Aggressive or Dirty?

Added on Oct 19, 2010 by Scott in

NFL

A spate of concussion-inducing helmet-to-helmet collisions during week six has led the NFL powers that be to consider dishing out suspensions for guilty players. A handful of pass catchers suffered head injuries on Sunday, including DeSean Jackson, Josh Cribbs, Mohamed Massoquoi and Chris Cooley. In addition, safeties Brandon Meriweather and Jim Leonhard were flagged for helmet shots against Todd Heap and Brandon Lloyd respectively. Is this sudden rise in punishing blows just physical defense, or is this a case of dirty pool?

Steelers linebacker James Harrison, who KO’d both Cribbs and Massoquoi, offered little sympathy for his actions and even admitted to “trying to hurt people.” Harrison is no stranger to being fined for questionable hits, but no amount of money removed from his bank account will change his aggressive style. Despite the blatant helmet-to-helmet contact, neither play drew a penalty, although both will likely be reviewed by the league office.

On the flip side, Dunta Robinson’s devastating hit on DeSean Jackson, which resulted in concussions for both parties, was flagged for hitting a defenseless receiver. Therein lies the problem. The lack of consistency among officiating crews as to what constitutes an illegal hit must be addressed.

There’s a fine line between intimidating and dirty. If the intent is to do harm, then more severe punishments must be levied. Football Night in America analyst Rodney Harrison, who knows all about being accused of head-hunting, said the threat of suspensions will go a long way to solving the problem. According to him, fines aren’t enough of a deterrent — not for guys making millions of dollars a year.

I don’t want to see G-rated football. I’m already fed up with the glut of bogus “roughing the passer” penalties enforced on a weekly basis. That being said, losing dynamic offensive playmakers like Jackson and Cribbs for multiple weeks due to preventable hits isn’t kosher. Robinson didn’t have to lower the boom and neither did Harrison. A textbook waist tackle would have sufficed. Obviously, the commissioner’s office concurs.

With concussions approaching near epidemic status, something had to be done, especially with the an 18-game schedule looming. It’s impossible to stop all head injuries, but reducing the number is doable. If the league is serious about curtailing purposeful helmet-to-helmet contact, then they’ll treat the issue similar to performance-enhancing drugs. First offense nets a one-game suspension, second offense four games, and so on and so forth.

Neutering defenders entirely isn’t the answer. Nobody wants to watch two-hand tap on Sundays. But nobody wants to watch players carted off the field with scrambled eggs for brains either.