The NFL which has placed a heavy emphasis on limiting head and neck injuries in recent seasons by heavily penalizing helmet-to-helmet collisions, is now considering cracking down on direct shots at defenseless players' knees, after two serious knee injuries in the preseason.
Via YahooSports:
"We are always looking at plays that may elevate themselves and we do include in that category hits on defenseless players," Anderson said. "And certainly the hits to knees to players who have not had the opportunity to protect themselves or are not looking in the direction of where the hit comes from — we have had a couple hits whereby a player was hit below (or at) the knees."
After a season ending injury to Miami Dolphins TE Dustin Keller, there has been a growing fear that defensive players will begin targeting knees. In fact, Tony Gonzalez recently stated that he’d rather have a player hit him in the head, as knee injuries could be more detrimental to their careers. Between head and knee injuries, it really boils down to “pick your poison”. Both injuries at their worsts can be seriously debilitating. The NFL has a responsibility to explore ways to make the game safer, but it will always be a violent game and there are only but so many freak injuries rules can change. If this rule is enacted, get ready for more astronomical scoring totals.
