Running head: Tackling in the NFL

Tackling in the NFL: A Review of the Literature Jonathan Emmanuel Acosta University of Texas at El Paso

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Abstract Tackling is one of the main concepts in the game of football, though it had always been part of the game; recently tackling is becoming a controversy in the NFL. Officials of the NFL are enforcing rules on tackling to make the game safer for the players. Some players are in favor however other players and coaches are not. The review will discuss the impacts that the rules are having on both sides of the football and inform how defensive players and coaches are adjusting to the enforced rules.

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Tackling in the NFL: A Review of the Literature Tackling, one of the main concepts of the game of football is essential to use to take down a ball carrier, and it comes in many forms. Tackling can come in as wrapping up a ball carrier, colliding with the ball carrier or pulling the jersey of the player. Basically, tackling is anything that a defensive player uses to take down the ball carrier no matter what. Because many forms of tackling exist, they create the excitements that happen in the game of football. From the little leagues to middle school, to high school, to college, and to the big leagues, tackling is one of a football players main factors to play in the sport. Because of the thrill of tackling, it causes football to be a violent but exciting sport for even fans to follow. However, recently, the violent tackles in the NFL have become a controversy among the organization. The officials of the NFL has lately been implementing enforced rules on tackling due to the incident known as Black Sunday which a few players on that day were noticed from their violent tackles on ball carriers who got injured from the tackles. Not only Black Sunday contributes to the enforcement rules of tackling but also a majority of retired NFL players suing the NFL organization for the injuries that they are suffering from their playing days. Thus, the NFL is focusing on the problems of tackling to limit injuries and make the game of football to be safer for the players. Though the purpose of the enforcement rules of tackling is supposed to be beneficial to the players, many players and coaches do not seem in much favor of the changing rules of tackling however some players do, so these two questions must be considered: 1. How are the NFLs changing rules of tackling physically impacting both offensive and defensive players? 2. How are defensive players and coaches adjusting to the changing rules of tackling?

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The following review on literature will: discuss the physical impacts the rules tackling have on the players and explain the adjustments that the players and coaches have to make due to the enforcement rules of tackling. How are the NFLs changing rules of tackling physically impacting both offensive and defensive players? Just as the NFL officials intend for their rules to have positive impacts on the game, players are playing safer and their tackles have improved as well. John Madden, NFL Hall of Fame Coach, notes that as he realizes the improved tackles being made by defensive players with their method of wrapping up ball carriers (Cooney, 2013). Defensive players are using the wrap method of tackling rather than head-to-head collisions to avoid fines due to the enforcement rules, causing the game to be safer, especially for the players who wrap up ball carriers and the ones being tackled. Another example that the rules are positively impacting the players is Ray Andersons, NFL Executive vice president of football operations, remark on San Diego Chargers safety Steve Gregory tackle on Kansas City wide receiver Dwayne in the cross-hairs for a big hit. But rather than launch his body or go high for the tackle, Gregory delivered a hard shot to the chest (Trotter, 2011). That example shows that even though the safety delivered a hard blow to the receiver, the hit was still legal due to the tacklers aim to the chest which signifies the improvement in tackling and causing the game to be safer especially since the tackler didnt use head-to-head hit on the receiver or would cause injuries to the both players. Though tackling is improved by the use of the both styles of tackling, defensive players are being noticed that theyre being put on a disadvantage side against the offensive players

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because of the rules. Layden from Sports Illustrated Magazine points evidence that the rules have negatively affected Cleveland Browns cornerback, Sheldon Brown, when he went up against a New York Jets receiver. Brown was about to make a tackle on the receiver but he hesitated since he didnt want to get fined by the NFL, so he couldnt his usual violent style of tackling or colliding and for that, he ended up with being trampled by the receiver (Layden, 2011). That clearly shows that players who use illegal ways to tackle ball carriers or even legal ways, are at a disadvantage side against ball carriers since theyre worried about the threats of the fines or suspensions and because of that, they probably will not resort to their usual style of violent or legal tackles take down ball carriers. Since offensive players are being put more on an advantage side since they wouldnt have to worry about being hit high, they have to be aware of the new uses of tackling that a majority of defensive players are using, which is tackling low. The players are using the method of tackling low to avoid fines and suspensions and even though its legal, tackling low can have much harmful damages as head-to-head collisionson ball carriers/offensive players. A players knee can be dislocated, or a leg can literally snap in half, a prime example is what happened to Marcus Lattim last year (Gill, 2013). Other examples are the negative impacts on two players who got tackled by the legs; Green Bay Packers Randall Cobb was sideline for eight weeks and Miami Dolphins Dustin was lost for the season due to a similar hit. Though some defensive players are aware of the dangers of tackling low, they have no choice but to tackle low to avoid fines and suspensions as quoted by two Pittsburg Steelers safeties, Troy Polamalu and Ryan Clark (Bradford, 2013). Although the policy on tackling can help avoid concussions, it seems as if its causing more injuries than before it was implemented (Gill, T. 2013). How are defensive players and coaches adjusting to the changing rules of tackling?

