The Football Filosopher, 11/12/2007

Today, the Football Filospher weighs in on an issue regarding physical contact, a trademark of American football, and its clash with progressive new rulings established in regards to player safety. This contorversy is a borderline one- actually more specifically a sideline one.

Almost every game, at last once there is a disputed call (or non-call) centered around a personal foul penalty for a late hit along the sideline. Often the penalty is called because a player is tackled to the ground after he has toed the sideline. But all too commonly, the culprit of the penalty is simply following through on his momentum and his attempt to force the opponent (or "victim") out of bounds, which is exactly what he is supposed to do. What is he to do? Should the tackler, as he is aptly called, refrain from tackling and risk the chance of the ball carrier tightwalking the line right by him?

Of course not. The whole purpose of a defensive player is to tackle the offensive player. Football revolves around contact. So, not being able to tackle a player near the sidelines makes absolutely no chance. Half of the time the contact isn't even classifiable as a tackle. Even more, sometimes the offensive player uses his Drama 101 acting skills to draw the flag from the zebra. And the resulting penalty of 15 yards if often big enough to cause a change in the drive, if not the game, and in a larger sense, the season.

Sure, I understand that recent amendments to the rulebook have been made in order to ensure the protection of the players. This is certainly a reasonable proposal, as, lately, reports about football-related injuries (in most cases, concussions) have indicated severe medical threats in the players' futures. Most certainly, I am in favor of any measure intended to reduce injury to players, especially if it involves unnecessary contact or exposure to danger.

However, the NFL has, in the instance of "late hits" along the sidelines, taken this way too far. Most people would agree that the largest potential injury risks for ballcarriers include head-to-head (of helmet-to-helmet) contact and blind-sided hits. Neither of these scenarios, though, ever occur along the sidelines since the ballcarrier can only be hit from one side. This allows him to put his entire focus on the opponents approaching him from that angle range (which is usually even cut in half because tackles along the sidelines rarely ever from behind the player). Because he only risks hits from players he can see, the ballcarrier will not be blindsided and can usually always avoid helmet-to-helmet contact. With those injury threats virtually impossible, the player along the sidelines actually has a lesser risk of getting hurt from a tackle or hit than if he were in the middle of the field.

Even in cases of being hit after setting foot out of bounds, the defensive player usually could not have averted contact, less he himself expose himself to injury. If the NFL is seriously worried for the safety of their players along the sidelines, they should move the players and coaches who are off the field (as well as the slippery surface they stand on) even farther back to eliminate collisions.

In all, calling 15 yard penalties for contact which is neither uncommonly dangerous or possible to avoid in a sport that thrives on contact makes absolutely no sense. The sole problem is that the NFL has become way too literal and unbending in the interpretation of their rules. This strictness of rule interpretation has continued to impair the great nature of football over the recent years, and with the enforcement of even more "by the book" regulations, the sport has become way too dependent on referees and penalties and has strayed from the straightforward physical gameplay that made it so appealing to fans.