Thread: All blindside blocks prohibited starting in the 2019 season

Beginning this season, as part of a continued emphasis on player safety, all blindside blocks will be illegal. The new rules — proposed and voted on this spring — define a blindside block as when a player initiates a block when he is moving toward or parallel to his own end line and makes forcible contact to his opponent with his helmet, forearm or shoulder. Under previous rules, blindside blocks would have drawn a flag only if it was targeted to the head or neck area of the player receiving the block. According to NFL Football Operations, a third of all concussions suffered by players on punts last season were caused by blindside blocks.

The only time such a block can technically be made is when the block takes place in the tackle box, the area between the offensive tackles, and three yards in front of or behind the line of scrimmage, until the ball leaves that area. Once the ball leaves the tackle box, the box disappears, and any blindside block in that area becomes illegal. The tackle box provision is not actually an exception, but rather an interpretation that there can’t be forcible contact in the confines of the “mixing bowl” that exists around the location of the snap. Additionally, incidental contact (defined as an absence of forcible contact) is also not a foul for a blindside block, even though the other provisions may be present, although it may still be an illegal crackback or peel-back block.

rest - http://www.footballzebras.com/2019/0...e-2019-season/

I had never heard of a double team block penalty called on the return by the Broncos.
Perhaps it’s been around, and seldom called.

Originally Posted by Nomad

I had never heard of a double team block penalty called on the return by the Broncos.
Perhaps it’s been around, and seldom called.

Looks like it was a new rule last year
NFL Approves New Rule Changes For Kickoffs
https://sports.cbslocal.com/2018/05/...-for-kickoffs/

Starting this year it’s a foul in college too, if the block is with “forcible” contact.

What's the reasoning to implement a double blocking penalty? I understand the high/low blocking, but 2 players blocking one? Is this a safety thing? Spare me the unfair advantage thing, if that's the case, then the penalty is retarded....IMO.

Originally Posted by Nomad

What's the reasoning to implement a double blocking penalty? I understand the high/low blocking, but 2 players blocking one? Is this a safety thing? Spare me the unfair advantage thing, if that's the case, then the penalty is retarded....IMO.

It is a safety rule. Even in college if two players form a wedge on a kickoff, it’s a foul even if they don’t hit anybody. There are some exceptions, but I’m too lazy to type them out here. A lot of players got hurt trying to bust the wedges so they’ve now eliminated the wedge.

Originally Posted by spikerman

It is a safety rule. Even in college if two players form a wedge on a kickoff, it’s a foul even if they don’t hit anybody. There are some exceptions, but I’m too lazy to type them out here. A lot of players got hurt trying to bust the wedges so they’ve now eliminated the wedge.

Football is definitely evolving from what I've known.

Originally Posted by Nomad

Football is definitely evolving from what I've known.

True, but if it doesn’t mamas aren’t going to let their kids play anymore. It’s already happening.

Originally Posted by spikerman

True, but if it doesn’t mamas aren’t going to let their kids play anymore. It’s already happening.

Yeah, flag football is the future.

Originally Posted by spikerman

True, but if it doesn’t mamas aren’t going to let their kids play anymore. It’s already happening.

That is actually the biggest long term threat to the NFL. Football simply causes brain trauma and it might not be possible to make it really safe for kids. The more medical science uncovers regarding brain trauma the more parents are unlikely to permit their sons to play. Reducing the number of high school football players shrinks the pool of NFL players.

The NFL being composed of unbelievably stupid and greedy billionaires spent decades lying and suppressing all the evidence. Then it inevitably blew up in their faces with massive negative press and lawsuits.

They should be investing billions in trying to develop a helmet that will protect much better against brain trauma but they're now in a race against time they might actually lose. It's probably not possible to design a helmet that would be 100% protective.

But, it IS possible to dramatically improve things. In the 1920s cars were designed to be highly damage resistant. It's just the passengers who got injured in crashes.
Decades of research redesigned cars with things like safety glass that pebbles into harmless chunks instead of thousands of jagged shards of glass. They can certainly improve helmet design a lot over what it is now. It's a question of time and money and engineering.

I'm glad we can all agree that the NFL is all about player safety.

Saw this called in the Ravens game. TE sprung Lewis on a great block, Lewis scored, exciting play. Flag. If that is called during the regular season, going to make for some exciting football...

Lol

Originally Posted by Cugel

Originally Posted by spikerman

True, but if it doesn’t mamas aren’t going to let their kids play anymore. It’s already happening.

That is actually the biggest long term threat to the NFL. Football simply causes brain trauma and it might not be possible to make it really safe for kids. The more medical science uncovers regarding brain trauma the more parents are unlikely to permit their sons to play. Reducing the number of high school football players shrinks the pool of NFL players.

The NFL being composed of unbelievably stupid and greedy billionaires spent decades lying and suppressing all the evidence. Then it inevitably blew up in their faces with massive negative press and lawsuits.

They should be investing billions in trying to develop a helmet that will protect much better against brain trauma but they're now in a race against time they might actually lose. It's probably not possible to design a helmet that would be 100% protective.

But, it IS possible to dramatically improve things. In the 1920s cars were designed to be highly damage resistant. It's just the passengers who got injured in crashes.
Decades of research redesigned cars with things like safety glass that pebbles into harmless chunks instead of thousands of jagged shards of glass. They can certainly improve helmet design a lot over what it is now. It's a question of time and money and engineering.

I wonder how many of these alleged CTE victims took massive amounts of steroids and was jacked up to 1000. Like Seau.

Did Chris Benoit suffer from CTE?

For every case of this, theres someone else who is fine and took *vicious* beatings.

Joe Namath has his marbles.
Elway is the most sacked QB of all time.
Bradshaw still coherent.
Montana
Sharpe
Young
Montana
Emmitt Smith
Barry Sanders
Deion

There's a list of thousands of former players who still have their brains.

Theres more to this than meets the eye IMO, but I don't want to see anyone get hurt. Its a byproduct of the profession.

Like boxing and UFC.