This kids, is how you tackle.
Just make sure your ball carrier is...
1. Not running at you at full steam
2. Not bigger than you are
3. Not angling away from you
4. Standing straight up, ahem, preferably...
This column by Slate's Matt Chaney accurately points out what a complete farce the NFL is pushing out the PR door here. A farce that somehow tries to prove that football is not only NOT inherently dangerous at a basic level, NOR downright insanely violent at the level which the league makes it's zillions.
Got that? “Knuckles up, elbows down like you’re throwing double uppercuts.” As a former head-basher in NCAA football, I can say that this is a technique that I’ve seen precisely no one, ever, use on the field. The way I understand it, tacklers are somehow supposed to launch themselves chest first into their opponents, who damn well better do the same or the tackler gets annihilated. The only way this will work is if tackle football is replaced by a version of the game without bullet-head helmets, in which a player is down if you bang him in the chest.
Even if you focus on juvenile players more narrowly, it should be obvious instantly that nobody plays like this. Over the last week, there’s been a video of a star youth player named Sam Gordon going around. Gordon, a nine-year-old girl, is seen darting through tacklers with great bursts of speed. And also, at the end of the reel, there’s a section titled “taking a hit,” in which Gordon absorbs repeated shots on or near her head. None of these kids are using anything resembling a “knuckles up, elbows down” approach to tackling. They’ve all got the crowns of their helmets forward, ready to strike.
True, true. And here's the real kicker: what happens when a kid gets injured specifically ATTEMPTING to crane their necks up and bow their body backward?
The NFL is fighting a losing battle here. Better to just start pushing liability waivers under players noses, and be done with it.
That may be a safe way to tackle but it's definitely not effective. If pros tackled like that Barry Sanders would have surpassed 50,000 yards rushing. Gotta "wrap 'em up".
ReplyDeleteThis kid is launching off the ground. Isn't that illegal??
ReplyDeleteKnowing that it could be difficult to implement, I had the idea that all team helmets should have a "halo" area painted or outlined on the top of the helmet which, if used as the first point of contact, would constitute an unnecessary roughness foul. Thoughts?
ReplyDeleteAs I think about this more, there is another subtle angle to this that would put the league in a much better position than this stupid video:
Delete- As Czabe pointed out, the League could be in real trouble if someone is seriously injured following the guidelines set forth in the Heads Up video.
- Logically (and by extension, legally), it is better to point out what NOT to do rather than what TO do. So, if someone is injured doing what they were told NOT to do, the League wouldn't bare responsibility; while there would be near infinite wiggle room out of "DON'T DO IT THAT WAY".
-In other words, "DDITW" would NEVER mean "I told you to do it THIS way".
"here's how you tackle in football" stuck in my head all day!! thanks czabe
ReplyDeleteMike J then what are we to do? Review every tackle of every single play in every single game? Yeah that will work.
ReplyDeleteNot suggesting that.. The plays in question happen maybe a few times per game - not every single tackle. Sure, it would bring up some bad calls, but it would also make the defense think about how they're tackling.
Delete"A Safer System- Headup And Tackle"
ReplyDeleteASS-HAT
I was taught heads up (so you can see who are tackling). That is somewhat correct. Face mask into their chest, side, leg (name any body part below the head) and wrap up (arms around and locked) the ball carrier so you take them down.The warp up (and hold on) was the important part especially if who you were tackling was bigger and or stronger. If I had tried tackling someone like that, my face would have be in the dirt and then the coach would have had me running laps.
ReplyDeleteRadical idea: get rid of the helmets and cages.
ReplyDeleteBack in the leather helmet days, football players received split eyebrows and broken noses as a gentle reminder of what happened when they led with their heads. Space Age plastic eliminated that fear. OK, so it eliminates a branding element for the league. But individual players will be more accessible to the fans, and it seems to work in rugby and Aussie Rules football.
And here is the beginning of the end of tackle football.
ReplyDeleteYeah, that heads up tackling technique will work great until the runner decides to lower their pad level and put his helmet/shoulder into the chest of upright tackler. What a joke.
ReplyDelete