Last month, the NFL passed a new rule that extends the definition of an illegal hit and a defenseless player. Nicknamed the “Steeler rule”, the new regulation also fines teams that have players with an excessive number of illegal hits over the course of a season. The Steelers racked up quite a bill last season, James Harrison leading the way with a total of $125,000 in fines.
I got a chance to chat with LaMarr Woodley, the Steelers Pro Bowl linebacker, at Justin Tuck’s charity pool tournament earlier this month. I asked his thoughts on the new rule, and wasn’t surprised to hear disdain in response. “Oh, man, you know my thoughts on that,” Woodley said. “It’s horrible that they made up a rule like that.”
The rule was unanimously voted in by the 32 owners in late May. The main goal of the regulation is to further protect defenseless players, but some argue that hard hits are just a part of the game of football. Woodley told me: “You’re not going out there to intentionally hurt somebody. You have to be worried about player safety, but it’s also a hard-hitting sport. I don’t think that will ever be taken away.”
The new definition of illegal hits adds to an already difficult array of interpretations that referees make. For example, a new extension to the current rules states that a 15-yard penalty will be assessed to any player that launches himself upward after having both feet on the ground to make helmet-to-helmet contact with a player already in the air.
Players are now given time to protect themselves before being hit, and if someone isn’t given enough time the offender could face a penalty and a fine. Also, if a player has not yet started running and committed himself to running then that could be considered an illegal hit as well.
Woodley explained that he had a conversation with a Steelers fan recently, who told him, “We come to games to see big hits. We come to games to see guys get hit hard. If you take away that, you take away…that excitement kind of leaves the game.”
Football is defined by its physical, brutal, hard-hitting nature. If you take that away, you’re removing a vital part of the game. Some may even go as far as to say that those few vicious tackles you witness in each game are the most exciting moments. The question is, will this actually lead to a decrease in hard hits, or just an increase in player fines?
