Bad sports, good sports: New NFL rules may ruin football
In the last several weeks, the NFL has made a lot of noise about penalties, fines, and suspensions for hits it considers to be violent or dangerous. Helmet-to-helmet hits, in particular, are being closely examined and are to be dealt with harshly. Many players have expressed concerns about what the new rules will do to their ability to play aggressively, and for many of them, non-aggressive play means non-successful play. A momentary hesitation when tackling can be enough to make the defensive player miss the tackle entirely. I appreciate the league’s position, as studies continue to show that the long-term effects of concussions are far worse than was previously believed. My assumption is that the players will adjust, finding ways to be aggressive and hit hard without leading with their helmets. Watching the Eagles-Colts game on Sunday afternoon, though, made me think that professional football may be genuinely damaged by this new focus.
There were two absolutely atrocious calls made in the game that were so bad that it almost makes me think the refs had some money on the game. The first of these calls came in the second quarter after a catch by Austin Collie of the Colts. Collie caught the ball facing Peyton Manning, and then turned to run. As he took his first couple of steps, he was sandwiched between Quintin Mikell and Kurt Coleman, both safeties for the Eagles. Mikell got there first, and the impact of that hit caused an awkward hit between Coleman and Collie, which included a glancing blow between their two helmets. Collie dropped the ball and laid on the ground, unmoving. There were two bad parts to the call made by the officials. First, the personal foul call on Coleman was unfair, in my opinion, as the helmet-to-helmet contact was clearly not his fault and not intentional. Second, the ball was clearly fumbled and recovered by the Eagles. Instead of first down going the other way for the Eagles, the ball stayed with the Colts and they were even given 15 additional yards for their trouble. The Colts quickly scored and what could have been a 16-7 Eagles lead with them driving for more points became a 16-14 Eagles lead with the Colts clearly holding the momentum.
The second brutal call came with about six minutes left in the game and the Eagles leading 26-17. Trent Cole, a defensive end for the Eagles, was rushing the passer. He came around the right end and, while clearly being held by the Colts lineman, still managed to get to Manning and knock the ball out of his hand. The Eagles recovered the fumble and were well on their way to putting the game away. The refs decided they would have none of that, though, and called a 15-yard personal foul penalty on Cole for what appeared to be an incidental touch of the back of Manning’s helmet as he was fighting his way through the hold and was trying to knock down the arm that he was sure Manning was about to raise as part of a pass attempt. Cole’s hand was open, so there was no “blow to the head” of any significance. The Colts kept the ball, plus another bonus fifteen yards, and went on to score to bring the Colts to within two.
The Eagles managed to win the game, amazingly, but these were just awful examples of the league being overprotective, based on the new rules. Without these two calls, this would have been a very different game. The players had more reasons for concern than they thought, I guess. Beyond the impact on how the defensive players play, there is clearly a strong reason to believe that the referees are going to go overboard in their attempts to police the game. Again, I am all for protecting players from needless injury, especially the kind that can have an impact on them throughout their lives. Football is a violent game, though, and if the NFL is not careful, they will be creating something more akin to flag football than to the football that we all know and love.
Bad sports, continued:
2) Heisman-favorite Cam Newton, quarterback for the Auburn Tigers, had a pretty bad week. Mid-week, it was reported that Mississippi State had notified the NCAA that a person who said he was representing Newton back when he was being recruited out of junior college had offered Newton’s services to the school for the price of $180,000. No idea what’s true here, and Auburn, the school he ended up attending, says no offer like that was made to them. I am sure we will be hearing more about this.
3) NBA star Kevin Garnett, of the Boston Celtics, has always been known as a trash-talker on the court. According to Charlie Villanueva of the Pistons, Garnett went over the line on Tuesday, calling Villanueva a “cancer patient” during the game between their two teams. Pretty classy, Kevin.
4) Speaking of Mississippi State, a tragedy occurred there this week when Nick Bell, as sophomore defensive end, succumbed to cancer at the age of 20. He was diagnosed in September and had surgery shortly after, but the cancer spread and took his life.
Good sports:
1) The Minnesota Vikings have been a mess this season, particularly in light of the high expectations for the team this season. Beyond the whole Brett Favre circus that has been going on for months, the Vikings have had a more recent sideshow involving receiver Randy Moss. The team traded for him a month ago, and has had nothing but headaches since. Moss is just a bad guy, and he apparently showed that quickly in Minnesota. I have this under Good Sports because, despite the flak that he has been getting for this move, I applaud coach Brad Childress for cutting Moss this week. Although the Vikings should have expected trouble, recognizing and fixing your mistake quickly counts for something in my book.
2) Surfer Kelly Slater won his tenth world title on Saturday. I know next to nothing about surfing, but winning ten world titles in anything is worthy of mention.
Bad Sports, Good Sports appears every Monday.
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Alan,
Totally agree with your assessment. As soon as I heard that the league was going to clamp down on these types of hits, I was concerned – concerned that it meant more power for the refs to make what are subjective decisions. Football is fast-moving, and there is a lot of incidental contact. Coleman was simply at the right place at the right time (“right” in my opinion). The call against Cole was so mind-boggling, I really did think the refs were siding with the Colts.
It’s one thing for refs to err on the side of caution, it’s another to completely dominate the outcome of the game, and the league really should take a closer look at outrageous, game-altering penalties.
Allan and Marc … yet, I remember running out onto the field when one of my sons – a soccer goalkeeper – took a hard blow, went down, and stayed down. Forwards for the other team had been trying to spook him, get him to step back, and give them clearer access to the goal … but he stood his ground, and had denied a number of shots that day. Then, one of those feints got TOO close.
He was fine, and ended up finishing the game …. but, I wouldn’t wish those few moments of fear I experienced on anyone … whether it’s your kid, or a professional athlete on the ground. The striker on the other team was carded, and I think it was a righteous call by the ref. Sure a red card can have a DRAMATIC impact on a game’s outcome … but a serious blow to the head can have a dramatic impact on a LIFE’s outcome.
Jeff – I think you are missing my main point. Yes, I understand the issues that can come from these injuries. I felt terrible for Austin Collie as he lay on the field during the game, and I want the league to protect the players as well as it can. My concern is that they will ruin the game by going overboard with it. This call was flat-out wrong, and it nearly changed the outcome of the game. There is nothing the defensive players could have done to avoid what occurred. The league essentially agreed with this by NOT fining Coleman for his supposedly illegal hit, despite all of the fines it has been handing out lately.
Allan, I see and – to an extent – concede your point. In reviewing your post and my comment, I’m afraid I was comparing apples to oranges … an unavoidable and accidental contact in the NFL game, compared to an avoidable and deliberate contact in my son’s soccer match.
I’m wondering if, perhaps, the best approach would be, not just a review of the rule, but also a more rigorous training/policing of officials … fine-tuning the rule AND fine-tuning those who apply/enforce the rule.