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Tim Benz: NFL must listen to Cam Heyward and other defensive players on 'hip-drop' penalty consideration | TribLIVE.com
Steelers/NFL

Tim Benz: NFL must listen to Cam Heyward and other defensive players on 'hip-drop' penalty consideration

Tim Benz
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Chaz Palla | Tribune-Review
Steelers defensive end Cameron Heyward sacks Cincinnati Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow on Nov. 20 at Acrisure Stadium.

If the NFL just wants to govern itself by Twitter, I hope it follows the account of Pittsburgh Steelers defensive end Cameron Heyward. Because at least he’s tweeting something reasonable.

No, seriously. Someone is actually doing that in 2023.

It appears the NFL is strongly considering the elimination of the “hip-drop” tackle. If you’ve never heard of that phrase before, don’t feel bad. Pretty much no one in the northern hemisphere had until the divisional round of the NFL playoffs.

A hip-drop is when the defender grabs the ball carrier from behind and then falls down the offensive player, dropping their body weight onto the ball carrier’s legs. That was the method of tackling used as Dallas Cowboys running back Tony Pollard suffered a leg fracture during a playoff game in San Francisco.

The day before, Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes was hurt on a similar play.

As video of those plays started to trend on Twitter, social media was overrun by a wave of pearl-clutchers insisting that the NFL had to outlaw such plays, because the National Rugby League in Australia had done so after a rash of similar injuries.

And, of course, the NFL is listening. Because if there is anything the NFL fears more than negative traction on Twitter, it’s potential player-safety lawsu…

Uh, I mean, the perception it doesn’t do enough for player safety.

As proof: Last week, Dr. Allen Sills, the league’s chief medical officer, said the “hip-drop” technique could be eliminated. Via ProFootballTalk.com and The Washington Post, the NFL’s competition committee is expected to look at new rules preventing that type of play, and Sills and the league’s medical staff would be involved in those discussions as well.

The notion that such a play would draw a penalty was met with praise from running backs such as Green Bay’s Aaron Jones. Baltimore Ravens running back Kenyan Drake has been complaining about the practice for over a year.

But the wave of negative reaction from NFL players on the defensive side of the ball was overwhelming.

One of those voices was from Steelers defensive end — and player rep — Cameron Heyward.

I agree with almost every word Heyward said. Implementing a rule like this would make the act of playing defense nearly impossible.

As if it isn’t already.

Moreover, if hip-drop tackles become penalties, the weekly controversies over how many are called — and how inconsistent the calls are — will lead to chaos. It’ll look just like when the league tried to implement review of pass interference.

The only point from Heyward that I’ll quibble with is his suggestion that the NFL executives are “thinking too much.”

Honestly, Cam, they aren’t thinking. At all. They are reacting in knee-jerk fashion. If they were thinking, they’d understand that trying to officiate such a rule change would be a circus.

I understand the quest to expand player-safety measures. I do. But how much more expansive can it get? Defenders already can’t hit high. They can’t go low on the quarterback. They can’t drag anyone down from behind. They can’t land with their full body weight on a quarterback. They have to analyze in a nanosecond who is, and isn’t, a “defenseless receiver.” They can’t breathe on anyone who is within a country mile of the sidelines.

What else are they supposed to do?


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Attempting to write this rule clearly within the bounds of legal tackling will be a nebulous mess. Asking the officials to adjudicate this rule in real time on every tackle inbounds throughout the course of a game will be a nightmare. They have too much to do already.

Efforts to placate the pandering social media calls for increased player safety have gone too far. Many of those “fans” and media members don’t even really care about player safety anyway. They just are just virtue signalers fishing for likes and retweets.

The pendulum needs to swing back toward the understanding that voluntary risk is involved in football. Tackle football, especially at the NFL level, is an inherently unsafe game. It can’t be litigated into a safe space.

Heyward understands that. Let’s hope Roger Goodell figures it out.

Soon.

Tim Benz is a Tribune-Review staff writer. You can contact Tim at tbenz@triblive.com or via X. All tweets could be reposted. All emails are subject to publication unless specified otherwise.

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Categories: Sports | Steelers/NFL | Breakfast With Benz | Tim Benz Columns
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