BLOG: The "Fine" Line Of NFL Hitting
By: Steve Trevelise
My father is a retired Union City Fireman. For 30 years he went to work not knowing if he was coming home. He knew the risk and he understood it. When a man chooses to play professional football he knows there are certain risks involved as well. I keep hearing the media praise the NFL's new stricter hitting enforcement but I'm not hearing the guys who play the game come out in favor of it. These guys knew the risk when they signed up, they accept it and many don't want it to change.
Now I'm not saying you don't fine a player who viciously tried to seriously injure a player, or someone taking a cheap shot, but these high priced fines for players making legal hits are going to hurt the game and may hurt players who try to hold up.Let's not also forget the time wasted during a game with all the additional flags being thrown. Eagle linebacker Ernie Sims has been fined 50 thousand dollars for "unnecessarily striking a defenseless receiver in the head and neck area with his forearms. WHAT???? Isn't football all about hitting? When you look at the clips of the greatest defenders in the NFL, How many of them would be legal under these rules? Would they still make the Hall Of Fame? Soon they'll include that he didn't say "May I"
Steelers linebacker James Harrison has come out and said he's not changing his game because of the stricter policy, he has also been fined 3 times already totalling 100,000 dollars. Among Harrisons points are when a defensive player tried to avoid contact but the offensive player inadvertently ducks his head and gets hit. Now the defensive players want offensive players who go for their legs fined. Where does it end? Soon there will be a "strike zone" between the neck and belt and players will only be allowed to hit there...but not too hard.
