“We can’t and won’t tolerate what we saw Sunday,” NFL vice president of football operations Ray Anderson said on Monday, referring to the high, dirty hits dished out on receivers. “We’ve got to get the message to players that these devastating hits and head shots will be met with a very necessary higher standard of accountability. We have to dispel the notion that you get one free pass in these egregious or flagrant shots.”
Patriots’ safety Brandon Meriweather nearly decapitated Ravens’ tight end Todd Heap, but he wasn’t the only player to deliver a head shot on Sunday. Steelers’ linebacker James Harrison was the driving force behind two head injuries to members of the Cleveland Browns. The Eagles’ DeSean Jackson and the Falcons’ Dunta Robinson were knocked out of their game after a frightening collision in which Robinson launched himself head first.
This week, Anderson and the league are preparing to announce that players will face suspensions for such “devastating” hits.
“What we saw Sunday was disturbing,” Anderson said. “We’re talking about avoiding life-altering impacts.”
Any sane person would agree that it seems like the right idea to suspend players for such brutal hits to the head. But will trying to determine what a “devastating” hit is compared to a clean, open-field “jacked-up!” hit open up a can of worms?
After all, this is a physical game, where its players have been trained for years and years to attack opponents with vicious hits intended to jar the ball loose. And not all high hits to the helmet or “devastating” blows are intentional. In this face-paced game, defenders are often aiming for the chest when tackling, and the slightest movement or nudge can turn a perfectly (and intended) clean hit into a concussion or worse. Should a player be suspended when such an unfortunate injury happens in this case?
Is suspending players the only option?
Should the NFL suspend players for hits to the head?online survey
