Fewer bricks in the wall
In the interest of player safety, the NFL has minimized blockers in the wedge formation
By DALE ROBERTSON Copyright 2009 Houston Chronicle
No amount of rule changes can make football, a game of violent collisions, completely safe. Injuries are inevitable.
But some of the worst were seemingly preventable by changing how teams attempt to maximize their returns on kickoffs.
The NFL has therefore eliminated the extended wall of blockers in what is commonly known as the wedge formation — as many as five super-sized linemen practically linking arms .
It was a wall that cover men had to attempt to dismantle in true kamikaze fashion. With a full head of steam built over 40-some yards of open-field running, they'd plow into the behemoths.
“We're always told to keep our head up,” said Kevin Bentley, one of the Texans charged with the task. “But when you're flying into a bunch of 300-pounders, there's no way around it. You're going to duck a little.”
The Texans' Harry Williams, a receiver, and Cedric Killings, a defensive lineman, both saw their careers end in sudden, frightening fashion because of wedge-related neck injuries last season.
The NFL's rules now state that once the ball has been kicked, no more than two receiving team players can be within 2 yards of each other on the same yard line, or as Texans special teams coach Joe Marciano puts it, “shoulder pad to shoulder pad.”
“Everybody else has to be 3 yards away,” Marciano said. “So we're telling our guys 4 yards to stay out of any gray area. The penalty is just too severe to take chances.”
Indeed, it's a 15-yarder for unsportsmanlike conduct. Since most wedges form inside the 15 and the flag is thrown where the infraction occurs, it's really a half-the-distance infraction, which would leave the offense buried inside the 10.
“That's not a penalty you can afford,” Marciano said.
MAKING IT SAFE(R)
Other rules changed or tweaked by the NFL in hopes of cutting down on injuries:
• A “blindside” block will be declared illegal “if the initial force of the contact by a blocker’s helmet, forearm or shoulder is to the head or neck area of an opponent when the blocker is moving toward his own end line, or he approaches the opponent from behind or the side.”
• A fallen pass rusher can no longer lunge forward with his helmet or shoulder into the knee or lower leg of the quarterback, which is how Matt Schaub wound up watching from the sideline in 2008.
• No initial contact to a “defenseless” receiver’s head or neck area while he’s attempting to catch a pass can be made using the helmet, the forearm or the shoulder.
• Officials have been instructed to be even more mindful of “horse-collar” tackles.
In the interest of player safety, the NFL has minimized blockers in the wedge formation
By DALE ROBERTSON Copyright 2009 Houston Chronicle
No amount of rule changes can make football, a game of violent collisions, completely safe. Injuries are inevitable.
But some of the worst were seemingly preventable by changing how teams attempt to maximize their returns on kickoffs.
The NFL has therefore eliminated the extended wall of blockers in what is commonly known as the wedge formation — as many as five super-sized linemen practically linking arms .
It was a wall that cover men had to attempt to dismantle in true kamikaze fashion. With a full head of steam built over 40-some yards of open-field running, they'd plow into the behemoths.
“We're always told to keep our head up,” said Kevin Bentley, one of the Texans charged with the task. “But when you're flying into a bunch of 300-pounders, there's no way around it. You're going to duck a little.”
The Texans' Harry Williams, a receiver, and Cedric Killings, a defensive lineman, both saw their careers end in sudden, frightening fashion because of wedge-related neck injuries last season.
The NFL's rules now state that once the ball has been kicked, no more than two receiving team players can be within 2 yards of each other on the same yard line, or as Texans special teams coach Joe Marciano puts it, “shoulder pad to shoulder pad.”
“Everybody else has to be 3 yards away,” Marciano said. “So we're telling our guys 4 yards to stay out of any gray area. The penalty is just too severe to take chances.”
Indeed, it's a 15-yarder for unsportsmanlike conduct. Since most wedges form inside the 15 and the flag is thrown where the infraction occurs, it's really a half-the-distance infraction, which would leave the offense buried inside the 10.
“That's not a penalty you can afford,” Marciano said.
MAKING IT SAFE(R)
Other rules changed or tweaked by the NFL in hopes of cutting down on injuries:
• A “blindside” block will be declared illegal “if the initial force of the contact by a blocker’s helmet, forearm or shoulder is to the head or neck area of an opponent when the blocker is moving toward his own end line, or he approaches the opponent from behind or the side.”
• A fallen pass rusher can no longer lunge forward with his helmet or shoulder into the knee or lower leg of the quarterback, which is how Matt Schaub wound up watching from the sideline in 2008.
• No initial contact to a “defenseless” receiver’s head or neck area while he’s attempting to catch a pass can be made using the helmet, the forearm or the shoulder.
• Officials have been instructed to be even more mindful of “horse-collar” tackles.