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First of all, defensive players and coaches are having trouble adjusting to the rules. Defensive players have to resort to other styles of tackling to avoid fines and penalties but due to the rules of affecting practice sessions, defensive players are not getting enough training that they need to tackle properly. The rules state that there shall be no more two-a-day practices (practices filled with full contact tackling drills and last for two days), and in each week, there can only be one full-contact practice session. Not only the policy affects players but coaches as well (Brook, 2011). Coaches are having difficulty melding their long-held philosophies with the leagues new approach (Brook, 2011). Coaches are toning down on their intensity attitudes of their teams because of the rules limiting violent tackles, and some of them worry that the lack of contact will leave their squads unprepared for the intensity and physicality of the game (Brook, 2011). Defensive coaches are concerned that without full-contact drills on a consistent basis (Brook, 2011) then players wont be able to truly master their tackling techniques since they would need considering that theyre in a professional league. Offensive coaches too wont be able to hold full contact sessions, which would be beneficial for offensive players since they need to be used to the rough environment that they endure during a game (Brook, 2011). Overall, coaches are having a difficult time to prepare their players due to the stricter rules, causing practices to not hold much full-contact sessions anymore (Wickersham, Fleming & Matz, 2008). Defensive players are also having trouble adjusting to the changing rules of tackling. They have to completely change their usual style of tackling as much as they can to avoid fines and a majority of them are saying the rules are difficult to follow (Hack. 2011). Brandon Meriweather, a free safety, displays an example with his quote I try to lowering my target zone, but if you have a receiver whos five feet and eight inches, its still going to be helmet -to-helmet

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collision How do you avoid whenyoure at full speed? (Hack, 2011) Another example that displays the difficulty of the adjustment is from Sheldon Browns play on the Jets receiver who ran Brown over due to Brown hesitating on tackling the receiver. Brown hesitated because he didnt want to get penalized if he used his usual hit on collision. Evidence, I tried to break down and then come up He dipped his shoulder and that got him lower than me, and I took the brunt of the hit, says Brown (Layden, 2011). Bills safety Jairus Byrd is also affected by the rules, At this point, I have no idea when to launch indicating once again the difficulty that the defensive players will have to adjust. However, some defensive players are actually doing fine on adjusting to the changes with their improved tackles. To avoid tackling high, some players are tackling low to avoid penalties even though it wouldnt be their usual style of tackling. Pittsburg Steelers Ryan Clark quotes the lower you go, the safer you are, indicating his purpose of tackling low as seen in other defensive players (Bradford, 2013). Another way that a majority of defensive players are using to adjust to the rules is wrapping up ball carriers, which is noted by John Madden (Cooney, 2013). Lastly, another evidence that defensive players are well adjusting to their rules is the hard shot to the chest of wide receiver Dwayne Bowe made by safety Steve Gregory. Because Gregory tackled Bowe by delivering the shot to the chest instead of to the head or hitting high, Gregorys hit was legal, indicating again the improvements in tackling and the steady adjustments the defensive players are having due to the NFLs policy on tackling. Conclusion Though tackling has always been modified to make the game of football safer, Black Sunday really set the tackling in the NFL a controversy. With the enforcement rules of tackling,

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many players and coaches are affected both positively and negatively. However, the purpose of the rules is to make the game safer for the players so they wont have to end up suffering through injuries like the retired football players suing the organization. NFL officials may either be benefitting the game or ruining it, so one can wonder of how far the officials will go to make the game of football safe and fair for everyone in the NFL.

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References Bradford, C. (2013, October 17). Steelers safeties tackle hitting issue. Beaver County Times, Retrieved from http://articles.mcall.com/2013-10-17/sports/mc-pittsburgh-steelerssafeties-20131017_1_randall-cobb-ryan-clark-troy-polamalu Brooks, B. (2011, August 10). How practice changes could negatively impact nfl games? NFL, Retrieved from http://www.nfl.com/trainingcamp/story/09000d5d8215c8ab/article/howpractice-changes-could-negatively-impact-nfl-games Cooney, F. (2013, August 9). Madden: Safety rules creating improved tackling. Yahoo! Sports, Retrieved from http://sports.yahoo.com/news/madden-safety-rules-creating-improved183043875--nfl.html Gill, T. (2013, August 23). The NFLs tackling needs to addressed. Football Nation, Retrieved from http://www.footballnation.com/content/the-nfls-tackling-issue-needs-to-beaddressed/24345/ Hack, D. (2011, October 24). Learning to play nice. Sports Illustrated, 115(16), 15-16. Retrieved from http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/vault/article/magazine/MAG1191392/2/index.htm Layden, T. (2011, September 5). What ever happened to tackling?. Sports Illustrated, 115(9), 5666. Retrieved from http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/vault/article/magazine/MAG1189947/index.htm Trotter, J. (2011, October 3). Tackling a dangerous new issue. Sports Illustrated, 115(13), 26. Retrieved from http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/vault/article/magazine/MAG1190846/index.htm

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Wickersham, S., Fleming, D. & Matz, E. (2008, November 3). Missing in action. ESPN, Retrieved from http://sports.espn.go.com/espnmag/story?id=3680254