders and arms rather than helmets, not only to improve tackling but reduce injury. Maybe that's the answer, maybe it's part of it, maybe something else entirely is required, but anyone who knows enough about the NFL to be Commissioner knows the whole reason we have a rule requiring seven men on the line of scrimmage is because 100 years ago Teddy Roosevelt threatened to ban football entirely after several DOZEN players were KILLED playing a GAME in just ONE SEASON. That, and a little human concern for demented and/or dead teammates, is what's going on here, and if takes a few hundred thousand dollars in fines for each of the 32 teams bringing the NFL $9 billion in annual revenue, so be it. That may be the relatively small price we must pay to preserve not only the health of our favorite players, but the existence of the game itself.