New York Giants safety Antrel Rolle plays the game hard and he is upset at the notion that the NFL might want him to play softer.
On Tuesday, Rolle explained on his weekly WFAN radio spot that it is "absolutely ridiculous" that the NFL has decided to start suspending players for "devastating" hits, mainly to the helmet.
"This is the game of football," Rolle said on WFAN, the New York Daily News reports. "It's a game of speed, this is a game of power, this is a game of physical guys going to battle. Once you start saying to guys, 'You'll get suspended for a game,' that's when you're going to get a very, very tentative football game."
Rolle makes a great point that this policy could actually hurt the NFL due to defensive players being hesitant with the possibility of them getting fined for making a hit on an opponent — essentially just doing their job.
Up until now, the players that hit the hardest were the players that were regarded as the toughest. With this hit policy in effect, who will be the toughest players on defense?
"It's fine for the offensive players, but I'm on the defensive side of the ball," Rolle said. "You’re telling me now I have to slow down? I think we're already being cautious of what we're doing and how we're attacking the ball or how we're trying to make a tackle, as opposed to now saying guys will get suspended for games. I think that's absolutely ridiculous because under any circumstances you can't absolutely have control over your body when you're in pursuit of the tackle."
The Giants' safety explained that the NFL should be considering a player's intent, which shows if they were meaning to do harm as Steelers linebacker James Harrison does.
"I'm just speaking for instances that have happened for myself," Rolle explained. "I've had a couple of head-to-head shots, and under no circumstances have I ever intentionally went for someone's head, nor do I think any player intentionally goes for someone's head.”
