The NFL is rapidly making changes to support increased player safety, which makes some players nervous about the overall sanctity of the game. Pittsburgh Steelers inside linebacker Kwon Alexander was the latest to express his concerns, and aside from the enforcement of the rules, Alexander believes the game could devolve into flag football territory.
“They’re making it hard for us,” Alexander said to Steelers Now. “I don’t really know what the game is coming to, for real. I don’t know how to stop from tackling someone around the waist. I give it about three or four years, and I think they’re going to go to flag. How else are you going to tackle?”
Flag Football Though?
Former NFL superstar Tom Brady also believes that the league’s stance on particular hits modifies the game drastically.
“There’s so many people that want it less and less physical, it’s more like flag football,” Brady said on his Let’s Go podcast. “Football is a physical sport, there’s a physical element to all of this,” the seven-time Super Bowl champion said. “You throw a 15-yard flag for something that, you know, 20 years ago maybe wouldn’t have had a flag. That affects the game in a big way.”
The league will not tolerate game action that may endanger the health and safety of players, including roughing the passer, horse-collar tackles, or hits on defenseless players, per NFL Rules Compliance.
The hip drop, a tackle Seattle Seahawks QB Geno Smith fell victim to when leveled by New York Giants linebacker Isaiah Simmons during Week 4, is on the discussion table. The hit that happened in the second quarter caused Smith to miss the rest of the half with a knee injury that required X-rays.
“A dirty play,” Smith said after the game in an interview with Lisa Salters. “Dirty play. You guys could see it. It was a dirty play. There’s no place in this sport for that. And, you know, hopefully something happens. But other than that, the grace of God allowed me to come back into this game.”
New Rules
During the league’s midseason meetings in New York this week, NFL executives said they’re looking to ban the so-called hip drop tackle that has injured many offensive players the way Smith was.
“You can get hurt at any time doing this,” Alexander continued. “Trying to stop somebody from making a tackle like that, it’s going to be hard. I don’t even know a technique to make that tackle. If it happens, it happens. You could be at any angle trying to tackle somebody — you can’t go high. Where are you going to be able to go?”
In the ever-evolving world of football, without the controlled violence inherent in the league, many players feel at a loss for a game where they signed up for violence.
