Is the NFL Sacrificing the Game to Protect the Quarterback?

The 49ers may still be in the playoff hunt at 7 – 4, but for all intents and purposes, they should be 8 – 3. I think we all know what I’m referring to: the fumble-forcing sack 49ers’ linebacker Ahmad Brooks put on New Orleans quarterback Drew Brees two weeks ago.

While I am the first to dismiss people that claim that one single play altered the outcome of a game, that is most likely what happened in this case. With 3:14 left in the 4th quarter, the 49ers were leading by a field goal and the Saints were at 3rd and 2, trying to stay alive. Brooks, came at Brees from the blind side and hit him square in the shoulders, causing a fumble that the 49ers recovered. But instead of their offense taking possession and potentially running out the clock, the 49ers defense remained on the field with the Saints benefitting immensely from a penalty that gave them both the ball and 15-yards.

Questionable calls like these not only drastically affect the outcome of individual games, but are changing the game of football as we know it. Twenty years ago, the National Football League was a name synonymous with hard-hitting, grind-it out, “sloberknocker” football.

But even though that is what football used to be about, it most definitely isn’t anymore. The NFL has begun this steady decline that is ultimately going to change the game that we know and love into rugby with a forward pass!

This change has grown out of the NFL’s attempt to limit lawsuits by players who have developed Chronic Traumatic Encephalothapy (CTE), a complex syndrome that produces severe psychological problems in some cases. That’s not to say that attempting to eliminate high-energy blows to the players’ heads isnt a sufficient reason for changing the game.

Undoubtedly there is some correlation between hits to the head and CTE, despite the improved safety of today’s equipment. But in an effort to make the game safer, the league’s businesspeople must walk a tightrope, balancing the popularity of the game’s violence while inserting changes meant to avoid catastrophic injuries. To many fans, these changes are irreparably harming the game.

Take that hit Ahmad Brooks put on Drew Brees two weeks ago. Two years ago that play would have made the highlight reel. Today, that play is a severe penalty. This, in my humble opinion, is ludicrous and I wasn’t the only one who thought so. Just ask Ray Lewis how he felt about it. He thought it was so ridiculous that he offered to pay half of the fine the NFL is requiring Brooks to pay.

Lewis wasn’t the only one that objected to the call. The reason that so many current and retired players disagreed with the call is because penalties like this aren’t called to prevent concussions, but only because they look bad.

The ostensible purpose of these penalties is to protect against hits to the neck and head. In this case, as Lewis pointed out, the penalty wasn’t protecting Brees’ head, but from a cut lip. Last time I checked football was still a contact sport, and cut lips should be the least of a quarterback’s worries.

Ahmad Brooks did exactly what he has been instructed to do, which is hit hard and square on the shoulders, avoiding any possibility of a helmet to helmet penalty. In the case of this play, because Brees is 6’0” instead of 6’2” or 6’3” like many other NFL quarterbacks, when Brooks made contact and Brees slid down, it looked like a clothesline tackle, when it really wasn’t.

Unfortunately for Brooks, the NFL doesn’t care what about intentions because if the hit starts below the head and neck, but the player slides down, it is still a penalty. Similarly, it is a helmet-to-helmet penalty against the defense even if it is the offense player that lowers his head and initiates the contact. I don’t know about the rest of you, but that is just plain ridiculous to me.

I think it is important to note that not much of what actually happens during a down of football is planned. Everything during a play happens so quickly that most of the contact that takes place is beyond anybody’s control. Because of this, I don’t think the rules that are used to protect defenseless receivers should be applied to quarterbacks in the pocket, unless it is abundantly clear that it was an intentional hit to his head.

It may just be one person’s opinion, but I think the NFL needs to take a serious look at how its rules are negatively affecting the game. I am sure there is a way to protect quarterbacks and other offensive players without making it impossible for the defense to do its job.

The NFL needs to remember that football is a contact sport. In the words of the legendary John Madden: “Basketball is a contact sport, but football is a collision sport,” and hard hits are one of the most popular parts of the game. If the current NFL quarterbacks are too soft to take a hit like the one Brooks put on Brees, perhaps they should find another line of work.