There Will Still Be Blood

Another big, illegal hit. Cue the lamentation of the women.

 

49ers linebacker Ahmad Brooks clotheslined Saints QB Drew Brees in last Sunday’s match up of NFC powerhouses. The blow caused Brees to drop the football and it was recovered by the 49ers. Ever so briefly, they held the ball and the lead; victory was in their grasp. Before the Niners defenders could celebrate their good fortune; however, as several yellow penalty flags were thrown in the general direction of where Brees had nearly been decapitated. Personal foul, fifteen yards and a first down instead for New Orleans, which eventually won the game.

This call, like so many before it, has been loudly decried as an affront to any red-blooded, pigskin-loving man by defenders of the game like Ray Lewis, who called it the worst injustice in NFL history since the Tuck Game before the Monday Night game, pulling out his Amex card as he offered to pay half of any fine levied by the league.

Half? What’s ESPN paying you, Ray?

I thought it was a good call.

I note with bemusement the defenders of the game who parsed Brooks’ hit, noting that he didn’t lead with his helmet and the neck is a part of the body and what’s he supposed to do, anyway? Lewis also noted that Brees isn’t as tall as Peyton Manning or Tom Brady and if he was Brooks would’ve hit him in the shoulder. I would note that Drew Brees has always been short. I would imagine that was something the 49ers were aware of.

As these hyperbolic arguments howl and wail I once again find it hard to square the circle on player safety. The NFLPA says an 18 game season would lead to more injuries. The membership also insists that all these rules restricting how and where and when defensive players can hit offensive players are leading to the wussification of the game. So, the shot Drew Brees took is cool in a 16 game season but 18 games of that would be too much?

Look, I don’t think any player – not just quarterbacks – should be hit in the head. That should be a penalty when it’s a running back or a wide receiver, too. I think any time a player leads with his head it should be a penalty. And yes, I know, it won’t completely eliminate these hits. Rules against holding haven’t eliminated holding. But it should be a penalty. There’s plenty of anatomy for defensive players to hit between the shoulders and the thighs. These are the best athletes on the planet. They will adjust. And football will not only survive, it will thrive.

Or it will become a game that mothers will not let their children play. 

Once upon a time, defensive linemen could head slap offensive linemen, a technique famously mastered by David “Deacon” Jones. A well placed blow to the earhole would momentarily stun the offensive lineman, making it much easier for the defensive lineman to complete his commute to the quarterback.

The head slap was outlawed in 1977 for player safety reasons.

Somehow, the NFL stayed in business.

Life, as we know it, went on.