Roger Goodell's Powder-Puff Protection Rules

[FlyByU]

How many like the new rules that IMO has neutered the D. If they hit a WR to hard it is a 15yd penalty not because it wasn't a fair hit but it was just to hard.

I am really sick of seeing this and IMO the D needs to just accept the fines and tell Roger Goodell to kiss it where the sun don't shine. All that the rules have done is make passing in the NFL so easy now. I mean they cannot touch a receiver if he isn't in control in other words he is allowed to catch it if he jumps for the ball and then has to be given time to get his footing before being hit where as before they made them pay for that and it was up to the WR to catch the ball with real talent not the powder-puffs we call WR today who didn't take the hits that they would have got before Roger Goodell turned American Football into into a Euro feely feely suck sport.

College players hit harder then the NFL now because of Roger Goodell. It's good to see College hasn't wimped out.

If Eddy Mac, Rod Smith, and Jerry Rice etc. had these rules they would have had 2x the yards they have now. I really dislike the new rules and wonder if anyone else does. If you like them give valid reasons why you think they are good make sure to keep in mind I didn't grow up in the 90's 2000's I grow up back when the Winners were winners and losers were called losers. Now days its Winners and the losers are called Good-sportsmen.

Also don't forget the QB protection crap and the kickoff's.

Can you imagine what Elway, Young, and Montana would have had with all these wimpy rules these powder-puff QB's have today?

It's a rant yes but how do you feel about all the new protection rules. Remember they get paid millions to go out there and do what they do so they are well compensated for it.

[Agent of Orange]

I agree with this. It seems like Goodell is really more interested in engineering more offense than he is in making the game safer. When he takes something away from the defense, he should be giving something back. For example, he should do away with faceguarding and the 5 yard bumping rule. Neither of those are saftey issues. There should be no flags for bumping receivers unless the ball is in the air.

Another thing that sucks is how they overregulate some basic aspects of the game. For example, look at how they've overregulated what has to happen for it to be a catch. People are playing some form of football all across the country and they're managing to do so successfully without having some guy in a suit go to ridiculous lengths to tell them what a catch is. A catch should be defined as most people know it. And the same can be said about the QB protection rules, which you've identified. There's nothing close to this in HSs.

Another issue is that you can start to question the worth of a defensive players contract. The only people who are ever fined are defensive players. Never offense. When they start negotiating these contracts they should start factoring in fines so that they can actually make what they're worth net of fines. It would be one thing if they were only fined for egregious acts but it can be for something really random and being in the wrong place at the wrong time. The fine on Rahim Moore in the pre-season was a perfect example. There are a lot of things that happen in the gray area. Just because Goodell wants to go to ridiculous lengths to have more offense, that doesnt mean a player shouldnt get paid what he's worth and Goodell is playing with people's money.

Another thing is that, I found it interesting that AJ Hawk was only fined 10,000 for his obscene gesture. Something fishy there.

[HORSEPOWER 56]

Before you go all commando on Goodell, remember a few things... he doesn't make the rules, the owners who are part of the competition committee do - all he does is enforce them by telling his refs what is against the rules and levying fines to players who break them. Even who gets fined isn't necessarily his call, he hears appeals, but that's not it. Do you think he sits there and reviews every play of every game and says, "hmm that hit was excessive, I'm going to fine that guy"? No, he has people who do that for him. He may or may not even decide the level at which they are fined.

As I've argued before, the players are the ones who are want these rules in place. They want more rules to protect them - passer safety, defenseless receiver safety, less practices in pads, more time off per game week and on bye weeks, etc. The NFLPA and the retired players are the ones pushing for these player safety rules, not the commissioner and not the owners. Eventually, the defense will catch up to the offense and they'll make cut-blocking illegal too and the defensive players will be happy. No kickoff wedges, where and how hard you can hit the QB, defenseless receivers, even the kickoff at the 35 came more from the players than the league/owners. Sure it sucks for some players, but by and large they can only blame themselves.

