Achi news desk-
ORLANDO, Fla.: The NFL is eliminating the hip-drop tackle.
NFL team owners on Monday unanimously approved a rule that prohibits players from using a swivel technique to tackle an opponent.
A violation will result in a 15-yard penalty and could ultimately result in player fines.
NFL executive Jeff Miller said the hip-drop tackle was used 230 times last season and resulted in 15 players missing time with injuries.
The NFL Players Association has adamantly opposed the rule.
“It’s not used very often, but when it is used, it’s extremely damaging to the runner,” NFL Competition Committee chairman Rich McKay said. “The runner is completely defenseless. And I’ve heard defenders say it before, and I hear them, ‘Hey, you’re putting me in a really tough spot. You say I can’t hit here. What should I do?’ And my response has always been, ‘Well, you can’t do that, and the only reason for that is that the man you’re hitting is defenseless and has no way to defend himself.’ So we have to protect it and you have to think of other ways, and you know what they do.”
The league played a video during a news conference to show six specific plays where the hip-drop tackle was used in games, with Bengals tight end Drew Sample, Cowboys running back Tony Pollard, Bengals receiver Tyler Boyd, Seahawks quarterback Geno Smith and Titans quarterback All Ryan Tannehill at the end of the now illegal victory.
NFL teams will continue to receive videos showing illegal hits and ways to make tackles within the rules.
“It’s a new rule, so they won’t have seen it,” McKay said when administering the penalty. “This is never practiced; nobody does this in practice. There is never a player who is going to use this tactic on a player on their own team in practice so they are never going to see it. They’re only going to see it in the game. I would tell them, ‘Listen, this is a punishment on the books. You can call it. You had to see all three elements of what is happening here. You have to see him grab it. You had to see him control them. You had to see him turn himself up in the air and you had to see him go weightless. You don’t see it, don’t call it.
“We’re going to take all these tapes you’ve seen. … we’re going to take them all to the clubs and show them: this is what we don’t want. This is what uncleanliness looks like.”
No substantive change to the kickoff was put up for a vote but McKay said it’s possible owners will consider it Tuesday instead of waiting for the league meetings in May.
All proposed rules need 24 out of 32 votes to approve.
Only two other proposals were approved by the owners.
Teams will now receive a third challenge following one successful challenge. Previously, teams had to be successful on two challenges to receive a third.
Also, if there is a double foul during a down period where there is a turnover or a change of possession, including if one of the fouls is a post-possession foul by a team during a scrimmage, the team that last gained possession shall retain the ball after forcing his foul, provided he did not foul before gaining last possession.
McKay said there was an urgency to vote on the complicated kickoff rule this week because it could affect how teams select players next month in the NFL draft.
“I like to vote on it sooner rather than later because there’s no doubt that bringing the play back, we had 1,970 touchbacks last season, so if you’re bringing the play back back in, let’s say 1,200 of those return, the person you return. the returner is going to be more important,” McKay said. “And we have a draft coming up. And we have college free agency coming up. So I think personnel needs to know if this play is going to be in or out, and that would lead me to want to get the vote sooner.”
The new rule proposal takes elements from the kickoff rules used in spring leagues like the XFL.
For a standard kick-off, the ball would be kicked from the 35 yard line with the 10 kick covering players positioned on the opposing 40, with five on each side of the field.
The return team would have at least nine blockers in the “setup zone” between the 30 and 35 yard line with at least seven of those players touching the 35. Up to two returners would be allowed inside to the 20.
Only the kicker and two returners would be allowed to move until the ball hit the ground or was touched by a returner within the 20.
Any kick that reaches the end zone in the air may be returned, or the receiving team may elect to return for a touchdown and possession at the 30. Any kick that reaches the end zone in the air and goes out of out of bounds or out of the end zone would also result in a touchback at the 30.
If a ball hits a returner or the ground before the end zone and goes into the end zone, there would be a touchback on the 20 or the play could be returned. Any kick received in the field of play would have been returned.
Under the current rules, any touchback – or if a returner calls a fair catch in the field of play – means that the receiving team gets the ball in their 25.
“This is our chance to keep special teams in the game,” McKay said. “Special teams have been part of the game forever. And, if you miss the kickoff, in our mind, you pretty much eliminated special teams and put it on a punt. And so that’s what we’re trying to do, go through and find out if we can get to 24 votes.”
___
AP Pro Football Writer Mark Long contributed.
___
AP NFL: https://apnews.com/hub/nfl
(This story has not been edited by News18 staff and is published from a syndicated news agency feed – Associated Press)
