Football Satire

The league office has taken various factors into account, as we considered enacting rule changes designed to reduce head injuries. First and foremost, we engaged in dialogue about whether any rule changes would threaten the “sole” of the sport. We came to the conclusion that these rule changes would not damage the sport, and would only legitimize it further. Secondly, we talked officials from other leagues regarding their changes in sports. Our league has experienced similar

In the 1920’s, football players actually died on the field! Insufficient protection and rules against hits, which are banned today, resulted in the death of players. Football rules have changed drastically from the 1920’s through 2016. In the past few decades, NFL owners meet annually to discuss and vote to implement new rules. Three changes to the 2016 NFL football rules, Point After Attempt (PATs), coach to player communication, and chop blocks affects the way the game is played.

After the NFL commissioner came under scrutiny from Washington lawmakers on whether or not the injuries in his sport were the cause of traumatic brain disease. The commissioner enacted a policy that players had to pass a series of test by a neurologist prior to them being allowed to return to play( Grove, J) This policy change is similar to a normal employee passing a physical from their primary Doctor before they could return to work. The Commissioner enacted this policy to prevent players from returning to the game to soon. The current NFL commissioner Roger Goodell wasn’t the first recognize that his sport had a problem taking care of its players. In 1962 the rule of no “Face masking” was enacted. This rule prohibited a player from grabbing another player’s facemask (Grove, J 657). In the late 1970’s an additional rule was enacted. The NFL finally passed a rule prohibiting players from using their helmets to

The National Football League on Dec. 3, 2009, announced that it would impose its most stringent rules to date on managing concussions, requiring players who exhibit any significant sign of concussion to be removed from a game or practice and be barred from returning the same day.

Hits inside the tackle box, however, will not fall under the new guidelines (Breslow).” This rule change will help prevent as many hits with the head as previously because players won’t want to get penalized and hurt there chances of winning a game. It will hopefully lower the number of concussions per game from running backs because they currently get 1 in every 9 concussions in the NFL (Breslow). This new rule was created to lower that number and prevent as many every season.

The NFL has made many rule changes regarding hits to the head and many other levels like college and high school leagues have made changes as well . The reason for concussion testing is because of a player known as Junior Seau . The former Charger , Dolphin and Patriot linebacker played for nineteen years in the NFL and the

Every part of the game of football means very much to me, which is why I have a passion for the game and why I researched this topic. Helmets are one of the most important pieces of safety gear a football player can have. In October 2010, a new rule was signed off to be placed in the National Football League (NFL) rule book for the safety of NFL players. The helmet-to-helmet hit rule is as follow: using any part of the helmet to butt, spear, or ram any part of the opponent’s helmet (Azpiri). A helmet-to-helmet hit is illegal in the NFL now. The punishment for a helmet-to-helmet hit for a NFL player is being fine with a gradual increase the next times they do it and/or suspension depending on the

Targeting is the main rule that was created to prevent concussions. Targeting is defined as “No player shall target and initiate contact to the head or neck area of a defenseless opponent with the helmet, forearm, fist, elbow or shoulder.” (“Targeting”, 2013). This rule is controversial because it is hard to tell what a defenseless player is as well as where the hit occurred. This rule changed the game by requiring the players to make smarter and safer hits.

“Mom, come on!” I yell while I’m already rushing to the car. Soon enough, she comes out the garage and sits in front of me in the driver’s seat. I listen excitedly as her keys jingle and feel so much relief as the air vents come on, putting me out of my misery in the the dry, 95 degree heat. The radio plays in the background while I look out the window at the scenery I see everyday on my way to school.

Additionally, this new rule will require the defensive players to be more cautious with their hits to ensure they do not get called for targeting an offensive player, which could lead to the defensive player’s ejection from the game. The player ejection is new for this fall and is in addition to a fifteen yard penalty imposed for targeting (Johnson). The NCAA committee is serious about addressing unsafe play and considers the ejection penalty a severe punishment for such behavior (Staples). Greg Bishop, from The New York Times, in his article about the targeting rule, discusses that the defensive players now have a limited contact area, and many coaches are holding training sessions to practice the limited contact area with the defensive players. Andy Bitter, from the Roanoke Times, in his article that addresses the new rule, discusses that the defensive players usually do not purposely go for the area above the shoulders, but now with such severe penalties to consider, coaches want to emphasize and practice making legal hits. Losing star players due to ejection could have serious implications to the future of a football team, especially during playoffs, so the defensive players must have an understanding of what is considered a legal hit (Bishop). This part of the rule will help make the game safer by making the defending player accountable for their actions, and will help to reduce the number of intentional targeting

The NFL has established a strong set of rules through the years focused on player safety, designed to promote fair competition while attempting to minimize risk of harm to the player. While many of these rules have focused on reducing contact to the

An increasingly popular topic in the realm of sports fans has begun to unravel. The National Football League recently has begun to introduce new rules and regulations for their athletes to start abiding by to ensure the continued safety of the player’s health. Although most find this change in the game of professional football as a positive step forward, others see this as a diminishment of the sanctity of NFL football. New rules and regulations that have been introduced into NFL are vital to athletes involved in the sport and help them to play with lowered risks of long term injuries that could possibly affect not only them but also the league in the future as well. The reasons for these

Although making helmet to helmet hits illegal will cause lower body injuries, helmet to helmet hits should be illegal in the NFL for two main reasons. First, Helmet to helmet hits causes concussions, but most importantly, after retirement, players who received several concussions develop serious medical conditions. All this proves that the NFL is doing a good thing for the players and what they are doing is going to help the players in the future. It is proven that players who received concussions during their career develop brain damage after they retired. After doing all the research on this topic, I would have to agree with the NFL by making the Helmet to helmet rule in play in order to decrease concussions, even though the players may dislike

concussion issues. The NFL has tried to stop the head to head contact by adding

Playing football is not like playing other sports. Athletes in all kinds of sports risk injuring themselves, but in football, a lot of the risk comes from other athletes. While there are many ways to be injured playing football, one of the worst is head-to-head targeting. This has been a problem in football since the beginning of the game, especially, when equipment was not very protective. Over the past eight years, the National College Athletic Association (NCAA) has implemented rules and penalties specifically designed to protect players and to hopefully reduce the number of bad head injuries (Marshall). The NCAA is doing the right thing by protecting players from severe injury by calling and enforcing targeting penalties.