Their hypocrisy knows no bounds however because they are the ones who still refuse to properly wear the safety equipment provided to them. Wearing a mouthpiece or not can have a huge impact on whether or not a blow to the head results in a concussion. How many QBs actually wear them? How many DBs? How about pads and helmets? How many guys don't wear all the necessary pads or choose to have long dreads which makes their helmet fit improperly thereby increasing the risk of head injuries? They are also the ones who decide where and how hard they are going to hit someone. If they really are "one", why do guys like James Harrison continue to try to injure or end the careers of their coworkers over a game? Make the tackle, you don't have to use your helmet as a weapon or bludgeon the other player's head to get him to the ground.

The league is the one who is pushing for all the rules that score points and favor offenses. The Tuck rule, strictly enforcing the 5 yard chuck, PI, etc - these are the rules the league develops to make the game more "exciting".

[BroncoStud]

If you guys are referring to Dunta Robinson leading with his helmet and spearing Jeremy Macklin in his head for no real reason, yes, I think Goodell is perfectly within reason to enforce those rules.

How many former players can't live their lives in a normal manner once they retire? Clean up the game.

[sneakers]

Goodell is a turd sandwich

[Joel]

How many like the new rules that IMO has neutered the D. If they hit a WR to hard it is a 15yd penalty not because it wasn't a fair hit but it was just to hard.

I am really sick of seeing this and IMO the D needs to just accept the fines and tell Roger Goodell to kiss it where the sun don't shine. All that the rules have done is make passing in the NFL so easy now. I mean they cannot touch a receiver if he isn't in control in other words he is allowed to catch it if he jumps for the ball and then has to be given time to get his footing before being hit where as before they made them pay for that and it was up to the WR to catch the ball with real talent not the powder-puffs we call WR today who didn't take the hits that they would have got before Roger Goodell turned American Football into into a Euro feely feely suck sport.

College players hit harder then the NFL now because of Roger Goodell. It's good to see College hasn't wimped out.

If Eddy Mac, Rod Smith, and Jerry Rice etc. had these rules they would have had 2x the yards they have now. I really dislike the new rules and wonder if anyone else does. If you like them give valid reasons why you think they are good make sure to keep in mind I didn't grow up in the 90's 2000's I grow up back when the Winners were winners and losers were called losers. Now days its Winners and the losers are called Good-sportsmen.

Also don't forget the QB protection crap and the kickoff's.

Can you imagine what Elway, Young, and Montana would have had with all these wimpy rules these powder-puff QB's have today?

It's a rant yes but how do you feel about all the new protection rules. Remember they get paid millions to go out there and do what they do so they are well compensated for it.
That and the "defenseless receiver" rule have changed the whole nature of pass defence, and I agree with AoO in believing it's more about increasing offensive numbers than decreasing injuries. In particular, it's about increasing PASSING numbers that didn't really need the help; no one worries about how hard RUNNING BACKS, defenseless or otherwise, get hit, despite the axiom that even the best backs have very short careers (and even shorter star careers) because of the punishment they take.

Another axiom used to be that receivers "might as well catch it; he's gonna hit you anyway," but, of course, that's no longer true, and the days when defenders could lay a brutal hit on a receiver hoping to knock the ball loose are gone. Defensive backs are almost obligated to play the ball rather than the man because playing the man gets you nothing but a penalty. I guess that means more pick sixes, too, which are also good for ratings, box office numbers and jersey sales, but I'm not sure it really means better football.

As for the real issue of spearing, guess what: Spearing was ALREADY illegal, so it's just another case where we need to enforce the law we already have rather than create another one to ignore. I don't know why refs stopped calling spearing, but I can't remember the last time I saw a flag for it, let alone a League issued fine. I guess the good news is you can still spear running backs; no one cares what happens to them. Small wonder why most teams are so much more inclined to pass than run these days, which helps explain why we've seen so many teams come back from three scores down in the second half (Brady had four picks against the Bills, who only took the lead when they returned the last one for a TD.) Again, good for ratings and jersey sales, but not so good for football.