The NFL's New Targeting Rule Will Save Football

(AP/Mark Tenally)

The NFL owners changed football for the better, maybe even saved the game.

Players will no longer be allowed to lower their heads and initiate contact with their helmets. If this happens it's a 15-yard penalty and the player who lowered his head can be thrown out of the game.

The change, a.k.a. Playing Rule Article 8, came as a surprise development during the NFL owners meetings.

Rich McKay, president and CEO of the Atlanta Falcons and chair of the NFL Competition Committee, called the new rule a "pretty significant change."

"We saw so many hits when a player lowered his head and delivered a hit and either hurt himself or the player he was hitting," McKay said. "It was time for a change of this magnitude."

College football uses a similar rule. Players who target and hit defenseless opponents above the shoulders are ejected and their team is penalized 15 yards. 

The new NFL rule expands to all areas on the field, not simply the ball carrier or a receiver trying to make a catch.

"This has very little requirement to it," McKay said. "This is simply if you lower your head to initiate contact and you make contact with an opponent it's a foul."

The change has been met with questionscriticism and now some answers.

Seriously, how are officials going to enforce this? It's going to be a mess and grind games to a halt, right?

When enforcement starts it could be rocky and imperfect. Bad calls could be made. Let that be okay. Any problem with implementation isn't a strong enough argument to not have a rule that makes the game safer.

The league also plans to bring coaches, players and team officials together to address how the rule will be applied. Through the use of the game day officiating command center in New York, there is the possibility that the game itself won't be slowed down, according to reporting from NFL Network's Tom Pelissero.

Why is the NFL doing this in the first place?

The NFL has to do this for the long-term vitality of the game. In January, the league released numbers showing that concussions increased by 13.5 percent (243 to 281) over the preseason and regular season from 2016 to 2017.

The threat of brain injuries has kept kids away from the game. The league has to be concerned about the trickle down impact on youth football. A rule like this, starts a new trickle down, inviting greater participation in the sport.

But football won't look the same anymore. Why are they changing it to flag football?

Steeler at the Jets, 1975 (AP/Harry Harris)

Let's unwrap this sentiment a bit. First, it's not flag football. Second, don't worry, football will still have violence. By design, as long as you're using your body to stop the advancement of an opponent the violence will be there. This rule limits brains scrambling inside skulls.

Second, football has always evolved. Yes, it's been a fixture at the top of our pop culture chart for decades, but the game itself is always changing. Its rules are not set in stone. Never have been. I'm sure if Twitter was around in 1905, President Theodore Roosevelt would have been trolled endlessly for spearheading rule changes to make football safer. Go back and look at games in the 1970s and 1980s, they are great games, but it's not the same game you watch and enjoy today. Football is malleable. Let go of the idea that it has to stay the way it is today because that's what you're used to.

Why should I like this rule?

If it's not clear already, this makes the game safer. Maybe you need more reasons. Here's a simple one: if you enjoy football, you should like this. If you enjoy the sport and all that comes with it, the Sunday game watches, the tailgates, the fantasy teams, you should like this rule. This is a major start toward the game sustaining its place in society. If you yearn for more violence, watch boxing. Then read about boxing's history, how it used to be the top sport in the country and how it faded to the background. You don't want that for football and that's another reason you should like this rule.

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