Hard Hits....maybe.

Dick Butkus. Ray Nitschke. Mike Singletary. Lawrence Taylor. Jack Lambert. Bruce Smith.

    Just a few names of some the Hall of Fame defensive players who in their days of playing, played a hard-hitting game called, football. Tackling is defined as the act of stopping an opposing player carrying the ball, especially by forcing opponent to the ground. The game is a collision sport, not a contact sport. I love the previous definition, because it says "especially by forcing the opponent to the ground", key word; especially. Since when did tackling have to be something the players have to be careful about, or since when did the game of football become a sport where colliding with another player is illegal?
     Recently in the NFL, Commisioner Roger Goodell issued a new helmet-to-helmet policy, which basically says that any player intentionally leading with his helmet will be fined and/or suspended a number of games. The biggest name to come up in this whole fiasco is Pittsburgh Steelers linebacker, James Harrison who up to this point has been fined $100,000 for his so called "illegal hits." Harrison evened contemplated retirement because he feels like he can not play the game the way it is supposed to be played. His hit on Mohamed Massaquoi was not penalized during the game but drew a $75,000 fine. Recently, the NFL fined him $20,000 for a late hit on Drew Brees. Yes, it drew a roughing the passer penalty but I still don't see how it was an illegal hit. Commisioner Goodell said that Harrison put his facemask into the back of Drew Brees, which seems to me; besides the lateness of it, a perfectly legal hit. What I'm trying to understand, is what exactly is legal? Yes, a picture perfect tackle would be a shoulder pad hit to the abdomen area, but like I said, this is a collision sport. The NFL now is protecting players, when in actuality, they are over-protecting. I'm starting to get the strange feeling that this isn't becoming about the safety of the players, but more so the money behind it. A couple of seasons ago, Patriots quarterback Tom Brady dropped back to pass, and had a defensive player fall into his knee, completely ending his season. Soon after that the NFL implements what we now call the "Brady Rule". This rule basically says that any defensive player seen by officials, aiming for anywhere below the quarterbacks waist will be penalized and possibly fined.
    I really can't explain why, but I love seeing a defensive player come around the end and completely decimate a quarterback from the blind side. I love that because that is football. That is what fans love about this game, not seeing more flags waving than at a Washington DC rally. Now I won't sit here and say that I love watching players suffer from injuries, but I love watching a receiver go across the middle, make a great catch and get absolutely flattened by a linebacker. The kind of hit when us the viewers gasp, the kind of hit you've been waiting to see all game. You don't go to a football game just to see guys make routine tackles, and the offense score touchdowns. No, you go to see grown men battle it out on a football field and hit each other at full force. It's like in hockey, you show up secretly hoping to see some player get his face beat in during a fight. Don't deny it, everyone who is a sports fan loves to see two or more players get into it. Bench clearing brawls in baseball and two players fighting in hockey. It's something that keeps us coming back for more, it's what drives us to be sports fans. We go nuts when that happens, and for some reason it keeps us buying tickets every year.

    Brian Urlacher put it brilliantly when he said, "Soon they'll have to call it the NFFL, the National Flag Football League." Well, Brian...can't say I disagree.