The NFL has in-game rules that dictate what’s legal and illegal. But what about the unwritten rules that make hits dirty or clean?
It’s a subject that’s dicey for everyone, including the players. Just this past Sunday in Denver, Broncos tight end Julius Thomas caught Arizona Cardinals defensive lineman Calais Campbell with a chop block. Arizona head coach Bruce Arians called it the dirtiest play he’s seen in his years coaching — the NFL said it was a clean play.
“What is a ‘dirty’ play? Wow. It’s hard to find a more subjective term in our game,” Matt Chatham wrote Tuesday on his blog Football By Football. “I’d imagine if you ask 100 players that question you’d get 100 different answers.”
Chatham, along with ex-NFL players Grey Ruegamer and Brady Poppinga all examined “dirty” hits in the NFL, as you might imagine, they had varying views on the topic.
