📡 How The NFL's New Helmet Rule Could Change Football As We Know It

[RTB X Bot]

 

[TerryP]

For reference: News - Say farewell to the three-point stance

From the article linked in the first post:

Geoff Schwartz, who played eight seasons as an NFL offensive lineman, sees the helmet rule as the possible start of something that could completely change the game. Yes, past rule changes—to protect quarterbacks and defenseless receivers, plus the crown-of-the-helmet rule—were greeted with similar reactions, and the sky never fell. But if the league is indeed intent on enforcing a rule against leading with the helmet when linemen collide? ​

That’s new territory entirely.​

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“I think we’re eventually going to go to where there’s not going to be a three-point stance anymore,” Schwartz told me. “Everyone’s just going to have to be up, because that seems to be the way that they want this to go. I just worry that that change will fundamentally change the game.”​

Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk has made this point, too. The three-point stance has been a fundamental part of line play since it was first introduced in the late 19th century. As Schwartz explained, the stance is used because it helps both offensive and defensive linemen create leverage and power. But firing up out of a three-point stance invariably involves using one’s helmet to either power through an opponent or holding one’s ground. Without it, a whole lot changes—including the likelihood of the sub-concussive blows that studies have shown can contribute to long-term brain trauma. But the game itself will have to change, too.​

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“Run blocking would be supremely easier if the defense was not in a three-point stance,” Schwartz said. “It would just lead to more scoring, which is what they want.”​

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The NFL has openly pondered the possibility of eliminating the three-point stance in the past. As far back as February 2010, in the wake of the league being shamed by Congress for its distortion of the science of brain trauma, commissioner Roger Goodell mused out loud about banning it. ​

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Those were heady days; the league was staring at the certainty of litigation and looking to slough as much liability as possible onto the players themselves. That’s still true, but players today are much more aware of the risks and more willing to self-report head injuries than they might have been in the past. “There’s no way you can play now and claim you didn’t know that there are possible side effects of playing in the NFL, or playing college football, or whatever it may be,” Schwartz said.​

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[TUSKtimes]

Why all the indignation toward football? Shouldn't we be having the same open dialogue about the dangers of boxing, MMA, UFC. No helmets, lots of folks are going unconscious and yet the general public continues to pay big money on these PPV events as these fighters continue to pummel one another into a bloody pulp. Only in America.

 

[BamaFan334]

Why all the indignation toward football? Shouldn't we be having the same open dialogue about the dangers of boxing, MMA, UFC. No helmets, lots of folks are going unconscious and yet the general public continues to pay big money on these PPV events as these fighters continue to pummel one another into a bloody pulp. Only in America.

Cause football players act dumb and try to say they didn't understand the dangers their sport presented.

 

[JoseyWalesTheOutlaw]

More scoring..............hell the offense can hold on every play and the OL is 5 yards down the field on passing plays.

 

[50+yeartidefan]

O goodness.....so...they cant crouch (3 point stance ) for playing at LOS...but ok to crouch (kneel) for National Anthem.... so f'ing twisted...
Hell...i am going hiking on Sundays this fall...